Printing!

I just signed up for a month of studio time at The Lower East Side Print Shop (now located in midtown!). They have a really nice space (bright light, good equipment) and I met another girl who will be doing some work there in July too who seems fun.

The print shop is amazing with a strong history in NYC (opening in 1968). They've had really good artists in residence over the years (from Barbara Kruger to Ryan McGinness) and it seems like a really supportive atmosphere (time will tell I guess!). I met the paster printer today (James Miller) and he was great. I'm really looking forward to it, and hopefully will post some works in progress on here as the month progresses.

secrets

The website PostSecret began three years ago and is hugely well known (also for being the largest ad-free blog on the internet). The secrets very from the very depressing and scary to the hilarious. Recently the website Orato posted an article by Frank Warren the creator of the site. Orato is an interesting site in it's own right, hosting only "true stories from real people." Anyway, Frank talks about why he started the site, how it blossomed, and what he's doing now (a book and Post Secret events). At the events Frank invites participants to share their secrets in person, shows some banned secrets from the book, and for everyone to talk about secrets together.

Frank says, "I don’t think PostSecret is a reflection of a highly dysfunctional society, quite the opposite. We keep secrets for a reason, obviously. But I think the feelings, thoughts, beliefs and fears we hold in private are often the exact same thing that unite us with others. They’re sometimes the most humanistic part of us."

I think secrets are a very interesting theme, sort of related to luck somehow.....

curiousity killed the cat

Italian artist Michelangelo Roberti is making 999 black cubes (20 cm each side) and selling them on his website saying that there is something different inside each one but DON'T OPEN IT! He also says:

"In this deep sense the thing inside the cube is a representation of the Absolute. A good definition of Absolute can also be 'something that doesn't draw its reality from the fact of being perceived'. Curiosity is paradoxical and comes from the useless hope to perceive the Absolute."

Nice.

Also a nice interview with him here

[via]

no pictures

• Sugar batteries! "Researchers at Saint Louis University in Missouri have developed a fuel cell battery that runs on virtually any sugar source — from soft drinks to tree sap — and has the potential to operate three to four times longer on a single charge than conventional lithium ion batteries, they say."

• An interesting article called Militarism that covers some of my favorite things: uniforms, Claire McCardell, and pockets (!).

• A piece on glamour & dolls by Gary Alston fashion designer for dolls of all kinds.

• Vintage timeline from the Vintage fashion Guild. Click on the years in the chart to see descriptions and photos of sample period garments.

• Sweet dress up website. Play! My favorite, of course.

catch-up

Seriously so many notes I haven't been able to keep up with them! I've been doing a bit of graphic design work on the side too (sound/music) so that's been keeping me occupied....



Matt Webb did a presentation called Products Are People Too in June 2007 as the closing keynote to reboot 9.0. His emphasis on experience and stories parallels a lot of my own design interest. Actually in a lot of ways this talk has nothing to do with designing clothes and textile prints (duh), but it just feels like this must be related in terms of my work. Side note: I totally need to look through this site: unboxing.com but it's blocked from work! Also, favorite line: "Products exist over time. We meet them, we hang out with them, we live life together." gee!

____________



Really nice project supported by Eyebeam that replaces advertising images on web pages with art images from a curated database. It's not scheduled to be finished until sometime this summer, but I signed up for the mailing list so I can get it when it's ready.

[via]

____________

This Is Your Life (and How You Tell It) an interesting article from the NYT byt Benedict Carey that relates to the Procucts are People Too presentation noted above. Favorite quotes:

• “'When we first started studying life stories, people thought it was just idle curiosity — stories, isn’t that cool?' said Dan P. McAdams, a professor of psychology at Northwestern and author of the 2006 book, The Redemptive Self. 'Well, we find that these narratives guide behavior in every moment, and frame not only how we see the past but how we see ourselves in the future.'”

• "Researchers have found that the human brain has a natural affinity for narrative construction. People tend to remember facts more accurately if they encounter them in a story rather than in a list, studies find"

• "Seeing oneself as acting in a movie or a play is not merely fantasy or indulgence; it is fundamental to how people work out who it is they are, and may become."

via Kottke who also mentions Allen Iverson's training routine (I think, therefore I slam.)

culling old links.2

I'm in love with Tim Knowles. An artist in the UK whose work depends on chance and the environment. Knowles talks a lot about the themes I am interested in: chance, process, the forces of inanimate objects (so to speak), making visible the invisible, and time. In one sense I guess his use of time is not much different than the way every artist takes time to produce an artwork, but that Knowles' considers time an important aspect of the work is clear.

I really love how he says, "The work attempts to make visible the invisible, be it the movement of the wind traced out onto paper by a pen suspended from a buoyant helium balloon, the path drawn by the moons reflection on undulating water or the forces at work within a car as it drives over the Alps."


Tree Drawings
Doubtless the most poetic images, and while I do love these the others are just as great to me. Drawings by trees.


Vehicle motion drawings
A series of drawings generated by an apparatus in the back of a car.


Postal works
Photos and video from a package (with a camera inside) as it travels through the British postal system.

culling old links part 1

I'm trying to clear out my backlog of bookmarks and links that I have been collecting over the last weeks and months (the things that inspired me to start writing this blog) so some of my upcoming posts have been floating around the internet for a while now.


Stolen Jewels

mike and maaike is a joint effort between maaike evers and mike simonian, their website says they are "a resource for experimental design, progressive ideas and unexpected solutions for products, furniture and environments" and they've done some big projects (mike led the design team for the xbox 360). But I really like their jewelry projects:


Suretape Necklace


Crochet Necklace

Fashion + Architecture

Ping Mag has an interview with Brooke Hodge about the exhibition now in Japan she curated called Skin + Bones about fashion and architecture.


Yeohlee Teng! My favorite!

There's a bit more info about the show here (as well as a downloadable gallery guide!). MOCA describes the exhibition as exploring "the common visual and intellectual principles that underlie both fashion and architecture." Which is usually not of much interest to me. I'm not that interested in architecture in my own practice. I am also not interested in the stated themes such as shelter, tectonic strategies, and minimalism. BUT what really fascinates me is that Brooke Hodge talks about how architects and designers both start with the body and build outward from there, albeit on different scales. She also talked with Ping Mag about how architecture and clothing both represent identity, cultural identity with buildings and personal identity with clothing. I'm also especially enamored by the title Skin + Bones as they represent the interior and exterior constructions of both the buildings and the garments.

Open Source

Patternmaker Burda is doing something really interesting: they call it Open Source Sewing. Based on the ideas in open source software development, Burda is offering up patterns free of charge on their website. You just download them in PDF format and you can print them and assemble them from your own printer. They also offer the PDFs full size so you can take it to a copy shop and print there (so no assemply necessary!). Very nice!

Of course not every pattern is available as Open Source Sewing, but the idea is supposed to be bigger than that. The two benefits they list that seem the most inportant to me are:

"Networking: Connecting designer, patternmaker, creator, seller, and buyer
Product quality and improvement: Great fit and variation through the Burda pattern making competence and the constant testing and feedback of users"

Of course there is also a lot of talk about fostering creativity and sharing information, which is all fine and dandy, and maybe the idea of networking falls in that category too. But someone in corporate at Burda was really thinking if they hope that this kind of open source will improve fit of Burda patterns!

I've already downloaded my first one (ok a pretty simple on) just to give it a try! (see above pic)

[via]

luck

Instructables has a really good tutorial for finding four leaf clovers [via]. One of the projects I did for my MA at CSM was about how to make products lucky. I researched all kinds of lucky symbols and talismans (talismen?) before I decided to do a series of accessories that relied on luck in the making as well as in the imagery.



This scarf was the very first thing I ever knitted (beginner's luck) and I made it 21 stitches wide (3 and 7 are lucky numbers). The prints were chosen and arranged according to the "luck of the draw" and the imagery comes from lucky symbols across cultures.

I have one of my very best lucky charms out to a friend right now, and it seems to be working well for her. In fact, it seems to be working so well, I'm thinking of asking for it back! But I sent it to her (not only because she could use the luck) to test anthropologist James George Frazer's second rule of magical thinking: the law of contagion. The first rule is the law of similarity, that a charm's effects should somehow be traceable to the charm itself, which my charm possesses. Do you have a lucky charm that works?

Everywhere

Kiosk is a shop in Soho I really need to visit (of course, will report more when I've been). I've just spent an hour doodling all over their website and I'm in love with a lot of stuff now. The website is so well done (and the product descriptions are so well written—I feel like I know them already!). I'm so not telling you my very favorite things because I don't want them to get sold out. But here are some I feel duty bound to share:


Bavarian Gamsbart Stag Pin Large ($60.00)
The folks from Kiosk went to Germany to get all the new products for March-August. Every season they travel & buy and bring good stuff to NYC for sale (and anywhere the internet reaches). About this feather for your cap, Kiosk says "In theory, the size of the gamsbart reflects the size of the manliness. Franz Blumtritt and Sons was established in 1923, the founder’s granddaughter Regina Erb now runs the company. Grandfather Blumtritt started by following traditional patterns from the Alps; time passed and in the 50's one of his sons took some creative license and developed the collection they have today."


Red Necklace with Ribbon ($45.50)
Mexico was one of the previous destinations for Kiosk. This necklace is marked down from $65! There's also previous merchandise from Japan and Sweden (which are also marked down), but there's lots that's already sold out here.
I like this necklace because Kiosk has intrigued me with this line, "In Cuetzalan most of the indigenous women of a certain age wear this necklace." What age I wonder? and why? They do give another clue as to the meaning behind this piece, "The textile researcher, Bob Freund, told me that the beads represent coral as historically it was traded with the Indians from Vera Cruz over the mountains." hmmmmm.....


Dunkel Peter Popcorn ($4.00)
Last from Kiosk (from me) to you (what am I talking about?!) is this popcorn. I swear they have everything as well as little nothings at this store (irresistible!). Kiosk says they brought us this simply because of the packaging. I love everyone who can admit that, and even more in a retailer who does.

Venice Biennale

Lots of links all over about the Biennale (entitled: 'think with the senses—feel with the mind'), but here are my two favorite participants:


Felix Gonzales Torres (USA)
America's choice of artistic representation in the Biennale is unusual in that Felix Gonzalez-Torres died 10 years ago. I remember going to his exhibition at the Guggenheim in NYC many years ago, and being delighted to be invited to participate and keep the souvenirs from his trademark stacks of paper and cellophane-wrapped boiled sweets.


Sophie Calle (France)
According to frenchculture.org, "the world of French culture in the USA", Sophie Calle has chosen her exhibition commissioner, Daniel Buren, from the responses to a small ad she placed seeking "any enthusiastic person who could perform the duties of exhibition commissioner". Calle's piece for the French pavilion asked 107 women to interpret a break-up letter from a man she had been involved with. Of course, it was not quite so simple as that. Calle chose the women according to their line of work: an actress acted it, a singer sang it, an editor annotated it, etc.

[images via]

Things

I'm in love with Things Magazine. It doesn't come out very often, and I don't even own one of my very own yet, but the idea that they began with and the projects I've been digging through on the website are so smart and really something special. Their mission is based on the belief that "objects can open up new ways of understanding the world." A few of my favorite projects from their website:


The found address book


Miles Thistlethwaite: Washing-line Portraits (Watercolour, 30"x22"): Ned's Pyjama Top


Cover-ups: awaiting unveiling at the Frankfurt Motor Show

more emotional/narrative projects

At the Great Eastern Hotel in London: Tiago da Fonseca - Bedtime Stories
The Great Eastern does all kinds of interesting projects with artists and designers. They have an amazing staff, and a brilliant roster of projects.
[via]

Social map: "When Andrew Enright and Heather Samples were married in 2006, they had a small wedding with a few groups of very tightly-knit friends and family. They made this graphic to help start conversations."
[via]

Ping mag from Japan talks about emotional wood furniture by Toru Shimizu's new project monokraft.



Nina Katchadourian's Sorted Books project. This one is my favorite, but there are so many more.....makes me want to rearrange my bookshelves!
[via (but now I can't find the exact link!)]

toenail necklace

This is just the kind of thing that represents one wild end of my interest in dress! Jan Ryerse made this necklace out of lost toenails from marathon running. The Saint Louis Post Dispatch wrote about him (click the image to link to the article and see a pic of him wearing his necklace) and other runners who do ultramarathons (more than a marathon! often 30- 50- or 100-mile events).

"People tend to be less competitive in ultramarathons; they go at it at a relaxed pace," Jan says. He also contends that women and older runners have the advantage in ultrarunning because they are more patient. I wonder if there is also an emotional component in running this kind of race that would be an advantage to women and older folk, as opposed to a passionate one that would perhaps be found more in the young and male. The article says that "most ultrarunners will tell you that the shared experience of mentally and physically battling the incomprehensible is by far the biggest draw." Creating a talisman to wear of battle scars from these ultramarathons is the ultimate emotional attachment!

Full disclosure: I have many of my childhood teeth, 2 toenails that fell off, and a collection of hair (mine and others). Apparently it's genetic: my mom has a keepsake box with a piece of skin that my grandfather was born with over his face, and my aunt has a necklace that my great-grandmother wove out of her own hair (really full disclosure: I wore it on my wedding day (and it matches my own natural hair color).

[via]