handmade cloth as interactive art

A friend and artist, Tali Weinberg uses dye, cloth, and art in order to champion to social causes and connect people from all over the world through craft. Her newest art piece based upon carmine dye from cochineal bugs will be showing on One Washington Place from Sept. 10 - 23.

I'm so glad she's doing what she loves while using her art for good. From the website:

I would like to invite you to participate in an artwork that will be part of a show to raise awareness about violence in Juarez, Mexico. This particular piece refers to the maquiladoras (sweatshops), the violence against women they have fueled, and existing alternatives – and it relies on your participation to be complete.

Over the months leading up to the show I have been dyeing tens of thousands of yards of organic cotton, silk, and wool with cochineal—a tiny insect from Oaxaca that produces a powerful red dye. I’m using this yarn to weave a number of blankets, pillows, and scarves for an installation that will take place in September. I am documenting this process of dyeing and weaving and will share this with you as I go. The gallery installation itself includes a space in which you can interact with the pillows and blankets handwoven from the dyed yarn as well as an area where I will be weaving a blanket out of the dyed yarn over the two-week period.

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So what is the meaning of this piece and why cochineal?:

The installation's title: "The males have wings while it is the females whose bodies are crushed to extract their red dye. But red is also the color of the sun."

The cochineal insect has been used for its red dye for at least 1000 years in Mexico, Central and South America. It produces what is considered to be the best natural red dye in the world, used in everything from textile dyes and paint pigments to food coloring and cosmetics. The female insects contain carminic acid, which acts to protect her from certain predators while she is fertile. It is the carminic acid that also produces such a powerful red dye.

In the 1500s the dye became an important trade good under Colonialism, first exported from Mexico by the Spanish. It is one part of the history of colonial and capitalist exploitation of resources, people, and knowledge from the region.

This process of making contains a dual metaphor. It is a visualization of the violence that often lies behind the products we consume (even objects made for our own comfort and security). It is simultaneously a visualization of an alternative: a hand production process that brings together producer and consumer and that has thoughtfully considered the network of people and materials that make up the production of this particular object of comfort and intimacy (The materials I use in this case are organic or natural and come from small-scale producers and through personal relationships wherever possible).

The color red itself offers the potential of multiple meanings for the viewer. Throughout history it has symbolized power and strength; sin; anger; courage; warning; and love and intimacy. And for Aztecs, red is the color of the sun.

Go to the website to watch time-lapse videos on the dyeing and weaving processes.

And once you pledge to this cause, Tali will you send you handmade, hand-dyed yarn and other great pieces. Beautiful!

[marketplace] mr. and mrs. panda enjoy recreational sports

Something cute for a bon weekend!

Whimsical! Find this sporty couple as well as other creatures at papersparrow.

Also, let me introduce you to a not so sweet panda, Herman, by my friend idrawsometimes. At least he's talking about fair trade.

[marketplace] animals and metal gears

A gladiator bird from Anthropologie, a steampunk trilobite with project instructions (more on steampunk at a later post), and a ram from Burrow Burrow.

So amazing! These are beginning to make me see everything with gears.

And if my dear friend Kat is still reading my blog, I think she (and hopefully you) will enjoy this.

(Wolf skull by Miss Monster) 

[marketplace] painted wood, sticks and slices

Painted sticks from Ginette Lapalme, and acrylic elm slices from reclaimed wood for sale at focuslineart.

the sketchbook project, I challenge you

To me, a sketchbook is a beginning. It's a place where not fully formed ideas can play for a little while. It's a testing ground. Now imagine a library that houses thousands of sketchbooks for you to check out and thumb through. Not only that, you can contribute your own. I just love this idea.

The Brooklyn Art Library is accepting participants for its annual Sketchbook Project until October 31, 2010. Participants receive a moleskin and a theme--they are due January 15 for the 2011 tour around the country, and you can also have them digitize it on their website. Anyone from anywhere in the world can apply.

I just signed up, and my theme is "And then there were none."
I'm getting an extinction/Lorax vibe.

If you have any ideas for me on that theme, please let me know. And if you decide to sign up (I challenge you!), feel free to drop a comment on what theme you chose.

One of my favorite submission so far comes from Alinac, with the bold theme: Dirigibles and Submersibles.

(Alinac's sketchbook at ArtHouseCoop.com)

And a big thank you to Kat for the heads-up.

[marketplace] birds perched on your wall

In love with these wall decals from OrqueShaw, a great way to redesign a space.

[marketplace] bike ride with the fireflies

Just returned from a nighttime bike ride in the park accompanied by a trotting Happy, the best dog ever, and fireflies. I  love watching fireflies during summer nights, and I'm always so sad during some summers when they just aren't there. There's really nothing like staring into the woods, so dark that the leaves blend into the setting sky, and seeing millions of fireflies. It's like watching star constellations dancing or a cave full of glowing jewels, magical.

Here are some pretty things that make for a perfect bike ride with the fireflies. Wear this Sugar Jar blouse from Spool No. 72 and Bronze filigree ring at UO, and have your Stockholm Carrie bike basket from EmmoHome, Ecote Classic Canvas backpack, and Etched jars by Lyrial Zander. Then hang this Fireflies watercolor print by AlisaPaints in your bedroom to send you off to sleep.

[marketplace] burmese refugee crafts

In celebration of yesterday's World Refugee Day, I'm taking a look at crafts and handiworks created by refugees, and I'd like to highlight the Kachin Women's Association Thailand, a women's refugee group at the Thailand-Burma border.

These pencil cases have a beautiful design, and I love the jewel tone colors. They are also fair trade and directly support anti-trafficking, which is such a huge issue in that region.

And to go along with your pencil case, these really sweet pencils exhibiting traditional Burmese dress.

I think these crafts remind us that even in the face of displacement, the lives of refugees go on. They find ways to make a living and try to improve their situation and that of their community.

You can find these products and learn more about these group of craftswomen at http://www.globalgoodspartners.org/cbo/KWAT/.

felt things.

Sweet birds, sea creatures, boats, telephones and silverware, Lauri Faggioni's felt objects take on a life of their own. Her work has been featured by Michel Gondry in "The Science of Sleep," and Devendra Banhart's "A Ribbon." Sadly, her store, Lake, in the East Village is no longer with us. 

Hopefully, we'll see more of her children in films.