Extreme Craft

Buggin'

I've written about porn for plants before, but this certainly takes the cake.  Actress Isabella Rossellini has teamed up with some Canadian filmmakers to create a series of short films based on the sexual acts of insects.  In the films, Rossellini dons costumes to become the male of the species, then interacts with assorted props to illustrate "the nasty".

Each film is executed in a very simple childlike manner. They are a playful mixture of real world and cartoon. Each episode begins with Isabella speaking to the camera “ If I were a…(firefly, spider, dragonfly etc.). She then transforms into the male of the species explaining in a simple yet direct dialogue the actual act of species-specific fornication. The costumes, colorful sets and backdrops as well as the female insects contribute to the playfulness of the films. The contrast of this “naïf” expression and filthy sex practices adds to the comicality of Green Porno.

The prop building seems genuinely extreme, as do the films.  I found this YouTube clip of a slightly daffy (but totally endearing) interview with Ms. Rossellini from the Sundance Channel.  Inside the clip, you'll actually find some clips from the films.  Apparently, they're going to be made available for iPods, cell phones, and other "third screen" mediums.

LINK via BoingBoing

'Henge!

While I was looking around for fun A/V stuff to show my Art History class about Stonehenge, I happened across this gem.  Wally Wallington is the embodiment of Extreme Craft.  Wallington is a retired carpenter living in Flint, Michigan.  Somehow, he became interested in Stonehenge and the "technology" that the ancients used to create the monument.  Mr. Wallington has so much Yankee ingenuity that he has not only figured out how Stonehenge and other monuments could have been built, but he's figured out how to build huge monuments using nothing BUT HIS OWN STRENGTH!  Through physics, trial and error and sheer willpower, he has perfected his techniques.  The YouTube video will show you some of his tricks, but you can learn more from his website, theforgottentechnology.com.  And I was pretty proud of myself for moving a refrigerator up a flight of stairs.

LINK

 

Happy Baby

Okay.  While I'm shamelessly plugging myself, I owe my wife a plug.  While I've been out splattering plates with china paint paintballs, Claire has been slaving over a hot sewing machine to make clothing for her new ETSY store, CRAFT FAMILY.  Claire's store caters to discerning babies with classic taste.  Her line of baby bonnets are made out of great fabrics like tattoo flash, skulls and even Ghanaian wax-print fabric that she brought back from Africa herself.  Our first niece should be arriving in world any day, so we wanted to make sure she's coming into a world where her fashion needs can be met.

LINK

China Paintball

I reached a crisis point last fall....Extreme Craft officially eclipsed my identity as an artist.  Even though I'm a total geek when it comes to the art that other people make, I've always gotten vaguely bummed out  when I think about my own work's relationship to "Extreme Craft".  I don't really consider my own work "Extreme", but I decided to throw down the gauntlet and make a challenge for myself.  I've been a china painter for a long time.  China painting is the technique that has always been used to make fussy little flowers on teacups.  I started to think about ways to make china painting "extreme".

It came to me in a flash....or maybe a SPLAT.  PAINTBALL was the answer!  If I could find a way to load china paint into paintballs and fire them at plates, I could be the Jackson Pollock meets William S. Burroughs of the china painting world!  After months of trial and error (not to mention cases of broken plates), I'm happy to show you some of the inaugural results.  I've dubbed the composition above "Marksmanship #1".  This project is doing exactly what art should do for the artist...it's letting me make dorky decisions about composition and color while letting me run rampant on the paintball field.  For the first time in a long time, artmaking is completely blissful for me.  If y'all are interested, I'll post more images as they become available.  China painting has entered the ballistic era.

Crafting an Ad Campaign

Close personal friend of Extreme Craft Rüdiger Schlömer sent me this series of ads that derive their power from the Indie Craft Movement.  Unfortunately, as far as I can tell, they are a self-promo for an ad agency, and aren't truly advertising a product.  Still, the juxtaposition of the handmade and the badass never gets old.  It's surprising to me that advertisers didn't jump on this bandwagon a long time ago. 

Sure, it's funny to juxtapose "granny" craft with incongruous things, but it's even more amazing to consider the "real world" cases.  When I lived in Atlanta, I used to marvel at the wannabe gangsta kids on the subway that would adorn their clothes with puffy paint graffiti.  They favored the exact same metallic puffy paints that your aunt makes her Christmas sweaters with.  Think back to the care that survivalists and paintball enthusiasts put into their ghillie suits.  Maybe if they added a few pom-poms, the world would realize the heights of their craftsmanship.

Is the world waiting with baited breath for an "edgy" wool store?  I think that even the most outré knitters probably relish going into their neighborhood yarn shop to jaw with the folks knitting baby booties and making sock monkeys.  I wouldn't want to tangle with any of those knitters in a wrestling ring anyway.
 

Dissectual Healing

What do you suppose the greatest accomplishment of the Indie Craft movement is?  The transmission of handicraft from one generation to the next?  The blurred line between art and craft?  Reclaiming gender roles from the realm of stereotype?  Nay to all of these!  The biggest accomplishment of Indie Craft is the unfathomable ability to make ANYTHING cuddly!  Cuddly Yetis and zombies?  That's so 2005!  Internal organs?  Shark attack?  Poop?   If it makes you wanna throw up, some crafter somewhere has knitted it, felted it or amigarumi-ed it all the way into your heart.

I digress.  Fiendishly awesome Etsy seller Emily Stoneking made this hhand-knitted frog on a dissection board.  The devil is in the details--it's not permanently pinned down to the board, so you can unpin it and transfer all of the cuddly affection that you still hold in your heart for your 7th grade Biology teacher (you were not without your charms, Mrs. Rasmussen!).  Sadly, the frogs are sold out, but judging from the link-o-rama love that's going on  for these, they should be back.

LINK via Neatorama

"Popping" the Question

After I proposed to my wife on Santa's knee a few years back, I asked Extreme Craft readers about their crafty wedding proposals.  Apart from Ian Anderson's homemade salad bowls that spelled out "will you marry me" on the bottom, I didn't get too many takers.  Pop-up book master Robert Sabuda just posted a very crafty marriage proposal on his website.  Dr. Eric Lau proved his status as a "love doctor" by creating a pop-up book for his intended.  He taught himself some of the techniques from Robert Sabuda's website, then created a fairy tale themed pop-up book that he gave his (then) girlfriend for Christmas.

The final page of the book contained a ring and a proposal.  Of course she said yes.  Who could say no to such a crafty proposal.  The happy couple carried over their pop-up theme to their wedding favor.  You can check out the whole saga on Robert Sabuda's website.  Stick around his site and check out some of the amazing tutorials, interviews and pop-up book news.  Do yourself a favor and add a bookmark to his site.  You'll never know when you'll find yourself in a situation that calls for pop-ups.

LINK

Pop-Up Videos

Okay.....earlier this year, I was hanging out with my friend Patrick, who plays in art-damaged New York demi-gods Flaming Fire.  I asked him about what music he was listening to, and he said that he had the new Fergie album playing in a loop.  I thought it was a little weird, but filed a mental note.  I'm a big fan of guilty pop pleasures.  I'll cop to having "Lip Gloss", "Girlfriend" and "Umbrella" in heavy rotation this year, but I was relatively unaffected by the Fergie phenomenon....that is, until I saw the video for "Clumsy".

We in the Extreme Craft household are big fans of pop-up books.  Robert Sabuda's name is only spoken in tones of hushed reverence.  Our jaws dropped when we saw the new Fergie video, which, to my knowledge, is the first video to REALLY exploit some of the amazing things that can be done with pop-up books.  The poor schlub who figured out the mechanics of the video must have really spent some serious time doing research...and I can guarantee you they're not getting paid enough.  Seriously.  Does anybody know where I can get a Fergie pop-up book?

BerlinFeb2007Jose 111 (Medium)

  BerlinFeb2007Jose 111 (Medium) 
  Originally uploaded by rako

I don't know any details about this toile-pattern wrapped Peugeot posted on Flickr, but I ran across a link to it when I was looking through this BoingBoing post debating the finer points of car enthusiasts with Nazi tattoos using dressmaker's lace for a vintage car paint job.  What a mixed-up crazy world we live in.  Anyone have more information on this car?

The Girl With the Most Cake

How sweet! Chidi Ogbuta of Allen, Texas wasn't content with a plain old wedding cake. Multiple tiers and buttercream frosting were apparently a little to vanilla, so she commissioned a FULL SIZE replica of herself. Now the guests at her wedding can all revel in her good taste as they cut her open. This begs a question about where the cake cutter starts choppin'. If you'd like to see more, check out this awesome slideshow at CNN.com.

LINK thanks Seth!