Extreme Craft

Window Shopping

So far, Wisconsin has been totally amazing.  I'll write soon about my overwhelming visit to the Alliance School yesterday.  One thing there's been no shortage of in Milwaukee is dairy.  The frozen custard I had last night at Leon's will be a fond memory for the rest of my life.  They're no stranger to dairy art in Midwest--a State Fair wouldn't be a State Fair without giant butter carvings of Paul Bunyan.  Last year, I wrote about Salt Lick City, an exhibition of art created by cows licking salt blocks, but I've never written about art created by pigs.  Today's post isn't exactly created BY pigs, but it is certainly created OUT of them.

Ptak Science Books just posted some scans from one of the most amazing craft books I have ever encountered, the amazingly named White Art in the Meat Food Business.  A Practical Handbook for Butcher, Pork Stores, Restaurants, Hotels and Delicatessens on How to Make Lasting and Transferable White Art Decorations out of Bacon Fat Back for Window Displays, Ornaments on Meat Food Cold Buffets and for Exhibits and Advertising Purposes.  Enrich yourself with Personal Knowledge. Got that?  Learn to create delightful displays for your shop window out of bacon fat! 

I can just imagine Urban Outfitters jumping on this trend, creating a miniature utopia diorama of bearded Brooklyn fashion victims in porkpie hats.  How about Hot Topic?  Bacon fat would make perfect pale Goth skin if you wanted to make some pork mannequins.   The posting about the book describes the lovely photograph to the left, which shows hanging DUCKS made of PORK FAT!  That must have been some pushing the bounds of technology when the pamphlet was created (in the early 1900's, I would guess).  Otto Fleiss, who literally WROTE THE BOOK on bacon art was also a maestro of pork-y Christmas decoration.  I'm guessing the Hannukah decorations didn't go over so well.

 LINK via BoingBoing

CARved

Car wraps are constantly in our face.  If I see one more Scion wrapped with ads for Steve's Hibachi Hut, I think I'm gonna scream.  Fortunately, sweet relief is being provided by some people taking matters into their own hands.  I wonder why it's taken this long for artists to liberate auto wraps from the tyranny of advertising.  This wood-wrapped Opel is amazing.  Check out the old-world joinery.  Check out the truth in materials.  I wonder if it floats?  Details are scarce, but according to the photo, it originally came from the (awesomely anarchic) AutoZoo.ru. 

LINK

Curd-istan

Oh man!  Do I ever have some catching up to do on Extreme Craft!  I've got to dish about my great Portland visit and tell you about all sorts of awesome things that people have been sending me.  I'm going to have to do it from the road, though, because I'm off for the better part of a week in beautiful WISCONSIN! 

I'm incredibly honored to be part of the opening of Devotion to Thread, an amazing exhibition at Woodland Pattern in Milwaukee curated by the inimitable Faythe Levine, auteur of the upcoming Handmade Nation documentary (not to mention, owner of Paper Boat Boutique).  The opening starts at 5:00, and I'll be presenting a gallery talk at 7:00.

The exhibition features a bevy of Extreme Crafters including Kate Bingaman-Burt, Orly Cogan and Jenny Hart.  There are other new faces as well as plenty of new faces that I'm excited to tell you about.  From what I can tell, this is one of the great shows of the summer, so be sure to include Milwaukee in your summer roadtrip plans. 

BUT WAIT!!!!!  Don't go home just yet!  I'm going to be giving a workshop at Woodland Pattern on Sunday afternoon called DECAL-O-MANIA!  I'll be showing you how to make your own collector plate using Lazertran decals, ceramic enamels and other stuff.  The workshop is $25 for WP members and $30 for the general public.  If you bring JPEG images on a jump drive, I'll print them out for you to put on a plate.  Come craft with me, Wisconsin!

I'm also excited to dig into some Kopp's frozen custard, eat some deep fried cheese curds, visit the Milwaukee Art Museum, and pay a visit to Fischberger's.  I'm also taking a side trip to visit my friend Paul Sacaridiz, who is an amazing ceramic artist in Madison.  Hopefully, I'll get a chance to keep you posted from the road.

Noodling With Art

Long ago, I took a college class in Japanese Directors.  Wedged in between ghost and gangster stories was the delightfully off-kilter "Tampopo" by Juzo Itami.  It stuck in my mind as a prime example of a profound film that makes its point through satire and downright silliness.  Another reason it stuck in my mind was its subject:  FOOD!  Tampopo follows a middle-aged Japanese woman who, after an encounter with a gourmand truck driver, decides to go on a quest to create the perfect bowl of Japanese Ramen.  The film takes viewers along for the ride, complete with plenty of U-turns, red herrings and detours.  When I first saw the film, I was ravenously hungry for a bowl of noodles, but the 10pm noodle options in Lincoln, Nebraska were pretty limited.

I rented Tampopo last night, but this time I was prepared.  I'm now living in Huntington Beach, California, which is adjacent to a huge Japanese community in Fountain Valley.  My wife and I settled in for a 7pm screening of Tampopo, then immediately set out for our favorite ramen joint.  I remembered all of the foodie references, but I was unprepared for how deep the movie's respect for tradition and connoisseurship.  The craft of food is just like any other craft--yielding an appealing product that is enjoyable for most, but a limitless rabbit hole that a connoisseur can fall into.  A simple bowl of ramen noodle can contain worlds, and Tampopo does an incredible job of grabbing viewers by the scruff of the neck and making them explore and appreciate those worlds.

As I figured, after Claire and I finished the movie, we were dying for a ramen fix.  We headed over Shin-Sen-Gumi, joined the (ever present) waiting list, and waited for about 40 minutes to be seated.  When our ramen finally arrived, it was the ultimate payoff--a big bowl of satisfying Japanese soul food.   As if that wasn't enough, Shin-Sen-Gumi also has my favorite dessert on the planet, (amazingly un-traditional) green tea brulee.  I'm not a huge fan of creme brulee--it's usually a little sweet and heavy, but Shin-Sen-Gumi's green tea brulee is a perfect blend of VERY strong green tea flavor, creaminess, and that delicious crunchy/chewy top.  It also has a bottom layer to it with a slightly gritty texture that perfectly compliments the other two textures.  I recommend it wholeheartedly.

If you decide to watch Tampopo, though...make sure you have a great ramen joint in mind.  Just writing this makes me want to go back for lunch.

Blu Period

MUTO a wall-painted animation by BLU from blu on Vimeo.

Info is scarce about Blu, the auteur of this seven minute animated masterpiece.  Once again, low-tech rears its head and kicks the everloving crap out of Speed Racer and any and all of its overblown high-tech minions.  I would venture that before the year is over, more people will have seen this video than Speed Racer (but probably not the new Indiana Jones....I'm just sayin').  You can view more Blu at BluBlu.org.  My brain is full.

LINK thanks, Steven!

Use Your Illusion!

So...I don't know if I've ever written about this on Extreme Craft, but instead of spending my teen years hunched over a D&D game or listening to heavy metal, I spent my time honing my magic and juggling skills.  I went to magic club meetings where Bill Morton, a venerable magician in his 90's with a nicotine-stained van dyke beard would hold court.  I graduated from simple card tricks and foam ball tomfoolery to some middling tricks, but I think that in the end, other high school activities such as drama club, art and computer geekery (I know, I know, a pussy train that doesn't end) lured me away from the magic world.

I still have a huge soft spot in my heart for magic, though.  I just got done reading Steve Martin's new book, where he spends a lot of time reflecting on a misspent youth in the Disney magic shop.  The illusions and stage patter were crazy antiquated back in the 80's, and I can only imagine how non-mindfreak magic acts must look to youngsters.  HOWEVER, there are still plenty of people out there keeping the traditions of magic alive.  Ricky Jay is a national treasure, and Penn and Teller manage to tear magic a new one (while simultaneously wallowing in Vegas schmaltz).

Yesterday's New York Times had an amazing article about John Gaughan, one of the last remaining old-school illusion makers.  He's gotta work for douchebags like Criss Angel and David Blaine, but he gets to create plenty of mind-melting classically inspired illusions (that don't involve steamrollers or Criss Blaine tearing his way out of another person's body like Taz.  It's great to know that his illusions don't generally involve high-tech CGI or other electronics:

In the digital age, when magicians have slick rock-style television programs and their illusions are on YouTube, Mr. Gaughan runs a low-tech operation. Three men work in his shop, and much of what is there is from another era, when a magician could send a chill through an audience by simply evoking Mephistopheles (as opposed to having himself run over by a steamroller like Mr. Angel has done).

“The way we do it here, we just get a piece of plywood and just start cutting and whaling on it,” said Mr. Gaughan, who in the abracadabra industry is known for “big magic,” such as levitating and morphing a beast into a prince in Broadway’s “Beauty and the Beast.” “We don’t even draw pictures or anything because it has to be built for your eye and in all different directions.”

The article talks about Gaughan's love of the Mechanical Turk, a famous automaton, and his quest to reproduce it.  His love of magic is apparent, yet not shrouded in the usual curmudgeonliness that one normally encounters with "magic types".  The Times also produced a little multimedia slideshow that walks you through some of the highlights of Gaughan's studio.  I've also uploaded a .pdf of the article for those of you who don't have a Times account.

LINK

Purls of Wisdom

One of my favorites from Maker Faire was definitely Corey Fogel, who presented his ongoing performance piece, "Purl Drums".  Fogel, who is both an accomplished drummer and artist, has combined two of his favorite things--DRUMMING and KNITTING!  It was astonishing to listen to his manic drumming accompanying the creation of a swatch of knitting.  I missed out on buying CDs that he was offering with the knit swatches that were documented on the actual CDs.  That, my friends, is technology.   Purl Drums was being presented right outside of the CRAFT building, and provided a cheery soundtrack for all of the people clamoring to buy the handmade stuff inside. 

Purl Drums was so popular at this year's Maker Faire that I figure next year we'll see him in some huge John Bonham style setup, knitting multicolor jumpsuits as the entire drum kit rotates (along with proper fog machine, lasers and fire).  A fanboy can dream, can't he?

Insert your favorite drummer joke here. 

LINK

Soccer To Me!

I've written about one of my favorite knitting projects, Schalala by German artist Rüdiger Schlömer before.  Basically, Schlömer (and his collaborative knitting circle) take European Soccer fan scarves and remix them into other words.  The results are ransom letter fabulous.  You can join him in one of his live knitting circles if you find yourself in Berlin, but if not, you can go to the Schalala website and remix some virtual scarves for yourself.

The word (sorry, bad pun intended) is out about Schalala.  Nick Currie (otherwise known as Momus) mentioned the project in a bit of blogging for the New York Times recently, and has followed it up with an interview with Schlömer on the AIGA website:

It’s more about identity and language than about fashion. Words as scarves; names, locations. The interface is an open tool on which you can do different things. There are a number of scarves you can choose from, you cut the virtual letters and recombine them, make a remix. You can also upload a picture of your own scarf, which can then be remixed by others. It’s cutting and pasting. You can go in there and make a special word, or just play around, see what words evolve. Écriture automatique. You can put a word together and take it apart, like Scrabble.

Typography nerds the world round are rightfully wetting themselves about Schalala.  Expect to see puzzled graphic designers gathered around the scarves at Schlömer's next show arguing about leading and fonts.  Many thanks to Rüdiger for the Extreme Craft shout-out as well...apparently I christened them "Frankenscarves" in my first Extreme Craft article.  Get your soccer gear and get hackin'!

LINK

XC in PDX

On Thursday, I'll be heading to the Crafty Wonderland that is Portland Oregon for ArtBeat, Portland Community College's annual art extravaganza.  Thanks to PCC, and particularly the ever awesome Bean Gilsdorf (an amazing Extreme Crafter).  While I'm in Portland, I'll hopefully get to soak up the goodness that is Velveteria, Voodoo Doughnut, a Prom and last but not least, the Portland Museum of Contemporary Craft.  Here are the details:

Thursday, May 15th, 7pm
Extreme Craft Roadshow
Southeast Center
2305 SE 82nd and Division
Mt. Tabor Hall 143/144

Friday, May 16th, 1:30pm
Garth Johnson Artist Lecture
Cascade Campus
705 N. Killingsworth St
MAHB 108

I don't know why Portland gets to be more crafty than the rest of the country...it just does.  I'm looking forward to a fantastic weekend of total craft immersion.  Portland!  Come out to play!

Movin' Movin' Movin'

Okay...my visit to Eureka a couple of weeks ago wasn't just an idle flight of fancy.  I was interviewing for a teaching job at the amazing College of the Redwoods.  I'm happy to report that I'm joining the College of the Redwoods family in the Fall and moving up to Humboldt County!  Goodbye Orange County... I'll miss your Vietnamese restaurants, decaying surf culture and the swap meet on my college campus.  Huntington Beach is hard at work destroying anything charming in its past, though--the beach there will be wall to wall luxury hotels the next time I come back to visit.

I'll be saying hello to what I feel is the most beautiful part of the United States.  I've always loved the ferns, redwoods, mountains and climate of Northern California.  We won't be moving until July, but Claire and I are already excited.  We'll have to miss the Kinetic Sculpture Race this year, but it'll be a fixture in our lives for years to come.  I'm ready for Humboldt County...but the question remains, is Humboldt County ready for me?!??!!