Extreme Craft

Old Growth

It's 2010, y'all!  I don't have many New Year's resolutions this year, but one that I did make was to catch up on some of the essential things that I've been meaning to post on Extreme Craft, but didn't.  At the top of the list is writing about James Krenov, a titan of the woodworking world who died last year at the ripe old age of 89.

I've got a small connection to Krenov.  I teach at the main campus of College of the Redwoods in Eureka, California, which is the parent school of the fine furniture program he started in 1981 in Fort Bragg, California.  I never got to meet him, but I did get to visit the woodworking program back in November, and I was blown away by Krenov's presence there. 

The school he started was, and continues to be a very special place.  A very select group of one dozen students are selected every year for an intense 9-month program that takes them from the basics of cabinet and furniture design through multiple projects, ultimately setting them on their own path.  An even more select group of five students are chosen to continue their studies for a second year.

Even though Krenov hasn't taught in the program for almost a decade, the students all know their connection with him, and many of them apply to the program based on his legacy.  Krenov's spirit is everywhere in Fort Bragg.  When Claire and I went into a cozy little restaurant for dinner, the owner regaled us with stories about Krenov when he found out I teach at College of the Redwoods.  I've heard from more than one person that he was "crusty" and "difficult" and "strong-willed", but he was also generous, with a large, infectious spirit that pushed students to achieve new heights.

Here's a link to a (rather long) video of his memorial service in Fort Bragg.  Colleagues, students and family members all took turns telling stories.  The entire video lasts nearly 1 1/2 hours, but it's riveting.

James Krenov was born in Siberia in 1920, but moved with his family to China, Alaska, and finally, Seattle.  Krenov was always attracted to wood, making toys and carving objects from the time he could hold a knife.  In his twenties, he moved to Paris, where he met his wife, and then they moved to Sweden, where he got a job as a model maker for an architectural firm.  In Sweden, he studied with Carl Malmsten, a legendary Scandinavian furniture designer, and ultimately set up his own shop.

Krenov was also a prolific writer.  He published his first book, A Cabinetmaker's Notebook back in 1976.  Rather than serve as a step-by-step technical manual, the book serves as a philosophical document, justifying why a human being would choose a career laboring with their hands in an industrial world.  Krenov published many other books and articles, including a novel, as well as The Fine Art of Cabinetmaking and The Impractical Cabinetmaker. 

Krenov's work and philosophy weren't sexy...at least not in the conventional sense of the word.  His work didn't have Sam Maloof's sinuous, organic lines, and he didn't work exclusively in rare, exotic woods, and when he did, they were used in just the right way.  He taught his students to use veneers in the traditional European sense (as opposed to the debauched Ikea sense), cutting them with hand tools.  Krenov taught students his common-sense approach to woodworking, encouraging them to understand the physics and logic behind wood as a material instead of pushing them into postmodern exploration.

His cabinets are simple and exquisite.  Krenov would often let a piece of wood sit around his studio for years before figuring out just the right use for it.  Here is a photo of the last, unfinished cabinet that he left in his studio when his eyesight failed him several years ago.  After that, Krenov devoted himself to making the hand-plane tools he taught his students to make, which he could do by touch.

James Krenov died on September, 9th, 2009.  He was surrounded by friends and family, and he reportedly died with a piece of wood in his hands.

Why do I consider someone like Krenov "Extreme Craft"?  To study hand cabinetmaking in the Krenov style is an incredible leap of faith and intuition in this age of technology.  Krenov was wedded to his materials in an intense, philosophical way.  He encouraged his students to think for themselves, encouraging revolution from within.  He traveled far away from the mainstream with work that was firmly attached to the trunk of the woodworking tradition, and he will be missed.

I encourage you to find out more about the College of the Redwoods Fine Furniture program and Krenov's legacy.  Here is a LINK to the program's website and a LINK to James Krenov's website.  Here is another LINK to a transcript of an interview conducted with Krenov in 2004 that is stored in the Smithsonian archives.  Finally, here's a LINK to the video of his memorial service.

She's Lump!

Hosanna!  Thanks to the magic of the internet, I now know the identity of the artist who created the gloriously NSFW image that I posted a few days back.  Friend of Extreme Craft Becky from Sweetie Pie Press thoughtfully forwarded me a link to Shannon Gerard's website.

The project that I posted is actually more benevolent than bacchanalian.  In April of 2008, the artist put on a show of crocheted breasts and penises (with testes) that had lumps in them.  It was up to YOU, the audience to detect the hidden lumps, thus educating you about the value of touching yourself.

Shannon is also an accomplished comic artist....and she has an Etsy Store, where you can purchase her educational materials.

LINK Thanks Becky!

Fäshion Förward

The highlight of yesterday's New York Times was a page devoted to Sacha Baron Cohen's longtime costume designer, Jason Alper.  Alper, who is also responsible for Borat's suspender-thong swimsuit, among other looks, was truly in his element designing for the new Brüno movie.  In true Baron-Cohen style, Bruno has been globe-trotting to promote the movie, leaving it to Jason Alper to design looks for each country that will make an appropriate splash.

Take, for instance, this fashion-forward bull-inspired costume.  Any fashion icon could've put on some matador-inspired clothing, but it takes a real man to go hooves-n-all with a sculpted, anatomically accurate bull suit.  The Times has a full slideshow of Jason Alper's greatest hits, including the aforementioned Borat swimsuit and Bruno's stunning half-suit.  My favorite nugget of information from the article was that he uses a lot of pre-existing fashion for Brüno.  There are people out there already making most of the far-out accessories and clothing that Brüno wears...it just takes a visionary to put the ensembles together.  The article also reveals that there was a significant scent component to Borat's suit...it was apparently purchased off the rack, but NEVER WASHED.

LINK

Not Your Grandmother's China (But Closer Than You'd Think)

Is Louise Graham the world's greatest living ceramic philosopher?  The problem with ceramic geeks is that we often have problems reconciling our own conspicuous consumption with our deep desire to eat our buckwheat groats out of a 16th century wood fired Korean peasant bowl.  I own plenty of amazing ceramic vessels that I use every day, but they're alternated with Fiestaware, pink Spode transferware and whatever else catches my fancy.  My fridge is full of Tupperware and nasty little plastic containers.

Like most other ceramic collectors, I'm a hypocrite who extols the virtues of the handmade while spending most of my time in the chilly, utilitarian arms of factory-produced plastic.  Louise Graham feels my pain.  Her work is a bridge between your Grandmother's fancy china and something I like to call REALITY.  Louise just graduated from the University of the Arts in London last year, but she's already churning out beautiful objects that mediate between the supermarket and your best white-party-gloves impulses.

 
Take her butter/cheese dish handle for instance.  You know the butter is coming out of the fancy butter dish the moment company leave.  Why not acknowledge the fact by using Louise Graham's butter dish handle?  Just attach it to the container your butter came in, and you've got a beautifully designed object that cuts through the hypocrisy without any extra dishes to wash.  Her milk carton spout honors the cow who provided your milk while not pretending that you just squeezed it out yourself. 

Her website seems to be coming soon...but in the meantime, you can purchase the milk spout, the butter dish handle and the Velcro egg cup from Pedlars' web store in the UK. 

A Plate Fit For a King

I'm honored to be a part of Greenwich House's annual "Made in Clay" exhibition.  You can purchase some of my first-ever functional paintball plates from the main show, and I put one of my Elvis collector plates into their online auction.  The show benefits Greenwich House's amazing operation, which helps bring ceramics to poor, clay-deprived New Yorkers.  This Elvis plate was a part of my 2005 show at Spalding Nix Fine Art, and is embellished with china paint and gold luster.  This limited edition plate is now one-of-a-kind. 

LINK

A Stitch (almost) in Time

Sigh.  It's February 4th, which means that I missed my chance to see Stitch Spectacular at the Dimensions Gallery in Savannah.  It looks like it was a sprawling survey of everything embroidery has to offer.  The participants in the show had novel takes on the potential of embroidery.  Allison Manch's piece, "The Producers (RZA) is a series of five embroidered hip-hop producers framed in old-fashioned daguerrotype cases.

I also loved Julia Wilson's "I Love You", which is exactly what it looks like...embroidery on a latex condom.  Form follows function!

The good news is that the good folks who created the show created a very detailed blog with photos from the exhibition, information about the artists and much, much more.  I wish I were there.

LINK

Ai of the Beholder

I'm constantly updating my Extreme Craft lecture (coming to Rancho Cucamonga on February 9th) and adding new artists, but one of the constants is Ai Kijima, an extreme quilter who was born in Japan, attended high school in Wisconsin, and currently lives in New York City.  She tirelessly combs through thrift stores for novelty fabrics like children's bedsheets and combines them with timeless vintage fabrics.   The resulting soup is an impeccably crafted narrative that has both humor and depth.

You only have a few more days to catch her most recent show at the Franklin Parrasch Gallery in Manhattan.  I managed to catch her last show, and it was a life-changing event.  There is no way for photos on the internet to convey the intense, meticulous craftsmanship that she puts into each piece.  Ai Kijima grasps the fact that quiltmaking is all about stories and tradition, and her quilts are part of this long continuum.  Her quilts also hold up well alongside the often "macho" painting world.  She doesn't have to push the quilting element in your face--her work exhudes confidence and can hold its own in any gallery or museum.

LINK to Franklin Parrasch
LINK to Ai's website

Pony Play

One of the things that has always stood out to me in thrift stores is the omnipresent big bucket-o-My Little Ponies.  Once, these beloved little ponies had love and attention lavished on them by countless little girls.  Now, however, they tend to attract dust in Salvation Army stores.  There's something particularly unsettling about the way that My Little Ponies age.  Even though the plastic bodies are nearly indestructible, they get smudgy and dirty in a way that makes me need to wash my hands immediately after touching them.  Their acrylic hair gets matted and tangled as well.  I can't quite imagine that many people would want to buy them and clean them up.

That's where I'm wrong, though.  Mari Kasurinen is a young artist from Finland who sees beyond the smudges and tangles.  She adopts My Little Ponies, then takes them home to her makeover studio, where she fits them with all manner of mixed-media prosthetics.  The final products reflect her obsessions with Hollywood and science fiction.  Her attention to detail totally stands out.  Whenever possible, the original manes and tails of the ponies are styled to help give the final product that extra glint of recognition. 

I'd go as far as call her the greatest genius of My Little Pony hairstyling EVER!  She also scavenges amazing mixed-media objects for inclusion in her sculptures--witness the menacing blades that the well-meaning Edward Scissorhands pony above is sporting.  She's also great at re-imagining her characters while maintaining the character and shape of the My Little Pony she's working on.  Mari Kasurinen's work deals with familiarity.  We've all seen My Little Ponies, Star Wars and other superheroes a million times, but her work is jammed full of wonder.  Perhaps part of that wonder comes from the fact that Mari wasn't even born when My Little Pony was hitting the shelves in the early 80's and can experience them with fresh eyes. 

Christ I'm old.  Remind me to tell you the story about the pony I got when I was a kid.  It was mean...which probably explains a lot.

LINK

Claire Choice!

Holy crap!  After two or three years of making plans and taking tentative stabs at making a website for Claire, she took the bull by the horns and made her own website last week.  I'm incredibly proud of her--now the world can finally get their bellyfull of glitter at Clairejoyce.com.  The above piece, "A Monologue Concerning Fashion and Place" consists of 20 individual wood panels and measures nearly seven feet on each side.

Each of Claire's glitter paintings are made with painstaking detail out of nothing more than glitter and glue on a wood panel.  It takes her at least two months two complete each piece, slowly dabbing glue onto the panel with a tiny brush and sprinkling the glitter on top.  Enjoy Claire's new web presence, but nothing compares to standing in front of the real thing.  For those of you in the Los Angeles area, you'll be able to see one of her pieces in January at the "Raised in Craftivity" exhibition curated by Maria Elena Buszek at the Wignall museum at Chaffey College in Rancho Cucamonga.

Her website also has examples of her mad skills at sewing, sketchbooking, installationing and drawing.  Go there now!

LINK

Hi-Wattage

I can't believe that it took me 35 years to visit Watts Towers.  I've lived near Los Angeles for nearly a year now, and a visit to the tower has always been near the top of my list, yet, like most residents of Southern California, I never managed to put together a visit.  When my friend Dan rolled into town, I knew that he would be as excited as I am about the towers, so I picked him up from LAX at 9 AM, and we made the short trek to Watts.  my first impression as we drove up to the towers was, "Gee...they're certainly a lot shorter than I imagined".  I'm sure a lot of people have that reaction.

It was only as we got out of the car and got closer that I realized how massive they are.  The towers were created by Simon Rodia, an enigmatic Italian immigrant that is usually portrayed like some sort of Boo Radley savant.  I had my misconceptions of Rodia shattered as I learned more about him from the Art Center that was built on the site.  Instead of being a hermit, Rodia was a tiny, (4'10"!) gregarious man with massive ambitions.  He seemed to be pleased as punch when his endeavors attracted media attention, and there were scores of articles and documentaries produced on him while he was still alive.

Unlike "Visionary" artists like Howard Finster, Rodia didn't seem to create the towers out of a religious need.  He had his own personal demons, but seemed to be fulfilling a need to leave a lasting impression on the world.  Once the towers were largely built, Rodia declared himself an ordained minister, and performed weddings and baptisms at the towers. His English wasn't that great, but he certainly interacted with the community around him.

As a maker, Rodia's ambition and dedication set him apart from others.  The towers, including the main tower, which is 99 feet tall, were created without any scaffolding, power tools or welding.  Instead, Rodia bent pieces of rebar using nearby train tracks as his workbench.  He used wire to connect the pieces, then covered them in chicken wire and concrete.  After he suddenly moved from Watts and left the towers to a neighbor, a local entrepreneur bought the towers for a song and wanted to make some money from them by opening a restaurant called "Taco Towers".  This attracted the ire of the city, who had long wanted to demolish the site as a hazard and an eyesore.

The neighborhood fought back, though, and the city agreed to submit the towers to an earthquake test before demolition.  A crane was rigged up to apply 10,000 pounds of force to the main tower, and as a crowd of gawkers and protesters gathered, the crane spun its wheels, eventually lifting itself off the ground as it pulled on the tower.  The towers were pronounced safe, and preservation efforts were put in place that eventually made them a national monument.

Dan and I were a little bummed out that the towers were closed to visitors, and will be through February of 2009.  Apparently, enough bits of concrete and mosic crack away from the chicken wire every year that repairs are necessary around every eight years.  Don't let this stop you from visiting.  Far from being a remote outpost, Watts is conveniently located off the 105 freeway, not far from LAX, Redondo Beach and other parts of Southern Los Angeles. The visitor center is great, as is the Arts Center, which reaches out to young people in the community, offering them the opportunity to express themselves through art.  Don't be like me and wait too long.

Finally, I'm including a YouTube video of the documentary that they show at the towers, a 1957 offering that features amazing cinematography and a fairly aggravating voiceover that keeps pronouncing Rodia's name as "rodilla".  It's amazing to see Rodia talking frankly about his project, and even more valuable seeing him shimmy up the tower with a full bucked of concrete.  In a happy alignment of circumstances, I had just watched Pixar's new movie, Wall-e about a garbage compacting robot that scours and transforms the waste left behind by humans.  In the documentary, you get to see Rodia doing the same--picking up broken crockery and glass from along the train tracks in Watts.  I also put together a small Flickr gallery of the pictures I took. 

What are you waiting for?  Get yourself to Watts...or better yet, start constructing your own tower in your backyard! 

LINK