political
August 30, 2009
May 07, 2009
April 28, 2009
Mountain Music
Heres To The Long Haul played at our local collective last night. They play grassroots Appalachian Music and also bring awareness to the injustice of coal mining and mountaintop removal in the south. There was a good turn out of folks and we had a chance to have some nice conversation with the band. I spent the night knitting squares for the Codepink banner while listening to the band... to be hung in Washington on Mothers Day.
We closed in the stage this weekend. We still need to paint the front bottom panels. It's starting to fade nicely into the woods. Now the front can be removed for shows when we aren't using it for something else. I think I'd like to have a day of mountain music wafting through the trees.
April 18, 2009
April 17, 2009
Support
FADGE FEST is happening tomorrow in Hartford. I've been invited to participate in the parenting workshop/discussion. There's also a workshop happening on "Crafting as Social Movement."
April 16, 2009
Radical Knitting
A Radical Act of Knitting in honor of Mother's Day!
Calling all Codepink knitters! We are creating a beautiful, quilted cozy to cover the fence in front of the White House to honor Mother's Day. The message will be “We will not raise our children to kill another mother’s child”-inspired by Julia Ward Howe’s Mother’s Day Proclamation. We’ll be piecing it together from individual squares knitted by YOU as part of the 24 hour Mother’s Day vigil for Women who live in War Zones. The best part is you don’t have to be an experienced knitter to help! This is perfect for knitters of all skill levels—and a great opportunity for those who want to learn! Celebrate the time honored tradition of the radical act of knitting. How-to-knit page here (just in case!)
What we need:
4” x 4” squares, as tightly knit as you can make them, but the stitch of your choice Yarn in either dark green or a fabulous shade of pink- take a little inspiration from CODEPINK’s signaturePINK. Note: We will need a ratio of about 5 pink squares to 1 green square to spell out the message.
We need all pieces by May 4th so get out your needles gals (and
guys)!Please take 1 minute to send us a quick email to tell us how many squares you plan to make and in what colors. We need to know in order to make sure we have enough to spell out our message. Email Janna at codepinkcozy[at]gmail.com
Send your knitted creations to:
CODEPINK House
712 5th Street NE
Washington, D.C.
20002
Please note:
Please remember to email us here to let us know what you sent. We’ll keep you informed as to whether we’ll need more pinks or more greens as we near the deadline for the squares to arrive at the PINK house, deadline is May 4th.
Please safety pin your name and city to each square, we hope to be able to show you where your square(s) are in the finished quilt.
Pass this invitation on to fellow knitters. It will be a beautiful start to Mother’s Day and we would love to have thousands of women present with us with the love, passion and desire for no war in sewn into their squares.
March 08, 2009
Simple Sunday Collage
Quilt Collage
All Photos taken by Artists on Flickr (search quilts to find these artists).
This booklet is a good review of the Consensus model of Formal Consensus Decisionmaking.
Consensus is the website for resources for this model of organizing.
Our Collective met yesterday to participate in a Conflict Resolution Workshop. We covered many areas from talking about internal issues in the Collective, to problem solving, learning/reviewing positive forms of communication...with role playing activities to help facilitate positive change. While it is was agreed upon that the meeting would remain confidential...I thought it helpful to post the important above links to go over and review.
March 07, 2009
Conflict Soup
Today at a local Collective, we are having a Conflict Resolution Workshop. We've had alot of internal problems at the Collective. Today is an attempt to perhaps begin to heal those issues or see if what we need to do is end our effort. I'll write more about the workshop later. Collectives are difficult beasts to maintain. I made a Vegan Soup for the day...one of those throw everything in the pot type of soups!
Here is some thrift fabric that I picked up for projects as yet to be determined. An entire piece of wool felt, wool sweater, flashy red/black print fabric and a round tablcloth on top. I will most likely make creatures or dolls with this stash.
February 19, 2009
Shadows
Misty Mawn made this beautiful video...
I created this mandala after watching the video.
Afghanistan Fractures
I hope that the light can overcome the shadows that exist...
February 07, 2009
Handmade Nation: The Rise of DIY, Art, Craft, and Design
I'm reading this book Handmade Nation . The Documentary is being shown in select places now. I love what's sprung up around the DIY community. Everyone is an artist!
Excerpt from the book:
Craft: It's What You Make of It
by Andrew Wagner
The term "do it yourself" (or "DIY") as a point of differentiation within the world of craft has always struck me as odd. Aren't the words "craft" and "DIY" interchangeable? Aren't all makers, to some extent, doing it themselves? Like everything else in life, though, craft is not linear. And when confronted with the tangled webs that have been woven into the realm of craft, human instinct kicks in and inititates an innate drive for definition. But craft is a big, unwieldly beast of a phenomenon not so easily wrestled into its Sunday best. Encompassing not just a singular activity (in a very broad sense, the act of "making"), craft also often carries with it an ideology suggesting a particular outlook on the world. In other words, craft is not simply about making but about making a political statement - for better or worse - and has been since the days of John Ruskin, William Morris, and the Industrial Revolution. This, of course, is where things get tricky. Some people want to embrace craft for its essence of craftmanship - that is, the quality of a piece of work, the time and effort that went into its production. Others are excited by craft becaue of its inherent otherness - that is, its unique ability to set its practitioners outside of mainstream industrial society. Making your own clothes, your own dinnerware,your own art has become a way to politely (or maybe not so politely) give "the man" the middle finger, for lack of a better term. The question then becomes, can you have one craft world without the other?
Despite what some say, it is on this slippery slope of mixed metaphors and ill-defined terms where things start to get exciting. I like to think of craft as a living, breathing thing - something so complex and at times convoluted that one would be a fool to try to pin it down. In this same way, I like to think of craft like I think of people - that is, creatures who are sometimes happy, sometimes sad: sometimes angry and violent, other times solemn and passive. A person is not complete if they are simply one way or the other. In much the same way, craft is not really complete if it is stictly confined by narrow definitions that fail to capture its vastness. Craft, removed from its political energy and ideologies, always seems to be missing something, while craft that exists merely as a way to make a statement seems equally at a loss. Therefore, one thing on which everyone seems to agree is that craft is complex and in need of a good psychiatrist. But those who manage to find a balance while steering clear of self-appointed mental-health workers purporting to have the craft cure-all are those who are able to create something unique - something that is truly craft, something that communicates. Craft is challenging but craft is also engaging. Craft is king and craft is queen. Craft is all encompassing and craft can be a circus. Without a doubt, it is all of this that makes craft difficult to understand and has caused fissures in the field. Some want it this way, some want it that way. But this uneasiness is precisely the thing that makes craft so good - it is what you make of it.
Admittedly, finding that balance on the precarious cliff call "craft" can be a struggle, as has been the case in recent history. Craft in the 1960's and '70's swung too far in one direction, as the hippy counterculture embraced it for its political, back-to-the-earth qualities while, for the most part, tossed actual quality aside. In reaction to this, makers of all sorts looked to distance themselves from this fervant politicizing an embrace more attributes of the art world, namely its aesthetic values. As the '80's turned to the '90's, galleries and museums began to dominate the high-end craft world, and discussions with street-level craft movements had all but ceased. Fortunately, with the dawn of the new millenium, we've reached a moment of possibility, a chance at reconciliation perhaps. Maybe due to all the new (and old) information suddenly at our fingertips, the two worlds that were once connected at the hip have a chance to again draw from one another and elevate craft to its proper place in this world - as uniquely qualified leader and a grounded member of a society that often seems on the verge of chaos. Sounds like a good plan to me."
From the Preface:
"The fair stressed the importance of independent artist-made goods and having a platform to sell them. Without really being conscious of it, we were creating an independent economy free from corporate ties. I quickly realized I was a part of a burgeoning art community based on creativity, determination, and networking. I knew I found my people..."
"...We are celebrating a generation of makers. We are reshaping how people consume and interpret the handmade. I want to remind people that craft is what you make it."
"...Our community is just beginning to grow into our roles of knitter, bookbinder, shoemaker, painter, seamstress, potter, etc. We appreciate the generation of makers that came before us and from whom we draw inspiration and support. In turn, we are setting the groundwork fo future generations, leading by example and showing the creative paths you can take."
"...For me, sewing, playing music, making art and films, and even writing this book are about having control over my life. I am making my own destiny with what I create, whether it is with the materials I pick, the colors I choose, or the words I write. My aspiration is that the appreciation of the handmade will continue to grow in generations to come... "
