notes and measurements

Small Change

I visited the space on Monday to measure and look at the windows. For the exhibit I will have two bays rather than three so I am trying to work on some new drawings. Twos are so much harder than threes! I forgot my digi camera when I visited. Luckily I could use my cell phone but the image quality is not as good as my original images.

Another version

224 Wallace-Wednesday

Making Stuff: An Alternative Craft Book

Check out the latest in the Craft and DiY books to come out from Black Dog, interesting small publisher in London, and because I have a pattern included!

Text-swipe from the Black Dog Publishing Website:

Making Stuff is a craft book for the 21st century. Filled with exciting and inspirational ideas to make at home, ranging from felted teacosies, to knitted i-pod covers, bread lampshades crocheted plastic bag hats, and everything in between, this book is for all those who are beginning to tire of the high street, and who are looking for something a little bit more personal, a little bit more individual... something they’ve made themselves.

The book is laid out clearly and accessibly; An introduction by Bust contributor Victoria Woodcock explains how the perception of craft has changed over the past century. Her writing is an informal, energetic call to arms, and the proceeding pages explain how to respond to that call. The first section of the book provides explanations of the basic skills; knitting, crocheting, sewing, felting and paper mache. The rest of the book is a collection of over 50 ideas, or 'recipes', if you will, for things that people can make in their own home. This is subdivided into five categories:

• Made to Measure - clothing and acessories
• All that Glitters - jewellery to complement the look
• Hipper Homes - a collection of homewares
• Sticks and Stones and Ice Cream Cones - a selection of random fun things to make
• Small Wonders - things to make for and with children

The ideas have been supplied by crafts-people and makers from all over the world—both professionals and amateurs. Each one is personably laid out in easy to read, step-by-step instructions, with a short biography of the contributor at the end. Photography and hand drawn illustrations guide the reader every step of the way, and a clean contemporary design, provides a much needed counterpoint to traditional craft aesthetics.

Making Stuff brings a fresh, exciting approach to a sorely neglected genre, and gives a voice to a new generation of young people, who find inspiration in making something out of nothing. It is beautiful, eccentric and useful, all at once, and is sure to become a well thumbed favourite for all people of a creative nature.

Other info:

Available:

UK: October
US: November

ISBN10:
1904772617

ISBN13:
9781904772613

224 Wallace-Tuesday

Italo Calvino: Invisible Cities

…From one part to the other, the city seems to continue, in perspective, multiplying its repertory of images: but instead it has not thickness, it consists only of a face and an obverse, like a sheet of paper, with a figure on either side, which can neither be separated nor look at each other. Italo Calvino, Invisible Cities Chapter 7: Cities and Eyes: 5

224 Wallace

New project...visual thoughts on windows...

fantastic

today's drawing is for a favorite word swap. I chose "fantastic" because I like to use it either sarcastically or enthusiastically: there is the energetic "FANTASTIC!" and the sarcastic, "Oh, that's fantastic."

Backtracking: Alley Inspiration:

Backtracking: Alley Inspiration: Surface Detail

Backtracking

I am applying to the Szpilman Award for ephemeral works of art and need to provide extensive documentation. I felt that it would be easiest to do on my blog, so here goes. Sorry for the backtracking though may be interesting to those who like process.

my alley- first look

Cities

We left London last year to move to Toronto and this editorial in last Sunday's New York Times by Michael Goldfarb called "This is London" really struck a chord...definitely a space for the "neighborliness of strangers"...What do you think?

PS To link to the article click on "Cities"

ruminating...

I thought that I could install everything on Friday evening but in reality, I needed Saturday and Sunday to place letters in between converstations. I thought that this was frustrating at first, but people really seemed to like to talk and were some how confused about what materials I was using for the lettering. Most people thought that I had stencilled on the quote rather than hand-cut sign vinyl. People were also confused about the lettering to the side thinking that I was using some kind of Islamic calligraphy. Especially the "moon and star" tile to the right of the second "13" which is actually an upside down right quotation mark and a period. Double-edged punctuation?

Alphabet Soup!

I am charging my batteries and sorting my letters. I wish I had thought of this while I was cutting! I will take more pictures this afternoon as things progress.

bigger heap of letters

Quaint?

As I am STILL cutting and listening to the news, I wonder if it is quaint to talk about the neighborliness of strangers. Bombs, bombings, fighting, terrorism...I think that this is all the more reason to talk about the neighborliness of strangers. Do we want our cities to be spaces of fear or of connectivity?

STRANGER ESTRANGEIRO!

While I have been cutting all day I have been thinking about "To You" and why I like it so much. I am also wondering about parallels between Whitman's city in 1900 and cities 106 years later.

I have found some clarity by reading the transcript of a lecture by the urban sociologist Richard Sennett.

Richard Sennett: Capitalism and the City

Sennett points to the "interactive complexity" of cities. He feels that one of the great virtues of urban settings is their diversity—they are places where we learn to live with strangers. Sennett adds that this interaction with diverse classes, cultures, languages, and races stimulates societies and expands lives. But, he also cautions that the "standardization of public consumption" has caused a neutrality of public spaces, which in turn diminishes the complexity of modern cities. It is more difficult to discover the strange and unexpected.

I like this poem so much because it is so relevant. Whitman asks his audience in 1900 to choose a space of self-knowledge rather than one of fear by welcoming the strange and unexpected.

Even though our cities, workspaces, consumption, and time have been standardized by capitalism and, terrorism has created spaces of fear in our cities, Whitman's poem reminds us to aspire to the neighborliness of strangers by finding new ways to engage with cities and with the people who live in them.

Alley Jaunt also seeks to reinvigorate our relationships to our city by giving viewers and artists a “passport” to venture off the grid and
(re-)engage with the nooks and crannies of our city.

Yikes!

Scrambling to cut out vinyl letters but just realizing that I did not mention that the poem that I am using in my installation is called To You by Walt Whitman in Leaves of Grass, 1900.

heap of letters

slowly cutting out letters using my lucky olfa cutter...bit of a hangover today...