Revolutionary Crafters Unite!

[soso17]

Not sure if this is the appropriate forum, if one wants to argue art vs. craft...

I consider myself an avid crafter, and I'm wondering who else might be out there. I really enjoy yarn/needle crafts (crochet, knitting, embroidery, tatting), sewing/quilting, scrapbooking/papercrafting, jewelry making, model building, and anything else my ADHD-self decides looks fun.

I hear a lot about socialist/communist/revolutionary arts and artists, but what about crafts? Yeah, it's no October revolution, but I think that handicrafts can speak to people in interesting ways. I've been dabbling in using communist themes in some crafts...steampunky jewelry in red and yellow with stars, hammers, sickles (corny, I know, but some of it just looks cool). I'm planning a quilt with a Soviet theme. Also, a couple years ago, when I lived in Chicago, there were "renegade knitters/crocheters", who would knit or crochet their work around bike racks, telephone poles, mailboxes (federal offense!), anything standing still. They didn't really do it for a "cause", but I've been thinking about doing something similar, but only with red yarn. I know, it sounds ridiculous, but it's very insidious, and everyone wants to know "why there's a doily on the bikerack?", etc.

I fully admit that I'm a total dork, so feel free to tell me so if you must, but I'm sure somebody (or somebodies) will be interested in at least discussing our crafts.

My red-dorky best,
-soso

[soso17]

Also, I have been tying bows out of red ribbon (a la Lenin) and pinning them to my coats, bags, etc. I call them my "worker's rights awareness ribbons". :p

-soso

[soso17]

Not to keep answering my own posts, but since no one else is...

I was thinking more about this, and after my latest "installation", I realized that crocheting the pieces around objects looks like they are wearing GPCR-style Red Guard armbands! (BTW, I'm not trying to glorify all the aspects of this period in time, it's just serendipitous). And I realized that this project is completely decentralized. Anyone who wants to join in can do so, without any direction "from above". Anyone who wants to collaborate on it can do so, but it's not at all necessary.

I was also thinking about ways to publicize what these symbols mean to the general public. Perhaps an anonymous webpage or facebook page...any suggestion would be welcome.

Thanks for the "thanks"...guess no one has much to say about this. I'll keep updating, even if it's only for my own amusement. :cool:

[soso17]

A bit off topic from my previous posts, but...

Just wondering if there are any other crafters on RevLeft. Not necessarily for revolutionary purposes, but just in general. Knitters, crocheters, textile artists, paper artists, wood carvers, jewelry makers, etc. I was thinking that we could have a group in the "interests" section to talk about and show off some of our work. Even revolutionaries need a hobby. :)

Any thoughts?

-soso

[Jimmie Higgins]

I do some DIY zines and comics and things of that nature and co-founded an art and politics group in Oakland. I see it as a way to sort of combine some cultural and political interests of mine that sort of fall outside of regular organizing/poltical work.

Our website can be found here: art 4 a democratic society (http://www.revleft.com/vb/www.a4ds.com)
We have some documentation from some art projects we've done and our store (http://www.etsy.com/shop/a4ds)where we have our zines and buttons.

I have a sort of love/hate attitude towards craft in the Bay Area. I like DIY and have since long before I was really all that poltical - I like oppositional subcultures in general even though often they aren't the most political scenes. I love the creativity people sometimes show, I like how immediate some DIY is and I like how people can take risks and do some left-field stuff because they are often producing creative things out of enjoyment.

But there are two main ways that Crafting around the bay area bothers me:
1) I think the emphasis on craft can often be a hindeance because it turns self-produced work into this wierd artisan thing where the form (hand-craft) is a niche commodity. While some of this kind of craft can be lovely, I think it also tends to produce a lot of vapid stuff that can be sold to hipsters for a lot of money because you made the paper yourself or used some antiquated technique that could really just as easily be photocopied. It's also just the antithesis of why I like DIY: I use photocopiers and computer programs to self-publish as cheaply as possible because acessability of the product and "anyone can do it" in terms of production are what appeal to me about this.

2) The Crafting lifestylism. The Bay Area is full of people who think if they buy or don't buy this or that or engage in this or that recreation then they are better people or reightious or something. This really annoys me because it's useless on the harmless end and just plain snobbery on the more annoying end.

Anyway: my two cents for what it's worth.

[Sasha]

Not sure if this is the appropriate forum, if one wants to argue art vs. craft...

i'm training to be an carpenter (furniture design and building) but i aproach it very much as an artist, not a crafter. no way i can compete with the chinese on craftskill nor price, its my artistic input that makes my stuff special.