Dun-nu-nu-nuh, Da-nu-nana-nuh, TEQUILA!

Posted on June 17, 2009 by meghan

Pack Rat ate the worm!

2upintro1800tequilla I was milling around Grand Liquor on 31st Street in Queens yesterday, trying to remember what vintners make this sweet ass $3.99 bottle of gewurtztrameiner wine (a.k.a. the German-sounding flower wine. It tastes like a bouquet of lilies. And this is a good thing). Coming up short, I left the liquor store, walked down the street, stopped, and walked back. It is rare that a store display makes me backtrack, let alone one for alcohol. But they had a whole long window with little 1800 Tequila bottles on tiered pedestals, and each bottle was a little explosion of pop art.

Fortunately, there was a ginormous sign to indicate what the heck these bottles that looked like lava lamps on acid (is that redundant?) were all about. It read “Some say art is ‘unessential,’ that we can live without man-made beauty, that anything which does not have a ‘practical function’ is a superfluous luxury item. We strongly disagree. Not only do we believe that hand-crafted things are important, as they enrich our days and celebrate life, but we believe that the creation of art and art appreciation are among the greatest reasons to be alive…Art is everywhere. It is in every form. It is very much ‘essential.’”

To this end, 1800 has come up with their Essential Artists line of limited edition bottles. Each features the bizarre, highly-graphic, and somewhat disquieting/engaging work of a different artist. The goal is to feature the work of 1800 different artists over time. Right now they just have 8, but this thing only started in April so give them a break. The kind of work that they are featuring so far is great. Really vibrant with strong points of view and not too much pretension. The kind of stuff you would expect to see in a mural on the side of a building, and I mean that in the best possible way. You know, stuff that has real populist appeal. And the best is, you can slap some of this fine art onto a pair of sneakers for some totally killer kicks. Holla! Cause even though I love me some art, I really, really love me some art AND some practical function. Although at $250 a pair, maybe they’re not so practical. Nor are the actual bottles of tequila, which also cost some serious bread, and while the tequila may be functional, I’d hardly call it practical. Mark this one up in the “better to look, not touch” category.

Inspired? Visit the 1800 website and create your own bottle design.

Item Du Jour #33

Posted on May 13, 2009 by meghan

Pack Rat has two ears and a heart–that’s why we love Phil Collins.

Look what I just bought! Honest to God, I am totally in love with The Utilitarian Franchise. This guy makes THE. BEST. STUFF. ON. EARTH. Snapple may try to make that claim, but oh ho ho hooooo boy, they are way off. Quick test. Which is better? Unique, affordable ($9.00 – $12.00 a piece), and blazingly surreal art slapped onto a hand towel…or some kind of artificial ice tea that tastes like bowel cancer waiting to happen? If you’re on the fence, let me remind you that these towels don’t just look like a Wonderland dream, you can also use them to dry stuff. That’s two, count ‘em, TWO great uses in one. Where as Snapple…well, now that the Snapple lady is gone, they don’t really bring much to the table at all, do they? Stop surrounding yourself with mediocrity in your everyday workhorses. Fill your home with stuff that you’re going to love! And if you think I’m talking about Snapple, there’s just no hope for you.

View my most recent acquisitions. Do it.

photo copyright by The Utilitarian Franchise

photo copyrighted by The Utilitarian Franchise

Better Than a Dumpster

Posted on May 12, 2009 by meghan

Pack Rat is one angry dwarf…and don’t forget our black t-shirt.

Imagine if you still lived life like you were in the second grade. Your boss denies your vacation request? Demolish him on the 4-square court. Know your multiplication tables up to 10? You’re a freaking genius! Have a blue foil star. And you glued a stack of popsicle sticks together in one fire-hazard sized pile? Instead of sad and slightly disturbing, it’s artistic. Looking at the stash of reclaimed art supplies at the Materials for the Arts warehouse in Long Island City, NY brings back those grammar school feelings of standing in front of the open art closet–big possibilities. MFTA opens their art and crafts treasure chest to artists and groups who need cheap or free swag in order to make their creative vision a reality. For 31 years, MFTA volunteers and staffers have been saving perfectly good arts supplies from the landfills and playing matchmaker, pairing them with the appropriate causes. Their warehouse is a veritable candy land of paint, glitter, yarn… So, actually, maybe not so much like a land made of candy, but definitely as good. Just seeing it will make you feel like a kid all over again. And knowing that a bunch of schools benefit from the MFTA resources, means that they’re helping today’s kids have that same kind of excitement. So support them how you can. Live near by? Volunteer: volunteer@mfta.org

However, unlike second grade, if you eat the paste there will be repercussions. You know who you are. Actually, depending on the kind of paste you ate, maybe you don’t.

photo copyright by MFTA/Susan Springer

photo copyright by MFTA

Reconnecting the Dots

Posted on May 6, 2009 by meghan

Pack Rat refuses to give back any fillets of fish

Is there anything sadder than a discarded lotto ticket? It pretty much screams of dreams lost, broken, and disappointed, be they small or large. However, before that thought has you drafting a suicide note, take heart. Not everyone out there is a pessimist. Take artist Jean Shin, who sees these slips of sad trash more like prayer offerings to the gods of success. She has collected about $25,000 worth of lotto tickets and assembled them into a booming burg in a piece she calls Chance City.

Her city of cards, much like the dreams the lotto tickets represent, isn’t held together by anything permanent or stable. She uses no adhesive to bolster these paper slips, just a steady hand and gravity to assemble the sky scrapers. And, like a deeply cherished dream, somehow her precarious city works.

Shin says, “I feel like these are reflections of cities. Most people who move to cities experience a lot of hardship and work, not a lot of instant successes. So they learn the hard way by living in a city what defying odds is all about. Picking up your life and moving to the city and giving it all you can, your dreams may change — transform, but somehow, I think all of us retain that memory of something that they really wanted to do, and against all odds, are able to succeed.”

Hear more about Jean Shin’s efforts to look on the bright side of refuse at Morning Edition on NPR. And see more of her work in her “Common Threads” show, on display The Smithsonian until July 26.

chance_city

photo copyright Jean Shin

Explain This Blog

Posted on March 2, 2009 by meghan

Pack Rat does a binary solo: 00000100000111. Robo boogie!

Today I bring you a link to some free laughs. There is nothing funnier than a really good non-sequitur. And I mean nothing. Have you any doubts? Well then you, my friend, should immediately get thee to explainthisimage.com. Explain This Image is my favorite kind of site, the kind where the name says it all. Essentially, this is a gallery of the weird, the mysterious, and–some times–the frightening. The peeps at Explain This troll the Internet in search of the most bizarre images out there, pictures that without a caption and without a context seem completely foreign to the everyday life most of us lead. These little vignettes are either a creative writer’s dream come true, or nightmare as some of the pictures are so outlandish that it seems nearly impossible to ground them in reality. But even if you’re not a day-dreamer prone to trying to figure out the story behind the image, everyone can enjoy this finely curated collection of the ridiculous. Here’s a pair of my favs.

unxplained-photo-1 unxplained-photo-2

photos copyrighted by explainthisimage.com

Coraline

Posted on February 24, 2009 by meghan

Pack Rat is like a good tumble down the rabbit hole, if you know what I mean, wink wink

photo copyright LAIKA Inc./Focus Features

When times get tough, for better or worse the first things to go are what we deem “luxuries” and extravagances, also known as just about anything entertaining. Which can have a silver lining as it often forces us to dust off our imaginations and make our own fun. But some days you don’t feel like playing kick the can anymore any you just have to get out. The challenge then becomes getting the most fun for the least amount of money. Therefore it may seem utterly insane that I’m recommending a $14 movie. But I figure that you might spend just as much or more at the bar, club, restaurant, or whatever after dark shenanigans you may get into. And the movie Coraline, unlike yet another sushi dinner, will be a totally fresh experience.

Cartoon nerds and Neil Gaiman dorks probably won’t need to be convinced of this movie’s merits (I know I didn’t need to be), but for the rest of you out there, lets do the ol’ pros and cons bit. I’m gonna be straight with you right up front. If you don’t fall in the 8 – 11 year old range, or if you’re not a “child at heart” then this story probably isn’t going to do much for you. It’s another worn out retelling of Alice in Wonderland and, even more yawn inducing, a blatant re-purposing of another Neil Gaiman movie plot, Mirror Mask. The man can write comics, but apparently when it comes to film (or books that are adapted into film) he’s only got one story up his sleeve, and it goes like this: young pre-teen girl (in this case, Coraline) has a rough time at home fitting in with her family. She especially locks horns with her equally headstrong mother. Through a series of events, the girl finds herself in a topsy turvey world with elaborate strange creatures, including one that strongly resembles her mother. After enjoying a carefree romp in this new world, she declares that she prefers it to her old one and decides to stay. Once her mind has been made up, the maternal clone in the new world starts to reveal sinister intentions. It isn’t too long before the girl realizes that nothing can replace her real mother. She has to go on a mini quest and retrieve some trinkets in order to make her way home, yadda yadda yadda, happy ending.

But you know what? In some ways story is overrated. There, I said it. If I’m going to pay big bucks to see something on a big ass screen, I want to SEE something. I mean, the gritty reality of Slumdog Millionaire might make an emotional story, but you really wouldn’t miss anything if you waited until you could rent it for $4.99 and watch it at home. Coraline, on the other hand, is truly a wondrous eyeful. Nightmare Before Christmas director Henry Selick (ah ha ha. You thought it was Tim Burton, didn’t you? Yeah that’s what they wanted you to think. Burton had writer and producer credits) takes two cinematic antiquities, stop-motion animation and 3-D, does a little three card Monte shuffle with them, and boom! Transforms them into a movie going experience light years ahead of anything else in theaters.

The opening animation sequence of the film is like the safety instructions they give you on an airplane. As you don your glasses (cool, Corey Hart looking frames now, no longer those cheesy cardboard red and blue numbers), you see a spidery hand systematically dismantle a stuffed doll, which in and of itself is innocuous enough. But as seams are ripped, stuffing emptied and sutures re-sewn into the doll’s joints, a dark, creepy sensation begins to crawl up you leg, and as needle and thread come out of the screen and into your lap, it’s a tacit explanation that you better be sure you know where the nearest exits are. Which is not to say that the movie is unnecessarily jumpy or jerky. Unlike Nightmare, which was revamped for 3D theaters a few years ago, because Coraline was created with the original intention of being shown in 3D, it has none of Nightmare‘s flat moments where the 3D just seems to fade away, nor does it have any of the spinning vertigo/head ache inducing numbers.

Instead, what Coraline has is a wonderful symmetry of two thrilling media that combined produce one of the most otherworldly sensory experiences available. The stop motion animation that Selick employs gives a startling realism, a sense of texture, of depth, of shadow, and a general tactile quality that the recently omnipresent computer graphic imaging process has a hard time capturing. As Selick said in a recent interview with NPR’s All Things Considered, “Stop-motion is sort of twitchy; you feel the life in it.” He believes the beauty of stop-motion is in the traces that remain of an animator’s hand. And 3D filming, in this case, wasn’t for shock value. Selick uses it as a piece to his story telling. He says he was looking for something to give the film the same feel as the Wizard of Oz, when the picture changed from black and white, to color.

So what if the story he is telling is a little drab. The world Selick creates is anything but. Working in tandem with the standard digital surround sound, Coraline becomes a multi-sensory immersion into this fantasy land. Coraline walks through a garden and technicolor flowers pop open, their swollen red petals and yellow pollen vibrant and dazzling. She enters a darkened room and one by one, life-sized beetles begin to glow at different depths; you feel as though the closest is sitting right in front of you. A night sky bursts into a fractal swirl, and it is magic.

Coraline is a candystore filled with treats in bright, shiny packaging. It’s not enough to make a meal, but by God it is a satisfying indulgence.

Coraline the book, photo copyright by HarperCollins

A Little Nepotism Never Hurt Anyone

Posted on February 19, 2009 by meghan

Pack Rat: It’s all in the family

Before I begin today’s post, I just wanted to give a shout out and a thank you to Andrew Wagner, the editor in chief from American Craft magazine who took the time to comment on Monday’s Handmade Nation blog. If you want to read his take on this awesome movie premier, check it out here.

Now to get down to business. Today I am recommending you all go and drool over the fantastic photography by Alec Chvirko at alecchvirko.com. In the interest of full, and pretty obvious disclosure, I should mention that the artist is in fact my brother. And because I know any props I give my little bro here will just seem like the biased opinion of a big sister, something akin to putting a finger painting up on my refrigerator, I’m going to give you a little smidge of a taste because his work speaks for itself. He also has a new blog, so we can all enjoy the latest fruits of his labor, fresh. If you like what you see drop him a line. He enjoys talking shop.

photos copyrighted by Alec Chvirko

alec_chvirko2

Handmade Nation

Posted on February 17, 2009 by meghan

Pack Rat pledges allegiance to the United States of Craft

If you have been reading this blog, or have in any other way been clued in to the arena of indie craft, then you’ve probably heard the buzz surrounding Handmade Nation, an independent film directed by the co-owner of Paper Boat Boutique & Gallery , Faythe Levine, with Michaela O’Herlihy as the director of photography. I was fortunate enough (and for once in my life, on the ball) to see the New York Premier last Thursday, February 12th. And what an exciting event it was!

The premier was hosted by the Museum of Arts and Design in their new Columbus Circle digs. The show was sold out, but the viewing space was on the small side which made the atmosphere cozy and intimate. Around the room, it was a veritable who’s who of people in the D.I.Y./craft world. I spotted Andrew Wagner (Editor in chief for American Craft magazine) right away, looking stylish as always in a navy fleece and the only accessory a man ever needs: his handle bar mustache. And I just about fell out of my seat when I realized that I was only a seat and an aisle away from THE Debbie Stoller of BUST magazine fame.

But obviously, I didn’t come to rub elbows with celebrities (well…maybe just a little). What I really came for was to see the film that takes a loving look at a subject near and dear to me, new wave craft. As first time film makers, Levine and O’Herlihy did an excellent job. They cover a large swath of creators in the field, interviewing a bevy of people who use the whole spectrum of materials. From Nikki McClure‘s paper cuttings, to Jenny Hart‘s famous embroidery, to Deb Dormody‘s book making, the range of talent that Levine taps is huge; not to mention the personalities. The guys who run the ubiquitous buyolympia.com, the original online source for quality indie crafts, are pretty hilarious as they describe what it was like to package shipments while standing up for nine hours at a clip, for four months before they could afford to get chairs. And the down to earth, straight talk about the nature of the relationship between the artist and consumer from Andrew Scott and Breezy Culbertson, of the San Francisco shop Needles and Pens, is insightful and a bit edgy (in a refreshing way).

Levine and O’Herlihy are wise in opening up the forum of D.I.Y. discussion to not only those people who make the precious and precocious trinkets that we all devour, but also to the purveyors (those who love and believe in the artists enough to hock their goods but aren’t necessarily part of the creative process themselves), as well as magazine editors, presidents of organizations, and an assortment of other people who exist on the periphery of this cultural movement. It’s heartening to have everyone’s suspicions confirmed; that this new era in crafts is being driven by socially conscious creators and consumers alike, who turn to indie craft for complicated reasons, not just for a cute owl emblem. Certain themes keep resurfacing with everyone Levine speaks to. The idea of anti-mass production, of a one of a kind sensibility; the concept of reused materials, re-purposed items, and provisions used completely; and a freedom/expansion from the claustrophobic world of “fine art” are repeating motifs.

In the end, however, the film left me wanting more. There is such a massive consensus among everyone involved about what the movement means and why it’s occurring, that there doesn’t seem to be any narrative tension to move the film along. The aforementioned ideas reappear over and over again, almost to the person. I kept asking myself as I viewed Handmade Nation, “if I was a complete neophyte, with little to no interest in this subject, how would I feel about this movie?” And I found myself wishing for something more inviting, more compelling for outsiders. Levine takes a democratic approach, inviting all of her guests to have equal screen time. Which is exactly what a good friend should do…but maybe not a director. Interviewees with real screen presence, insightful points of view, and captivating stories are dutifully left behind in favor of some elaborate, yet drab discussions of favorite pieces, fun craft shows, etc.

And while the truth is that in indie craft, you end up seeing a lot of the same images over and over again, (someone in the film commented that the concern is always, how many bird and apple printed things can people buy?) as someone pretty familiar with the topic, I was hoping for more innovation, for more surprises. Although there is still plenty to be said for the pieces featured in Handmade Nation. I especially fell in love with the segment on Knitta, the guerrilla group of urban knit “taggers.” And Mandy Greer‘s crochet installation pieces are so dramatic and enchanting that you feel like your stepping through the rabbit hole while you’re looking at them. (Side note: Greer was on a discussion panel after the film. While explaining what place her crochet has in her life, she mentioned that while she is creating a piece, she carries it everywhere with her, working on it in little increments all day long until it is done. And in this way, her life gets woven into the larger picture of what she is creating. I thought that was such a wonderful idea.)

Ultimately, however, these small issues do little to mar the whole. Handmade Nation is an exhilarating portrait of a movement propelling forward, seeming to gain in power as our country wakes up to the realization that the gold cow of consumerism is a crappy false idol. Hopefully Levine and O’Herlihy can help introduce a new path.

I’m on a Mission

Posted on February 3, 2009 by meghan

Pack Rat hates the word “photog”

Okay, so anyone who’s spent any amount of time whatsoever on this blog knows that I go absolutely ape shit for good graffiti. Especially stuff that’s kind of raw and hidden away, stuff that doesn’t necessarily look like there’s an ad campaign attached to it. But, I was standing on the subway the other day (because the subway has been packed with wall to wall meat puppets recently, with nary a seat in sight), and the new little unnecessary waste of tax payer’s money TV screen on the W train flashed that there was no graffiti or “scratchitti” allowed. “Scratchitti?” You mean to tell me there’s a whole other method of public displays of anonymous art? Fucking sweet.

I quickly looked into it, using the awesome power of Google, and was disapointed to find that my initial search didn’t turn up anything of note. Scratchitti, it seems, has only really reached the primative point of carving words into surfaces with clumsy block lettering. But I am still intrigued and hopeful for the potential of this new (yet centuries old) form of street art.

Now, something I know to be a relatively new phenomenon (and by relatively new, I mean in the last decade or so. What, you expect something more cutting edge? What do you people want? I have a life you know. Jeez.) is art ala USPS sticker. This is where the artist punks out because he/she doesn’t want to get caught doing real graffiti and instead doodles a little something on a USPS label and slaps it on some random public place. But I’m not hatin’. Some of the stuff out there is really fun, and probably a sticker is a bit more socially conscious than a massive painting or a forever scratched window. At least a sticker can be peeled off by people with sticks up their bum about that kind of thing.

Although sadly, because of the stickers’ impermanance, it means that some of these gems will disappear almost as soon as they are put up, either removed by a vigilant public works drone, or washed away by a good solid rain. So, keeping that in mind I am out to preserve as many of these little devils as I can, and because I’m such a giver, I’ll make sure to post the best ones here so we can all enjoy these little acts of creativity. Like the one below, which I found at the corner of 32nd St and 30th Ave in Astoria.

AND, as if you weren’t already sick of me enough, this segues nicely into the other photo project that I’m starting. From February 2nd onward, I’ll be taking a picture a day for a full year. I know, hardly a new concept, but what the hell? Just because it’s hackneyed doesn’t mean it can’t be fun. Just don’t get your panties in a bunch about it. Take deep breaths and try to relax and everything will be fine. I promise.

sticker

Altered Reality

Posted on February 2, 2009 by meghan

Pack Rat is pulling your strings

Some people have marionette fears. I would never judge these people…except that I do. Now, don’t get me wrong. The soulless eyes of a baby doll can totally creep me out, given the right set of circumstances (like if I woke up and it’s little glass eyes were right there, staring into mine? I got a chill just thinking about it). But puppets? How can anyone be scared of puppets? They’re so cool. Now, while the figures who inhabit Chris Sickles’ Red Nose Studio 3D illustrated surreality aren’t technically puppets, they have all the allure of a puppet with their quasi-humanistic features slightly off kilter by strange, angled features and carved details that allow for some pretty serious dramatic shadowing. There’s definitely something Punch and Judy about his subjects.

But, unlike a puppet show where the boundaries of the stage always keep the audience aware that there are hidden hands pulling strings, the illustrations coming out of Red Nose Studio are so complete and detailed (with no strings visible), that you get the sense not that you’re looking at a staged photo, but rather a window into another, more magical world. What’s even better, is that Sickles seems to primarily ply his trade to niche magazines, so a lot of his wild dreamscapes are really illustrating a magazine article on, say, how annuities are a promising option for retirement income. Insane! Who ever thought someone could take such a concrete (and dry) topic and turn it into a conceptual visual of a man literally rooting himself to the ground? Or take this awesome example. The magazine article is about how to predict where your small business will be in five years. Sickles took that basic premise and twisted it around like a Rubik’s cube, and ended up with this whimsical, fantastic little guy peering into the future. I think Neil Gaiman wishes he lived in Chris Sickles’ imagination. I know I do.