The Autonomous Manufacturing Zone

There’ll be a catalog published for the upcoming “The Way That We Rhyme” show at Yerba Buena, and I just pulled together a preliminary mockup for my 2-page spread. It’s going to be a modest size (only 6″ x 9″ book format) but it will be in color, which is always a treat for catalogs. As an accent to the Counterfeit Crochet Project, my inclusion for the catalog is just a slew of images juxtaposing images of the project participants with “real world” counterfeiting images culled from news headlines and media sources.

Some of the images are from sweatshops, one is of a policeman confiscating counterfeit market goods, a knock-off market vendor, and there’s also a steamroller mowing down counterfeit items on the street.  I’m more interested in throwing these types of images into the mix of the project since I feel that a lot of the time people get stuck on the “craft” aspect of it and I want to keep emphasizing the “real world” genesis of the project. I’ve had many folks ask me if crochet is my “thing” and I have to keep insisting that even though the project centers around it as a medium (and definitely deals with the dialogue of the craft and crafting community), it is solidly rooted in my larger practice of trying to work through issues of illicit capitalism and a type of productive resistance.

Trust me, I’m not denying an interest in craft (far from it! Most of my work is heavily process or make-oriented). It’s just that I find it unsatisfying when folks can’t seem to push beyond that simple fact and get stuck on the crochet part. 

Crochet is the medium.Counterfeiting is the message. I insist. 

On another note, I was working with the designer at Yerba Buena today and we were doing some preliminary color test prints for the poster wall that will be in my final installation. I’m pretty excited, I think it’ll be great since it features most of the makers involved in the project. But after working on this catalog spread I’m also inspired to throw in a crazier mix of images and kind of muddy the waters of meaning with the juxtaposition. I have to fill two 4′ x 8′ panel sections of a wall, so that’ll be plenty of space. Niiiiiccce

I’m in the process of putting together the installation plans for The Counterfeit Crochet Project’s temporary home in San Francisco as part of “The Way That We Rhyme” show at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts. After travelling the project to three international art spaces in 2007 (UniversalStudios Gallery in Beijing, China; Green Papaya Art Space in Manila, Philippines; and Garanti Gallery in Istanbul, Turkey), it’s coming “home” to roost in my own city, which is pretty exciting. While trying to design the actual workshop and display area, I learned the free 3-D modeling program Sketchup that’s available via Google and came up with some great “fantasy” renderings that, while fun and a great way to stretch the creative imagination, didn’t necessarily make it in to the final cut due to space and budget constraints. Below are some details of the “fantasy” version:

The ceiling trusswork and plywood and 2×4 struts were my attempt to create a raw, almost basement-like space, but in the end we went for a more streamlined, less material-heavy design:

The gallery is being incredibly generous by fabricating and absorbing the costs of the construction, so in the end, a compromise was reached that I think does the project a service by being in the show and also showcasing the essential components: worktables, a rolling storage/display cabinet, a back display shelf that will hold actual counterfeit crochet bags, a poster wall that will have images of past makers, and a pamphlet/flyer rack where folks can take away little instructional booklets for counterfeiting on their own terms. The grey paneling lining the walls is homosote, a felt-like recycled material good for pinning stuff up to.

“The Way That We Rhyme” is curated by Berin Golonu and features a host of great feminist collaborative projects, including Miranda July, Nao Bustamante, Vaginal Davis, Laurel Nakadate, and more…

The countdown is underway: only about three more weeks until the actual opening, and I’m making checklists and trying to line up all my ducks in a row! Watch out for a posting of workshop times in which I’ll be leading small groups of invited guests to show the general public tactics of crochet counterfeiting :)