CHICKS ON SPEED PRESENT GIRLMONSTER 3 : VIVA LA CRAFT!!!

BRING YOUR KNITTING NEEDLES! 29-01-09 // 21 h // KAMPNAGEL THEATRE, Jarrestrasse 20, HAMBURG, GERMANYKOKO VON NAPOO best newcomer band in the world, live from Paris, france. United in their love of reverb, synthesizers and destructured melodies, the band delivers a personnal and out of time electropop.

FILM: EUROPEAN-PREMIERE – SCREENING+ARTIST-TALK -”HANDMADE NATION” The Rise of DIY Art, Craft & Design BY FAYTHE LEVINE (USA)

Faythe Levine live in person @ GIRL MONSTER

for the screening of Handmade Nation www.handmadenationmovie.com

LECTURE: TATTY DEVINE (ROSIE WOLFENDEN + HARRIET VINE) DIY entrepreneurs from London. A Performance Powerpoint Lecture by the Queens of Craft themselves.

The Mount Cherries in Tatty Devine Brick lane shop and Ann Marie below wears 50´s glasses necklace

INDIGO DYE-VAT by TRAVIS BOYER (FLEX YOUR TEXTILES) Travis presents in dvd form, a guide to dying your own clothes, titled “Indigo Girls”, so everyone can learn how to dye their own stuff!

WORKSHOP with KATHI GLAS (CHICKS ON SPEED) Bring your clothes and Kathi will guide you through dying processes, knitting and bastling!

DJ SET: Chicks on Speed and Nadine Jessen

Handmade Nation, Documentary, 2009, 65 minutes, color Synopsis

A new wave of craft is capturing the attention of the nation. It has emerged as a marriage between historical technique, punk and the DIY (do it yourself) ethos while being influenced by traditional handiwork, modern aesthetics, politics, feminism and art. It is no longer just about cross-stitching

samplers or painting floral scrolls on china. Instead, it has increased its realm to embrace an emerging

movement of artists, crafters and designers working in traditional and nontraditional mediums and

methodologies to intervene in mass-market consumerism, to challenge the familiar and to attempt

creative and economic freedom. This movement created by craft forges a new economy, lifestyle and

burgeoning art community that is based on creativity, determination and networking.

The heart of the new wave of craft is the community. Artists, crafters, makers, organizers, critics,

curators, cultural theorists and historians come together to create a community that shares the desire to

produce change through the passion to create. By sharing ideas and encouragement they work together

to nurture entrepreneurialism, preserve feminine heritage and wield great economic power. Through

websites, blogs and online stores individuals in this widespread community can stay virtually tight-

knit while boutiques, studios, galleries and craft fairs connect to the greater public to inspire and to

promote.

In June 2006 first time director Faythe Levine began production on Handmade Nation (working

title Indie Craft Documentary). She set out with her one camera crew (DOP Micaela O’Herlihy) to

document the unfolding movement. Independently funded by community support and credit cards

Levine traveled to fifteen cities, traveling over 19,000 miles to capture what was unfolding around

America.

In April of 2007 a 8 minute clip was released via Youtube.com to generate interest and support.

Through this clip, Faythe Levine was approached by three publishers interested in the possibility of

a book. At this time Levine contacted her friend and fellow maker Cortney Heimerl to put together a

formal proposal that they submitted to who is now their publisher Princeton Architectural Press. The

outcome is a book based on the research collected through the documentary process featuring 24 of the

interviewed makers as well as four essays on the community. For additional information on the book

please see the press release below.

The feature length documentary features segments on influential indie craft community members

including Jenny Hart, The Little Friends of Printmaking, The Dirt Palace, Susan Beal, Nikki McClure,

Deb Dormondy, Mandy Greer, Stephanie Syjuco, Kathy Sever, Buyolympia.com, Whitney Lee, Knitta

and Jenine Bressner. Additional commentary is given by a number of other community members

including Debbie Stoller, Leah Kramer, Andrew Wagner, Jill Bliss, Garth Johnson and Heidi Kenny.

The stop animation opening title sequence was produced in 2008 with the help of Radar Studios and

director Sam Macon. Shot over the course of a 26-hour weekend it features the original score “Hands

On” written and produced by Noisola specifically for the film. Original music by Faythe Levine’s band

Wooden Robot is featured throughout the rest of the film.

Jenine Bressner in studio, Providence RI 2006, Handmade Nation production still

Choreography by Ryan Hugginfton

sexy crazy wool…and a knitting party in Paris Paris. Wool and the Gang knitting Chalet exclusively at colette in Paris.

Our meeting with Andrea Krews’s Maroussia! and some making action too! mel got to customise her own jacket! and we spoke about Girl Monster Donau Festival….Andrea Krews and Koko von Napoo doing something!!!!

Knitting Circle in Barcelona?

Today we hung the lamp, its looking lush….notice the detailing…..black woven electrical cable, like an iron has and the chunky plastic chain is from my favourite crafts store in The whole wide world, Tokyo Hands in Shibuya, Tokyo.

So its official, we now have a date for ” Girl Monster; Viva La Craft” 29th January, 2009 at kampnagel Theatre, Hamburg. This is an image Kathi Glas and I concepted together over the phone for VIVA LA CRAFT @ Craft Victoria, with Kathi then going away and creating it with her magical sewing machine in Berlin. Viva La Craft in Hamburg will be curated by Kathi and I. We’re hoping to get some special guests over from the fields of ol school craft and artists working with new technologies. We’ll post more on this once we know who’s coming, plus i’ll include some of our influences and inspirations…..More on the exhibition VIVA LA CRAFT at Craft Victoria, Australia as part of Loreal Melbourne Fashion festival soon.

Jane Adams – cultural Feminism and sociological ideas