Renegade Craft Fair : Brooklyn 2006
06.21.06 By Collin David
Though largely overcast and humid, this past weekend’s Renegade Craft Fair in Brooklyn’s McCarren Park was an enormously pleasant event. Gathering creatives and crafting personalities from all over the East Coast and regions beyond, every one of the few hundred small tents that encircled the walkway along the main park area had wonderful, handmade, exciting things to share.
I came to learn of the Renegade Craft Fair though a long series of coincidences and friendships with other creative types. I’d been planning an outing to this, the second annual New York fair, for months, immersing myself in the world of handmade and recycled objects, and making some objects of my own. With a long-standing fascination with ephemera and the power of the human hand when laid to raw materials, it felt like I was finally among my people. Sure, about 97% of the Fair was cute, creative young women, but it had merits beyond that. You know, when I remembered that there were crafts there too, and not just long skirts and piercings. You might think that ‘crafting’ inspires images of seniors assembling quilts or prepackaged AC Moore schlock, but this was a young, terminally hip crowd. To the left here, you can see the wonderful miss Jenny Harada, politely posing for one of my photographs, and wearing one of her monolithic creations.
Dominant items at the fair included cute hand-sewn plush creatures, handbags, stylish wrist-cuffs with various designs and embellishments, small pins and plenty of raw materials to make your own wonderful crafts. As a self-perpetuating community, the whole atmosphere was very friendly and casual, encouraging the creation of more and more unique THINGS, never a fear that another vendor might be usurping another business with similar items. The appreciation that every single item was lovingly created was far more dominant, and while the prices on many of these items were slightly high, I’m always compelled to spend a few extra bucks on small record labels and independent creators and anyone who puts their heart into their works.
I ended up purchasing a small polar fleece octopus within about five minutes, which cost twenty dollars, from Fish Cakes. Secretly, in the back of mind, I’d vowed to find something cehpalopodic in order to quench my well-known cephalophelia, and this was it. Later, I’d find some expertly crocheted octopi at another booth, as well as small tiles painted with octopi at another, and be forced to restrain myself. Also making an appearance were plush robots and other various robot-themed works, including a hilarious little ‘zine called ‘Young and Mechanical’, a clever parody of the genre of teen-centric magazines that litter the racks near the checkout line at any given supermarket.
Speaking of ‘zines, I also picked up a Richard Pryor Coloring Book by Erica Waldorf for three dollars. While awkwardly drawn and thoroughly ridiculous, I was won over by a scene of Superman saving Mr. Pryor from some unseen danger. I’d like to venture that the Man of Steel was trying to save Mr. Pryor from himself. My 
purchases were mostly small 1” buttons to add to my growing collection on my multi-purpose satchel (or, if you’re a jerk, my man-purse), two significant purchases being from a 25-cent gumball machine filled completely with small treasure eggs, each with a unique, one-of-a-kind button inside. The machine, re-purposed by a young male crafter, proudly advertised ‘COLLECT ALL 20,000!’, which was pretty much a siren song to a collector such as myself. After inserting a quarter, I turned the crank and got a button which illustrated ‘cocaine’. Luckily, my second mystery pull was a button of a brain. Clearly, the two were meant to be together, a perfect combination of self-destruction. You can guess which one I’ll not be wearing to work. Oh, and for the ladies at work, librarians all, I picked up some small ‘I read banned books’ pins.
The Renegade Craft Fair website tells the story of two women who single-handedly pulled together a large community of crafters into events both in New York and Chicago, further revealing a huge network of craft fairs that take place across the United States, attracting all kinds of people who enjoy getting their hands dirty and making fine objets d’art. This network is further revealed within the many connections on MySpace between crafters trading, collaborating on and promoting their wares, and the list of hundreds of websites that Renegade presents on their event map. The Chicago event will take place in September, if you’re in the area.
So, a subculture is revealed, and for me, it’s an exciting and inspiring one. When you think of crafts, please don’t think of log cabins made out of popsicle sticks or country-chic wooden placards with gingham paint schemes and outsider-art angels declaring ‘Home Sweet Home’. Think of fine art redefined and made accessible, because the line is thinning, and it’s a thrilling one to walk.
Related items currently available for sale
|
|
|
|
|
|
---
Article Tags: Brooklyn, Craft, event, gathering, McCarren Park, Renegade================
Gotta Collect? Then You Gotta Connect - Join our Collectors’ Community!
