city of craft :: toronto's celebration of all things hadmade

	Installations This year, we are happy to present installations throughout the Theatre Centre and in surrounding Queen Street West venues. Click around on this page to find out more about all the things to see and interactive fun to be had! * * * Photographic Cameos - Dirge II - CROSSiNG - Multimedia Bookwork In-Progress Security Envelope Project, The - Flaming Flakes - Cupcake Day * * * Photographic Cameos by Danijela Pruginic with Li Sui Theatre Centre Upstairs At this year's City of Craft, celebrate yourself like its' 1799! Come visit us at the photo booth upstairs where we'll turn a picture of you into a personalized cameo fridge magnet. This collaboration between a local photographer and a paper-cut artist puts you in the frame in this modern take on a popular Victorian portrait style. The process is simple: we'll take a picture of your profile, shot through Li's paper-cut frame and put the finished product on a fridge magnet that you can take home and admire every time you open the fridge door. What's more, this need not be a solitary portrait; come with a partner or a friend or your puppy even, and we'll put both of you in the same frame! You will find us by the flashing lights upstairs! Danijela Pruginic Danijela Pruginic is a Toronto-based artist and commercial photographer, whose work has appeared in a number of local publications, as well as exhibited locally and internationally. See more of her work on www.danijelapruginic.com Li Sui Li Sui is a local artist working in numerous media, including paper-cut and die-cut designs. Her hand made, paper-cut designs often portray traditional Chinese lifestyle scenes, but also simple designs of flowers and nature. See more of Li's work online or her newly opened store CL Beads & Accessories (1958 Yonge st. Toronto) * * * DIRGE II by Tara Bursey paper tea sleeves, adhesive Window display at League of Lovers and Theives 1156 Queen Street West DIRGE II is part of a body of work originally inspired by the idea of the Chinese bound foot shoe as a metaphor for the ways individuals can be bound similarly by traditional and contemporary facets of society, particularly from a female perspective. The work explores and juxtaposes imagery relating to foot binding with ideas and materials which reference mass-production and the role of the body in industry and manufacturing. At the root of the work is an interest in visually and materially exploring past and present forms of oppression and de-mobilization. DIRGE II is comprised of hundreds of origami shoes made of jasmine and green tea sleeves. The use of origami alludes to comparisons between hobby-craft and manual labour/assembly line work. The use of packaging is also central in it's allusion to package and product, garment and body, and the use of both the garment and the package as a cover or false front for what is truly contained. Tara Bursey Tara Bursey is a recent graduate of the Toronto School of Art's diploma program, and a former student at Ontario College of Art and Design. An artist whose practice encompasses sculpture and installation as well as drawing, printmaking and craft, Tara's work is characterized by its use delicate sculptural materials such as eggshells, garlic skin, hair, found garments and paper. During her studies at the Toronto School of Art, Tara was the recipient of TSA's Barbara Barrett Scholarship (2004) and Matthew David Stein Scholarship (2005). In the past two years, she has exhibited extensively throughout the city in a diverse range of venues, from storefront window installations and telephone poles to the Textile Museum of Canada, the Ontario Crafts Council, and in group exhibitions in Halifax and Copenhagen. Tara's most recent projects include acting as Curator of She Said Boom! Window Space, and working as one-third of the Toronto Zine Library Collective. In addition to her work as a fine artist, Tara also operates actively within Toronto's independent music and small-press communities as a DJ, illustrator, designer and writer. She was born and raised in Toronto, Canada. * * * CROSSiNG – Cloud Painting #4 by Lynn Harrigan and Scott M2 Theatre Centre Upstairs *CROSSiNG – Cloud Painting #4* is the latest multimedia collaboration between Lynn Harrigan and Scott M2. Fibers meet electrons in an evolving work of gradual transformation and revelation. The soundscape component of the installation was created by dreamSTATE (Scott M2 and Jamie Todd) and the accompanying fiberscapes by Harrigan. Lynn Harrigan Lynn Harrigan is a fiber artist, poet, and teacher. Following the publication of her verse novel, Moon Sea Crossing (Black Moss Press 2005), Lynn began to explore visual modes of poetic expression. Initial experiments with textiles ignited an obsession and embroidery quickly became the focus of Lynn's artistic practice. Scott M2 Scott M2 is the founder of electronic soundscape project dreamSTATE and a curator of THE AMBiENT PiNG live music series. Other projects include Oblique Poetries wordsoundart with poet/artist Lynn Harrigan and his Muse Concrète photographic works investigating the possibilities of ambient film and multimedia to induce a slower, subtler relationship with time and space. * * * Multimedia Bookwork In-Progress by Shannon Gerard *Theatre Centre Upstairs* Sneak a peek at this multimedia work in progress - a comic book that integrates traditional crafts with comics and bookbinding-- all of them marginal creative practices that are beginning to appear within the spectrum of contemporary art. Shannon Gerard Shannon Gerard envisions an entire plush world. Starting with: crocheted plush anatomy, plush plants you can't kill, plush moustaches, and plush donuts and cookies. She also makes multi-media book works and comics and draws pictures for love and money. * * * Security Envelope Project, The by Becky Johnson Theatre Centre Broom Closet (Downstairs) Security Envelope Project, The The Security Envelope Project is an undertaking in reuse, archiving and design fetishism. Made from the insides of used security envelopes, this button series took on a new life when opened to public contribution this past fall. Since October, more than 100 people from around the world have been sending used envelopes to Becky's Parkdale apartment. Thus far, over 200 unique patterns have been identified and turned into 1" buttons with more envelopes arriving every day. For City of Craft, a sampling of 100 patterns will be set out for display on a magntic grid in the Theatre Centre's Broom Closet. This will mark the first public showing of this burgeoning project. For more information than you could ever want on this project and security envelopes in general, check out the sweetie pie press blog. Becky Johnson Becky is the proprietress of the sweetie pie press, a Toronto-based crafty company that specializes in zines, 1" buttons, prints, crochet and other handmade ephemera. She really likes making lists and keeping track of things and considering garbage. * * * Flaming Flakes by Day Milman Hanging from the Theatre Centre rafters Come marvel at this airborne snowstorm made of laser-cut reams of tissue paper. It will be all around on the big day. * * * Cupcake Day by the Knit Cafe At the Knit Cafe 1050 Queen Street West Cupcake Day On December 13th, the Knit Café in partnership with the City of Craft will be hosting "Cupcake Day". Shoppers can rest their feet, sip on a latte and munch on (you guessed it) a cupcake! In keeping with the spirit of DIY you can design your own cupcake confection, load up the icing, and add on adornments to your hearts content. To add to the cupcake-fun the Knit Café will feature a special display in their gallery window. Cupcake eaters and passers by will be treated to eye-candy in the form of multiple knitted cupcakes in all the edible colours of the rainbow. These fuzzy cupcake sculptures will be on sale, so you can have your cake and eat it too! If you are crafty you can make your own knitted cupcakes. Knit cupcake patterns will be available at the café on December 13th, and December 13th only. Then, bring on the night! The Knit Café will be presenting their very first live performance event. The show will begin at 9:00pm and feature the musical craftsmanship of Andrew Vincent and Tanya Davis. Emerging from the rock and roll scene in our nations capital Andrew Vincent style of frank and simple commentary is toe-tappingly relatable. His lyrics play it for-laughs and play it for-real. Tanya Davis is PEI's acclaimed poetess with guitar. She is a fearless lyricist, drawing on the bitter and the sweet. Her musical refrain is constructed from sharp instincts and strong word foundations into beautiful sparse arrangements. This is bound to be a sweet and special evening, and there may be some cupcakes left too. Tickets to the 9:00 performance are $7 in advance and $8 at the door, available at the Knit Café - 416 533 5648. The Knit Cafe A stone's throw from the City of Craft, snuggled between Doverourt and Ossingtonon Queen St. West is the Knit Café. Part yarn store and part eatery it is the coziest of places, ripe for winding away the hours and telling yarns.