Unique LA Spring Show: The Green, the Quaint and the Crafty
Paul T. Bradley Tyson Smith and Klara Nizki in the Maiden Voyage booth
For those of us who aren't sure whether the term "hipster" or the stereotype itself is more obnoxious, the daunting task of covering an event dubbed a "Hipster Mecca" has the potential to dampen a whole weekend. Instead, Unique LA's Third Annual Spring Show at the California Market Center surprised us with more than a handful of, well, unique and crafty folks. Here we were, ready to declare 2011 the Year of the Feather Accessory or clarion the Death of the Screenprinted Totebag, but instead we found the Green, the Quaintly Crass and the Uniquely Crafty.
Paul T. Bradley A seedbomb from Kim Karlsrud and Daniel Phillips
Kim Karlsrud and Daniel Phillips, co-directors of Commonstudio, presented their seedbombs to aspiring guerrilla gardeners. For the uninitiated, a seedbomb is a throwable greenspace in a tiny handmade grenade. LA-based Commonstudio partners with Chrysalis Enterprises to put formerly homeless folks to work rolling the packets. With nearly eighty vending machines nationwide and two new workers earning a living-wage in their shop, we'd say these two are on to something awesome.
Paul T. Bradley A terrarium from Bianca D'Amico
Green-thumbed artist Bianca D'Amico had an assortment of her terrariums and plantings in her Terri Planty booth. A tiny man in a giant fishbowl begs, "Make Love Plant a Garden!"
Paul T. Bradley Jeannette Champion-Fanning's Sweet Perversion
"Hey Slutbag: Congrats on Getting Knocked-Up," wishes one of Jeannette Champion-Fanning's Sweet Perversion greeting cards. "If my husband makes a face, then I know I've got a winner," she explained. Claiming she's the perverted half of the Sweet Perversion dichotomy, Champion-Fanning makes a variety of cards and (anti)social correspondence. Some are for those awkward apologies and some for those two-fisted "I Fucking Love You" declarations. Thanks, Jeanette, for showing us something quaintly crass.
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