utilitarian art

[Webmaster Gabe]

Oh holy crap, I just thought of one. Fuckin' DMGs! We could sell those in an instant for hella bank

[beepbeepelizabot]

www.notcot.com/archives/2007/08/lunch_boxes_in.php#more

they have this exhibit called "hot lunch" where various artists spill their proverbial semen all over these lunch boxes. something that actually looks professional.


www.plasticandplush.com/plasticandplush/2007/01/hot_lunch_lunch.html

when it first started, there were just hand-painted, and i think now they're mass-producing them and selling them? but i personally liked it better when they were one-of-a-kind pieces.

also, i was thinking something along the lines of poketo's wallets,... they have different artists design wallets...

poketo.com/shop/archives/category/shop/wallets

so, yeah. not some cheap anything-and-everything-is-art shit, but some actually professional looking designs on everyday items that people would actually USE.

[Webmaster Gabe]

this kind of thing is quite popular all over. especially in big cities like Seattle full of trendy artistic people! I even saw those exact Poketo wallets in a hip clothing store in Boulder Colorado of all places. This kind of stuff would be just perfect for really good artists like Kinoko to play with.

[Aaron Campion]

aha, looks like a few posts were removed by the admin. i would have joined in this thread earlier, but there was some strange sexist whining, and i didnt want to just post on here out of pity. and then gabe starting going way off topic, so now that we're finally talking about the subject again, i better put my two cents in, especially since im one of the two staff members, my opinion on any idea of something that goes on crunchyco is pretty important

my first impression of this concept was very cheap items, painted by crunchy artists in very interesting styles, but overall would look fairly amateur and would be something similar to what hippies, bums, etc sell on the street all over the USA. lizzy very personally corrected me, this project is meant to be stuff for specific personal use, and of very high quality. so i was wrong, surprising some people would get offended about a negative comment about something that doesnt even exist yet

so as far as stuff like rulers, pencils, folders, etc probably not the best ideas. i mean, sure they are mainly just for fun, but anyone who wants to really use something like a ruler should really get one that is clear, not one with paint on it (if the want to have one that is 100% effective). The only way i can see things like that work out would be to have these ready by next year around august - september and have a back to school sale

now even if we did do things like pencils, rulers, etc they would look the most proffession if a company mass produced them for us, obviously not what we have in mind. that being said, im not an expert on paint, but im pretty sure its going to be fairly difficult and require many supplies to do so. 1) lots of paint / brushes 2) primer / undercoat stuff 3) finish clear stuff 4) other paint supplies. now how exactly would all of this work? if we wanted someone like mcfiredrill to work on this, we would not only need to ship him all the supplies, but lots of the paintable products as well. then he would have to ship it all back? then we'd have to ship it back out when it sells? it just sounds like a very ineffective / inefficient plan

as far as items that i DO think would turn out well would be: small thing purses. although hard to be too enthusiastic about that, since so many other sites do an amazing job already, which lizzy provided the links. also: lunch pails, although i wonder what the current market is for those and exactly what age group those are most popular with?

pretty much, as far as actual objects go, hard for me to see this working well with 3rd party, far away artists. lunch pails done by only lizzy and filled with WAT stuffed fruit sounds like the most successful idea. the only down side to this is high shipping costs, big items like that would do much better in a local art shop

now what i do think would be a very successful and awesome project would be to create very detailed, high resolution, group effort crunchyco designs that would all be digital and sent from artist to artist over the internet. If we could come up with really amazing designed, of course all being related to crunchyco, we could release mass produced professionally printed posters. these, of course would have to be folded up before they were shipped. i personally think posters are really awesome, not exactly sure how high the demand is, but if we had them produced in such big quantities that each individual print was so cheap, people could just throw it on with their order of the fighter x discography. seriously, i think posters would be amazing, and really we already have a design we could use for the first one



but this whole utilitarian art idea, if lizzy really wants to set it up, pay for it all, and arrange everything with people like firedrill, by all means go for it. anything is possible, i just dont find it to be a very efficient / probable plan. also, keep in mind gabe and i have so much ridiculous projects to get done, we cant really do much to help. but the bottom line is i personally really have absolutely no interest in everyday painted items, so i personally have a hard time getting too enthusiastic about the idea, sorry

[Webmaster Gabe]

i don't think aaron really understands this project very much or didn't really read the previous posts very thoroughly. i'll try to explain my take on it:

yes there are hippies all over the world that sell strange things that they paint on, but there are also more professional trendy companies as (we've seen many links to) that are quite popular in urban areas and provide this stuff to people who appreciate real art all over the world. obviously, we don't have the funds right now to go into mass production on any of this stuff, but it's a great idea and in order to do it we'd have to start small. a lot of people like the idea of hand made one-of-a-kind items that no one else in the world has, which is why not professionally mass-producing an item has it's merits.

there are a lot of people who buy things because they like the way they look, not necessarily because they are the most useful. with aaron's ruler example, some people would very much like the idea of not having the exact same boring ruler that everyone else bought at Staples, and they actually would in fact use a bizarre looking ruler at school over a generic one because they like to be different. other people might just like a strange looking ruler to have on their desk simply because they like the way it looks. maybe they'll staple it to their wall, whatever. what people do with the item really isn't our concern.

as aaron mentioned, sure there could be school supply type things: notebooks, folders, pencils/pens, pencil holders, staplers, tape dispensers, binders, dividers, etc., which would be good to do during times of back to school, but that sort of thing could also fit year 'round because "school supplies" also double as general office supplies that pretty much everyone uses all the time, and working in an office supply store that sells all this stuff year around, i think i would know.

the beauty of this project is that it is not limited to those things, and in fact the possibilities are quite limitless.

there's various apparel: belts, shirts, earings, watches, hats, buttons, bracelets, necklaces, shoe laces, gloves, glasses

various kitchen tools: spoons, cups, bowls, plates, spatulas, containers, salt/pepper shakers, egg-timers,

other items: clocks, boxes, lunchboxes, wallets, coin bags, toothbrushes, GAME BOYS

there could also be stuff that isn't exactly utilitarian, but people just like to look at them on their walls or on display: posters, stickers, picture frames, decorative vinyl records, figurines, canvas

and there are a lot more that i'm sure i forgot to list that could work as well. basically any small household item; there's a ton. clearly, some of those items are quite large and would be costly to ship, but that is why we'd start with very small items and work our way up to more expensive things if the project is successful and gains the necessary funds to do so.

just about any item can be a unique canvas for artistic expression. as aaron pointed out, the challenge would be to find a way to make it marketable and good looking and long lasting enough that people will be interested in it. part of that would come from the side of the artist. we wouldn't be just sending this stuff off to any random person who likes to do art. i think we'd really have to seek out really talented artists that take their work very seriously and have a very distinct style and way of making things look professional and not sloppy. aaron was wondering if we'd have to send the artist a bunch of supplies. i guess it depends on the item, but unless it called for something really special, probably not. if they are a real artist with a real interest in decorating three dimensional items, they should be able to provide the basics of what they need to do so. the challenge would be figuring out how to get a design effectively on different materials: plastics, ceramics, cloth, wood, paper, etc. Paint would probably be a commonly used medium because you can paint on anything, but it is not limited to paint at all. Artists could really use anything as long it can be effectively applied to the item they are decorating.

Aaron mentioned digitally printed posters. That's a great idea. It would be ideal in some cases to have designs made digitally by artists and then sent back to us for printing on certain items that have printable surfaces. There are many benefits to digital design as well as using real paint/ink/etc. Both could be used effectively on this project, it really just depends on what the item being decorated is.

i see this project as being very probable and actually quite simple. this is the way i see it working:
1. we first have to find willing and talented artists
2. we then pick one simple item and send it to each one
3. we give artists a deadline and they work on it and send the item back
4. we check the items out for quality purposes and make necessary fixes that will not effect the art
5. we photograph all items and post them in an online gallery for viewing (this is the best part about the project i think; actually selling the item would be an extra bonus)
6. we have the items for sale incase anyone is compelled to purchase them
7. we'd repeat each step on a regular basis (monthly or bi-monthly) with a different item each time

even if no one actually purchases anything, it would still be very fun to see what everyone comes up with and then have a really interesting gallery of uniquely decorated items for viewing in the Images section. if we approach the project in the right way, i think it can be very easy, cheap, doable, and popular, and if nothing else, a very interesting experiment to try. i don't really like aaron's attitude of "if lizzy wants to arrange it all, then go for it". i think we should be bringing this project up at one of our meetings and planning together how we can go about starting it as a team. surely a real art project like this is much more important and interesting than planning caption contests. it's true that aaron and i don't have much time to tackle more projects than we already have going, but that is why if we meet and actually discuss it in person with other interested persons, we can figure out exactly how and when this project could commence, and who would be doing what tasks, not just putting it all on lizzy to coordinate. worst case scenario, we'd have to postpone this one until other projects get knocked off the board, but i think it is a simple enough project that someone, if not me and aaron, would be able to assist in it's development.

[Aaron Campion]

thanks for the long explanation gabe, i was confused at first about the low quality hippie thing, but lizzy already personally corrected me, so i am on the right track now. but thanks for your take, none the less

belts, wallets, coin bags are pretty good ideas. the rest.. i dont really think so, at least not to start out with. we should start out with items we think would be the most successful: ie lunch boxes, belts and if this really did start becoming a HUGE hit online, we could branch out into any household item really, like you said lamps, clocks, oven sheets, toilet covers, floor mats anything really

i dont think its a big deal having lizzy be in charge of this project. we're already spending too much time discussing this, there are some serious updates crunchyco needs and instead of doing that we're writing 5 page essays back and forth about a project that who knows when or if will ever start. my biggest question / concern is still how these will look "professional" especially if we are dealing with artists that live far away, and need art supplies. I am also concerned with not only all of the costs that will go into getting this done, but also the high price of an individual one of a kind piece of art, and the high price of shipping to the customer (things like lamps, lunch pails, clocks) this really sounds to me like a project targeting art collectors, not someone who wants a cute every day item just for fun. it just sounds to me like a lot of $$$ unless our approach is a less quality amateur style. which really isnt a bad thing: people love stuff that looks kind of crappy! ie jeans with holes, faded tshirts etc

[Fighter X]

I can't believe you guys are going on about this haha! Shut up already Aaron!

[Aaron Campion]

haha fine! youre right! i need to spend my time getting all these new fighter x updates online, put up all the circles pics, in fact, we need to be finishing up the grassfest / comicon pages, not write essays on this weird thread!!!

[Webmaster Gabe]

one of my biggest goals is to start expanding the other sections of the site so this is definitely something to bring up at the next meeting for sure.

[Aaron Campion]

good idea / goal gabe. but since there already is at least something in each section (music, comics, images, etc) a bigger goal should be to have a website with no incomplete pages. such as artist directory, archive, download, grassfest, comiccon; the image section really is the least of my worries as far as expanding other sections. in fact, we've done a pretty good job expanding into the comics and image sections. at this point, our biggest goals should be 1) have a website that has no incomplete pages, which really means we shouldnt continue to start anymore incomplete sections until ones we've already started are complete 2) figure out exactly how we can expand into the games and films sections

EDIT: the two projects i would REALLY like to see get done as soon as possible in the image section are the Crunch Cards and Crunch Posters!!!!!!

[Webmaster Gabe]

good points aaron. i do want to complete unfinished pages first for sure and i do intend to. we need to get brandon to give us that freakin' comiccon/street show/grassfest footage already!

[tommy]

One thing about household art stuff is that it may not match well with the home decor (like one plate that isn't like the others, as an example), but on the other hand, a person with a good eye could find something to fit really well, even if it wouldn't seem like an obvious choice. That said, I think this is a cool idea and I'd love to see what comes out of it (and contribute, if I had any non-disturbing artistic ability).

One household item that definitely doesn't have to match the others, and in fact doesn't even go in the house, is the mailbox.
You guys could make some REALLY trippy mailboxes; I think that would be awesome.