This weekend I rolled up into the Renegade Craft fair for a hot minute, and saw some seriously amazing work in some really interesting mediums. Although there were a number of innovative designs, both in the art work and display, my absolute favorite was the work in the Folded Pigs booth.
With only an hour an a half to cruise over three hundred venders, I didn't intend to stop at a booth full of simple, restaurant-style dinnerware in a creamy off-white color. What caught my attention, and stopped me cold in my tracks, was the skull and crossbones motif displayed prominently on a large dinner platter. The cross bones of course were cross utensils - a fork and a spoon. Other designs included cockroaches, anatomical hearts, and a brain with the caption "I love you more than zombies love brains."
I love how simple and consise the work is. The sepia tone design is clear and readable from a distance, and the plate caught my attention in a single momentary glance. The smooth ceramics reminded me of the quinticential greasy spoon dinner. The images however, are completely punk rock, or especially in the case of the cockroaches - hilariously creepy and gross.
I realize that these images are, in general, getting a bit played out and popularized, which lessens the value of them in my opinion. I can't help loving them on plates and cups anyway. In my own work, as much as I would like to be outstandingly innovative, this work stands as an example of subtle shifts in innovation. Dinner plates with desings on them - not a new idea. Skulls with specialized crossbones - not a new idea. Putting them together, really fun new idea.
I read this work to say that "pretty" dinnerware = good wholesome food = 'clean' plates, but what should you eat your vegan pizza and dumpster-dived chips off of? This is sooo not your mamma's dinnerware, and therefore appeals to my punk-rock-Martha-Stewart, black-cookie baking heart.
skull and cross-utensils 9inch dinner plate
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