#crapestry

[espantajerias]

Crapestry aka Theo Humphries.

[omanyte]

[elin0pe]

Putting the crap in tapestry since 2006

I found Crapestry. I didn’t know it existed, but I’ve found it. With a theme of perverting the peace of cross-stitch style embroidery, crapestry has made us many a disturbing portrait out of thread.

It brought to mind the works of Mr Bingo, who, most recently, has been making many an abusive card ordered ready for valentines. They go out today, and he has heavily requested on his twitter that anyone who’s ordered a card to please not open or post about it until tomorrow (actual valentines day). I look forward to what they all look like!! I really liked the process of his kickstarter for his book Hate Mail. His reward system almost recreated the original post card project itself, and I wonder if, in a similar project, the rewards could end up making up the book that’s being funded by the kickstarter as the endgame. Your contribution LITERALLY makes up the publication, so to speak.

[subversivestitch-blog]

'Crapestry'

I have invented (insofar as one can) the word ‘crapestry‘; a rather obvious contraction of the words ‘crap‘ and ‘tapestry‘.

Contemporary commercial tapestries might be argued to be the exemplification of superficial chintz; spectacularly vapid, vividly dull, unquestioningly conformist, gaudily bourgeois, and at the same time unyieldingly time-consuming. The subject matter is often romanticised, uncritical, and both exploits and reinforces established stereotypes. The outcome? Standardised ‘precious things’ cherished by the softly smiling, callous fingered Grandma’s of the world – harmless old dears who quietly revel in the creation of ‘cheeky terrier’ and ‘dewy chrysanthemum’ cushions, or ‘God bless this house’ picture frames. No mention of mortality, no depiction of suffering, nothing surprising, nothing funny.

Crapestries capitalise on cross-stitch orthodoxies, exploiting their established themes. Some crapestries are funny, some are sad, and some may cause offence; but that’s fine.

Even the desperately sad crapestries make many people laugh, whether by a curious schadenfreude or simply because they are unaccustomed to encountering troubling subjects addressed through the medium of tapestry; it’s incongruous. One might ask “What’s funny about a dead penguin chick or a thermonuclear attack?” Quite a lot apparently.

If you have ever graffitied a penis onto a magazine in a dentist’s waiting room, shot delicate ceramic ornaments with a rifle, or thought something was desperately sad when everyone else thought it was harmlessly funny (or the other way around), then you will likely enjoy having a look at my work.

All text and images from http://crapestry.wordpress.com There's even a section on how to make your own crapestry.

[le-clic-du-midi]

Monsieur le directeur général adjoint ? J'ai la cassette de la vidéosurveillance de l'accueil que vous avez demandé. Vous aviez raison, c'est bien Viviane qui a accroché tout ça aux murs du bâtiment A3, regardez :

_Début de l'enregistrement_

- Tiens, Viviane, comment ça va? Ca fait une paye qu'on ne vous a pas vue!

- Précisément, Jean-Patrick. Un mois que j'attends ma paye. Je ne sais pas ce que vous branlez au service de payes, mais là ça suffit. J'ai décidé de ne pas venir bosser le mois dernier en signe de contestation. Et c'est aussi pour ça que j'ai arrêté de publier toutes vos conneries sur le tumblr du clic du midi.

- M'enfin Viviane, châtiez votre langage, bordel ! Vous vous croyez où ?

- Rien à foutre.

- Et puis d'abord pourquoi vous êtes revenue ?! Si vous n'êtes pas jouasse, restez chez vous, terminez vos canevas en cours et ne nous cassez pas les pieds avec vos simagrées ici !

- J'ai décidé d'afficher mon mécontentement, voila. Or chez moi, seule face à mes canevas, ça n'a pas le même impact.

- Vous pleurez Viviane...?

- J'ai la haine, Jean-Patrick... je... je suis fatiguée, je... Ces canevas c'est tout ce que je sais faire, merde... Ca ne défoule pas, j'ai besoin de crier au monde mon désarroi, j'ai besoin de... violence !!

- Je comprends Viviane... Et si... Et si vous faisiez...

_Fin de l'enregistrement_

Cordialement,

Le bureau des clics du midi (qui subit actuellement un remaniement de ses effectifs suite au bilan catastrophique de cette fin de premier semestre).

[quaderno]

Crapestry by Theo Humphries 

(via Regretsy)

[mudwerks]

(via Crapestry)

'Polar Bear Cub' from the 'Polar' collection