Gecko Bloggle

Well, we’re having fun, and Ripley and Tate are having a good time with Grampa Virgil. Today, we all went out to the “Old Bag Factory,” which is very similar to Seattle’s “The Pier,” if you’ve ever been there.

First up, was John Mishler’s weird and wonderful solidsteel kinetic scultures, which spin around when pushed (by people or the elements), which were all being built in his workshop, which was manned by a young guy with 85% of a mohawk, which gave me hope for Goshen’s young folks. We met the artist himself while we were there, and got to talk to him for a minute. Very cool.

Then we wandered into the proper Bag Factory, and now I have to go get some dinner from the fridge for Tate, ’cause he’s decided that Midnight is a good time for a full meal…

… the little drunk…

Okay, so anyhoo, next we went inside, and went to see some of the most gorgeous wood furniture I’ve ever seen in my life. Prarie Style, they called it, and it was an outgrowth of the arts and crafts movement. Definitely had some ArtDeco in it, but wow… Just so rich and warm. I only have video of some of that stuff, so all y’all’ll have to wait to see any of that stuff. I was pretty sure for a few minutes there I wouldn’t be able to get Arwen out of there for less than $10,000, but then we finally moved on.

Next up was the little Turkish place, Gamze Neer Exclusive, with lots of the “Blue Eye” things you see from time to time. The friendly (and maybe a little crazed from all the silence) woman just moved here (direct from Turkey) two years ago, but seemed to be finding a place in this little town, which gave me some hope in a place where the K|@n is still active, or so I’m told. Not that they’d have anything against Turkish people when there’s so many other folks to focus on, but still, you worry for the folk art types with Egyptian stuff in their stores that they’ll be hassled for being “forrin.” My fave quote of hers: “Everything here is from somewhere far away, including me.”

Next up (I think – it’s all a bit of a blur) was the model train exhibit. There was this *great* old guy who’s got four different sizes and six different tracks, and was more than happy to point out the details (as well as the inconsistencies, like “See that one? It’s got a 482 on the front pulling it, but there’s only a 322 along the lines in that part of the world this time of the year.”) Ripley totally dug it, the guy running the place was happy to see a young face who was interested, and it meant people coming to him instead of him having to go down to the cafe to perform some sorta strange reverse panhandling, table to table:

“You been up to the train exhibit on the second floor as of yit?”
“Why no sir, I have not, but I believe I shall after my good wife and I have some of this delicious pie.”
“All right then, I’ll wait for you upstairs, but don’t rush your second cup of tea, or you’re likely to burn your two sets of sippin’ lips.”
“That’s sounds like a fine offer.”
“I’m not even selling nothing up there, so you can come and go as you please…”

See, I thought people were kidding when they talked like that, or it was something quaint that happened in black and white films, as a stylistic thing. Seriously though, that’s almost verbatim what I overheard yesterday while we ate chicken salad sandwiches (with equal amounts chicken and gherkin pickle) in the cafe. Also very strange was the menu’s “free Coffee/Tea on Mondays if you bring in your church bulletin from the day before.” Closest thing to that we have in Vancouver is the “Bring in your movie stub for a free coffee.” thing at Starbucks.

Next was Ten Thousand Villages, just like we have in Vancouver. Oddly, this place full of stuff from all over the world reminded me of the big tent at the Folk Music Festival, and while I was staring at stuff like the population-relative map of the world, and the South is Up map, I felt my compass click into place. I still couldn’t find Indiana on a map without the names on it, but I stopped feeling like I was in some sort of fake biodome, with the mountains hidden behind the reflective walls.

Ooh, also sorta hip was Identity Graphic Design, largely for their very cool dog, and their cigarrette machine full of previous designs for other groups. (click pic for full image).
The last place we went was Quilt Designs.

Oh. My. God.

I never really thought much about quilts. Thought they were “nice” to look at, and were heavy, which felt good on the backs of my knees for that “cat on my legs” sensation when falling asleep, but these?

These were *ART*. Like, wall-hangable in a frame art. Stand and stare at it with little tears brewing at the corners of your eyes sorta art. Seeing the price tag of $3,500 for something and instead of thinking “Are you insane?” thinking “Yeah, that sounds just about right.”

There was a sign on the wall that told us in plain English that pictures were not to be taken, and by nature of their direct manner, I took this as a very stern warning. Instead of something that rhymed and had cute birds on it, this just said “No Photography, Please.” which, after being here for six days, is about as curt as you can get and still be within’ Goshen city limits. Vancouver’s equivalent would be “You pull out a camera, and you draw back a bloody stump,” but said with a smile, or something. Know what I mean?

So at first I was all “What, the flash is going to ruin the material? What’s the big deal?” but as I wandered around and looked – really looked, it struck me. This was copyright protection. The technology to make quilts is old, and (somewhat) easily attainable. What Shirley Shenk is doing is creating these intricate, warm, homey, even vaguely alarming abstract images on something as everyday as a quilt. A photo would be enough for something to make some sorta cheap knockoff, or give it to someone else who’s capable of making expensive replications, and those ideas are what Shirley has. I mean, I’m not saying just anyone could make one of these things by hand (as she does), but that people *could* make them. The ideas? Shirley’s got a gift. Escher-like, some of them, with the fairly standard quilt shapes breaking out of their frames, and reaching off the “canvas,” towards the viewer.

Like I say, same technology, alien brainwave behind it. Very very cool. I’m not going to the next Xmas Craft Fair and going “Oooh aaaaah,” but it’s almost worth $3,000 to show all you good folks that quilts can actually be, y’know. Hip.

Okay, so maybe TOMORROW, I’ll write about TODAY, which’ll be YESTERDAY. Or something. What the hell day is it, anyway?

I got to geek out today, but not entirely in a good way. Filled me with the feeling that I’ve come a long LONG way from being a “whizkid who knows about computers.” :)