Art Metropole

28 Jan. 2003

School of Serial Production: Art Met Sweat Shop

Artist

Jordan Sonenberg

Participant

Sandy Plotnikoff

In this Series

22 Oct. 2002
School of Serial Production: Button-Making

10 Jun. 2003
School of Serial Production: Speaker Lab

20 Aug. 2003
School of Serial Production: West Side Stitches

h1.School of Serial Production #2: Art Met Sweat Shop

On Tuesday, January 28,2003, Art Metropole presented the School of Serial Production #2: Art Met Sweatshop.

At this event the participants were provided with the materials and instruction to produce a Hood for personal use, as modified from an old t-shirt. For the minimal fee of $4, those involved each received a t-shirt (supplied by Art Metropole, with donations by Sandy Plotnikoff), a series of sewing machines to learn/work on, and the illuminating instruction of Art Metropole staff member Jordan Sonenberg, whose Hood pattern was kindly donated to the evening’s theme of sweatshop serial production. As with SSP#1, this session was an instant hit, with everyone involved producing their own Hood by the end of the evening.

Sandy Plotnikoff is a Toronto based artist. His practice is diverse and includes mixed media works, sculpture, and performance. Plotnikoff employs a variety of working methods, sometime collaborative, sometimes centered on found objects.

In 2001, Plotnikoff acquired an antique foil stamping press, found while surfing the online swapshop Craigslist. Using metal type and dies, the press was used commercially to emboss metallic foil lettering onto product packaging.

Plotnikoff began using the press to embellish a small series of paper products, ‘zines and collages, then moved onto stamping directly onto items such as cd jackets, books, stickers, food, napkins, coins, wallets, shoes, and furniture.

As the artist became more adept with the press, this ongoing series evolved into increasingly abstract foil treatments, Foil On Paper

Plotnikoff received his BFA from the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design, Halifax, in 1997. Three years late he co-founded the Laundry Line project space. In 2006 he was a Workshop facilitator at Decoding the Undertow in Halifax, NS. and the following year he was a session instructor at the University of Guelph.

Images

1: Roula assisting Sweatshop participants Marc and Jen thread their machine.
2: Casual banter among the shop (Michael, Stef, Christine, Will, Jin).
3: Jordan chopping out Jin's eyes.
4: Patricia Rodriguez modeling her deviation of the supplied hood pattern.
5: Michael Barker rockin' the volcano.
6: Zin and his cropped-Waldo hood.
7: Jenny McMaster posing with her hood.
8: Marc Belke (SNFU punk fame) and Jen Nichols (editor of Vancouver art mag Homesick).
9: 5 minutes after this was taken Jeremy Laing knocked off two grocery stores and a gas station.
10: The completed Hoodies.

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