The smockshop is an artist run enterprise that generates income for artists whose work is either non-commercial, or not yet self sustaining. A smock is a simple double wrap around garment designed by Andrea Zittel - then sewn by artists who reinterpret the original design. As an active testament to Zittel’s principle that "rules make us more creative", each resulting smock is completely unique and one of a kind.

 
           
 


the smockers: read the blog

 
 

Tiprin Follett (Mandalay) is the wearer of many hats: when she is not tending to her 3 children; Orion (6), Asher (4) and Robert (34)... also known as her husband, you can find her painting fences, training dogs or creating art.

V Smiley is a Virgo with zip. Her talents include wearing wigs, singing songs, being an earnest freak and toodling around town on bike. (She won't buy a car!) V sings, makes art on the floor and writes a blog about smocks - check it out here.

Kate Hillseth is a Sagittarius with the most enchanting personality. This year she and her boyfriend started an art gallery in Highland Park called "Young Art". When she isn't running the gallery Kate designs amazing dresses out of her hand painted textiles.
Lisa Anne Auerbach Lisa Anne Auerbach is a photographer, writer, knitter, political commentator and a long time collaborator with A-Z enterprises. She is famous for her zines and check out her blog “The Little Red Blog of Revolutionary Knitting.”
Ashira Siegel grew up Hasidic in LA, Israel and NY. Now she lives in a coop in Silverlake where she is also very much into bicycles and bike culture. Her creative background includes everything from ceramics and glasswork to documentary videography (like this).
Molly Keogh is our master smocker who inspires us all with her own designs. She earned her degree in Fashion Design from CCAC and is building enough of her work for a show and book. Molly's own designs often deal with abstraction of form through motion.
Mark A. Rodriguez is an artist, teacher, and archivist amongst other professions. He has an interest in playground designs before the 80's, pedagogy, alternative education, architecture, zeitgeists, trap doors, and buildings that serve as fronts. www.youngestprofessionals.org
Donna Huanca's best childhood memories are of collaging outfits in the seediest thrift shops in downtown Chicago with her gorgeous Bolivian mother. Now she applies time management to a busy life as a self taught hair stylist, drummer and a creator.http://www.ruaminx.com
Peggy Pabustan is a performance artist who has worked as a lifeguard, movie theater attendant (she once caught a man cleaning a fish in the bathroom) at a law firm, and an insurance company. She claims to be a "curvy" smocker so if you are the same, you might like her smock's hip hugging design.
Tony Koerner grew up riding and repairing bikes - hence his appreciation of tools and materials. After serving as a Bicycle courier he began making his own bags and became engrossed in sewing machines. Cycling and sewing keep him going to new places like this: www.needlefeed.com
Sophie Tusler is a young artist and fledgling Brooklynite who is largely preoccupied with fantasies about nineteenth century French cities. She spends her time sewing, writing and violating unwritten codes of social conduct on a Manhattan-bound L-train.
Kenturah Davis sells cool art by day and makes cool art/clothes by night. She's a vegetarian sista' with a great tan and calls Highland Park home. From time to time you can catch her with electric blue streaks in her hair and white galoshes on her feet. Power to the people.
Michelle Brunnick is born and bread Los Angeles. She surfs, make sculptures, shoots photos and makes new things from old things (like this).
Jason Villegas is a Leo who lives in New York, but prefers to romp about as a bear. In addition to fabric sculpture and installation he also makes clothing which has been featured in TEEN magazine and on the bodies of fashion forward females and chubby boys. www.jasonvillegas.com
Karen Gelardi lives in Maine where she makes and stockpiles all sorts of wonderful customized handmade components to use in her upcoming installations and exhibitions. Some of these things (such as her drawings printed onto fabric) are used to create smocks for smockshop. www.karengelardi.com
Sonja Cvitkovic came to Los Angeles from Berlin for a three month stint at the Mountain School of Art. She is a Capricorn who makes installations and sculpture and loves Vitello Tonnato.
Mariana Saldana is a Mexican born under the sign of Aries. When not conquering the seedy corporate world in Houston Texas, she tends to real passions; her music projects Medio Mutante & her solo act Kunst Fascion - all one work of performance art in her mind.
www.kunstfascion.com
Hadassa Goldvicht was born and raised in Jerusalem and is currently living in NY. Since graduating from RISD and SVA she is learning how to breath deep again. She carries her soul in tin box that ties to her hand with a long string, like an old helium balloon. Her soul rattles sometimes when she walks.
Emily Bult is a recent transplant to New York who works as a barista with her eye on a future in botany. In the meantime Emily is teaching herself to make hand-drawn animated films, enjoys making things out of paper, and takes photographs from time to time. 
Carole Frances Lung, itinerant performer, writer, organizer and seamstress, travels across the country scavenging materials for her smocks in the back alleys of uniform factories and textile manufacturing plants. Check out the actions of her ultimate ego Frau Fiber, @ www.fraufiber.com.
Claire Fong is a nocturnal seamstress who finds inspiration in unwanted objects, medical equipment, techno-positive green anarchy, and Bollywood films. After receiving a degree in Fashion Design, Claire returned to her home town of Chico, where she organizes multi-media events to promote local artists and build community.
 

Maude Benson lives in the high desert of southern California where she has a horse, a truck and hikes in the hills. She was taught to sew, knit, crochet and tat at an early age by her grandmother.

  Dafne Boggeri Aquarius, is another Mountain School Student who hails from Milano Italy. She makes photos, videos, performances and installations. Here is her AC/DSHE Label.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 


the news:


In celebration of the conclusion of the smockshop project Michelle has turned her own smock into a pattern so that our project can continue to grow through more organic means. In order to download your own version of the pattern click the link above for "make a smock."

(Thanks you Michelle for all the effort it took to make this beautiful pattern - we know it was far more complicated then you ever expected it to be!)



London Smockshop - your last chance to buy a smock!

On September 18th the smockshop will host our final sale in London at Spruth Magers. The event will coincide with fashion week, so come say hello.... and goodbye!

Berlin Sale:
The smockshop is proud to announce that on February 18th we will be having our first international sale:

“ smockshop berlin”
at Sprüth Magers Berlin
february 18 - april 10 2009

Oranienburger Straße 18
D-10178 Berlin
Tel. +49 (0)30 / 2 88 84 03 0
Tuesday - Saturday, 11am - 6pm and by appointment



Archiving the Smockshop - phase two

The Berlin venue is currently scheduled as the final destination for the smockshop project. Due to the difficult economy and the increasing life demands of some the smockers we will be concluding our wonderful enterprise and working to create an archive showcasing the results.

If you have ever bought a smock from us we would particularly love to have a photo of it, especially of you wearing it and some story about your experiences with this garment.

Also as part of the archive process the website will undergo an overhaul and we will include a discussion group along with the smock pattern so that everyone else can have as much fun sewing them as we did.

Thank you so much for your support – this project has been an amazing process from start to finish, and has brought many exceptional people together. We are all incredibly proud to have been part of it.
.


smockshop presents screeners I
video work for screening and for sale
organized by Michelle Brunnick
September 6 - 21, 2008

reception/mass screening September 6, 7 - 11 PM
936 Mei Ling Way  - behind Hop Louie in the old Rental Gallery Space.

*BRING SOMETHING COMFORTABLE TO SIT ON!


7pm Dioscuri
A handmade stop-motion animated short film by David Klein with live accompaniment by Klein and Nick Woolley -

8pm VOS performing Cock & Bull -
A video and performance created by Peggy Jo Pabustan featuring Amanda Alfieri, Alexia Lewis, and Peggy Jo Pabustan.

screening and on the shelf
DYSTOPIAN UTOPIAS
artists invited by Glenn Phillips

Enid Baxter Blader, Local 909er
Sam Green, The Rainbow Man
Dale Hoyt, The Remastered Dale Hoyt ('81-'06)
Jennifer Sullivan, One Week Walden

invited by Kate Hillseth
Grant Falardeau, The Parrot Gang
Carson Mell, Cold Operator and Field Notes from Dimension X: Episode B-11 - Oasis

invited by Michelle Brunnick
Animal Charm, new work




Saturday Sept. 20, 4-8pm
Sewing Rebellion pot-luck at the Smockshop


Emancipate yourself from the global garment industry by learning how to alter, mend and make your own garments and accessories!

Frau Fiber, itinerate textile worker and activist will distribute her knowledge of the garment industry, pattern making and sewing, encouraging the reuse, renovation and recycling of existing garments and textiles in the creation of unique items tailored to individual tastes and body shapes.

Bring your pants to mend, garments to alter, or and old piece of cloth to make into a East German style shopping bag. Or just come eager to learn, and produce a Hunters Hat or White-collar Shirt.

Frau Fiber has arrived after traveling resenting the stop shopping start sewing message, @ Mess Hall, Chicago, John Michael Kohler Art Center, Sheboygan WI, Fancy Tiger, Denver, 4618 Franklin Ave, New Orleans promoting the stop shopping start sewing message.

Announcing a SUMMER SMOCKSHOP in Chinatown!
June 27th until September 21st 2008
936 Mei Ling Way  - behind Hop Louie in the old Rental Gallery Space.

For three months we will be selling smocks (and soon "screeners"), hosting performances and events, and hanging out while trying to beat the heat. (thank you Dennis Hollingsworth!)

Come visit us!

Store hours are:
Wednesday 12-4
Thursday 12-4
Friday 12-8
Saturday 12-8
Sunday 12-8

 

Check out Peggy Jo Pabustan and her partner in crime Amanda Alfeiri as they perform Serious Work at the Red Cat Theatre:
May 17-18, 2008
In the Walt Disney Concert Hall complex - entrance on 2nd St.
631 W. 2nd St., on the northeast corner of the intersection with Hope St.



Join us at THE SUBURBAN in Chicago!
THE SUBURBAN is hosting a smockshop sale from April 25 - June 5, 2008.

smockshop hours:
April 25 - 27, 10 - 6pm
and through June 5 by appointment

THE SUBURBAN
125 N Harvey Avenue
Oak Park, IL 60302
708 763 8554
www.thesuburban.org

BBQ reception for Dan Walsh, Lars Wolter and Smockshop
Sunday, April 27 at 2:00pm


Sunday, April 27 at 2:00pmCheck out Molly Keogh's performance
"On Her Dress She Wears a Body"
at Art LA!
"This performance is an ongoing experiment that was first performed in 2007 at Susan Inglett Gallery. The constant factor is clothing based on simple geometric forms handmade by Molly Keogh. Each time the experiment is conducted all other variables change (from music to space to bodies occupying the outfits) resulting in infinite new forms." (click here for to view)

 

Start out 2008 in a new Smock -
Join us at Art LA

The smockshop will be selling smocks at the Regen Projects booth January 25 - 27, 2008.

Our booth hours are:
January 24, 4 - 6pm (press preview)
January 25 - 26, 12 - 8pm
January 27, 12 - 6pm

ART LA 2008
Santa Monica Civic Auditorium
1855 Main Street
Santa Monica, CA 90401-3209
http://www.artfairsinc.com/artla/2008/index.html

 

December:
Visit our Holiday smock-sale in Los Angeles
Join Andrea Zittel and all of the smockers for refreshments and smockshopping Saturday and Sunday, December 15th and16th 2007.

Westside
December 15, 11-4 pm
REGEN PROJECTS
633 North Almont Drive
Los Angeles CA 90069
310 276 5424
regenprojects.com

Eastside
December 16, 11-4 pm
YOUNG ART
747 North Avenue 50
Los Angeles CA 90042
323 344 1322
youngartgallery.com

*If you wish to be placed on the smockshop mailing list contact Tiprin at tiprin@sbcglobal.net

 

10/27/07
The Chelsea sale is over so we are all back in LA are impatiently awaiting the renovation of our new space. In the meantime the smockers are cooking up a plan for a few Christmas sales in and around Los Angeles in the month of December - check back soon for more de tails...

9/12/07
Check out the beautiful Chelsea smockshop at Susan Inglett Gallery in NYC
over the month we will be selling over 130 smocks - the entire output of a year of sewing!

Visit the shop at:
534 West 22nd Street, New York NY 10011
Tuesday to Saturday 11AM – 6PM

The smocks will be selling until October 13th..

On Saturday September 8th the smockshop hosted a day of performances by friends and family of the smockshop.

Performers include:
1:00 Allan McCollum
2:00 Flora Wiegmann
3:00 Molly Keogh
3:45 Peggy Jo Pabustan
4:00 Donna Huanca

8/29/07
Just got this great email from R. Scott Mitchell:

In 1944 Rudofsky and his wife Berta were invited to Black Mountain College for two weeks. Bernard gave two lectures on the sad state of clothing design, calling contemporary dress "anachronistic, irrational, impractical and harmful" and literally unsuitable. One of his lectures was called "How Can People Expect to Have Good Architecture When They Wear Such Clothes?"
Hope all is well in the smock shop.
See you when you get back.
-Scott

6/09/07
For those who want a smockshop preview; 17 new smocks (including those by Tiprin Follett, Kate Hillseth and V.Smiley) are included with the Vancouver installation of Zittel's traveling survey exhibition "Critical Space" at the Vancouver Art Gallery. The show runs from June 10th until September 30th.

3/25/07
Help - the smockshop needs a new home! We are looking for a store front of about 1,000 sq ft for a reasonable price.