It's happening all over: Folks are making things not only for the pleasure of it, but also to raise social consciousness, resist injustice and work together to build a community. They are making things to make things happen. The movement has been captured in Craftivism: The Art of Craft and Activism, a richly illustrated compendium of voices brought together by editor Betsy Greer. The book is part manifesto and part philosophical inquiry. Best of all, it presents a peaceable army of crafters ("Craft Cartel," "The Women of the Adithi Collective") who have taken to the streets, schools, hospitals and government building plazas to Occupy (yes!) a new place in the cultural landscape. Through interviews with a broad array of artisans with unique artistic visions, we learn how crafting can transform public spaces, inspire young people to make their own things and (wait for it) make the world a better place. Too good to be true? No! Instead, too true to be good. These makers of things are wicked! They are subversive, outraged and ready to make trouble in the most beautiful ways.

NO MAN'S LAND NO MORE
For most homeowners, that strip of grass in front of the house out by the street is just a place we try to keep our neighbors' dogs from pooping on. Now there's a book that goes way beyond dealing with that problem, offering a life-enhancing project that can grow and grow. In Hellstrip Gardening: Create a Paradise between the Sidewalk and the Curb, Evelyn J. Hadden lays down an urban renewal's worth of options for turning your boring green spaces into veritable miniature habitats, bursts of floral color that are self-contained and mutually thriving. Hadden provides detailed instructions on how to select the best option for your particular situation, considering every horticultural angle, from soil and light to rainfall and seasonal blooming. Possible issues with zoning and city ordinances are taken into account, and we learn a range of possibilities for "culinary and medicinal uses." The intelligence of this author shines most in her strong statements about "Partnering with Nature." If you're going to redeem your hellstrip, you've got to know what corner of earth you're living on: which plants will grow best and actually help restore the ecosystem, which your human community has inevitably undermined. That's the way to build a heaven on earth, right in your front yard.

TOP PICK IN LIFESTYLES
Author Tai Moses recognizes that we already inhabit heaven on earth and that it is teeming with animal "angels" who are far more at home here than we are. What we must do is honor the sacredness of the place and accept our stewardship of it by making room for our wild neighbors, who were here before we were. In Zooburbia: Meditations on the Wild Animals Among Us, Moss writes, "Ultimately, zooburbia is more than a place; it's a state of mind, a lovely consequence of daily contact with living things." The book is enlivened by Dave Buchen's delightful linoleum block prints, which capture the book's tone of playful reverence and close observation. Dog and horse, deer and mole: these are the flesh-and-blood spirits who attend Moses' writing, metamorphosing her first-person essays into a radiant collective consciousness. We live in a zoo without cages. Moses' book is a keeper.

 

This article was originally published in the June 2014 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

Craftivism is a term that Greer (Knitting for Good!) coined to describe the intersection of handmade items and political activism. The current craft/DIY renaissance has its roots in contemporary feminism and the reclaiming of "women's work," and Greer explores this idea in detail through essays by and interviews with activists who have combined their passion for craft with their political ideals. "Craft" is defined broadly and the examples presented range from fine-art style work, such as Inga Hamilton's environmental sculpture and Carrie Reichardt's giant-size political mosaics to Kim Werker's intentionally ugly handicrafts and Maria Molteni's NCAA Net Works, which places handmade nets on basketball hoops in public places. Greer includes activists from a variety of cultures and countries and there's a wide range of statements on topics such as urban blight, the environmental impact of automobile traffic in Brazil, and women's health. Each segment is accompanied by a variety of colored photographs showing the craftivist's work in context. VERDICT Socially conscious crafters who enjoy the efforts of Faythe Levine (coauthor, Handmade Nation) and Leanne Prain (coauthor, Hoopla: The Art of Unexpected Embroidery) will be inspired by these activists' thought-provoking work.

Not a book of instruction but of inspiration, Greer's follow-up to Knitting for Good is a compelling survey of the global, little-known world of crafting as activism. She's organized the anthology so it moves "from the personal to the political" beginning with one Australian woman's practice of "guerrilla kindness" by leaving little handmade prop cupcakes for strangers to find. By the end of the book, readers will meet Catherine West, whose U.K.-based Significant Seams "undertakes craftivist acts on issues important to our own community" of urban London; Carrie Reichardt, who makes amazing mosaic pieces on buildings in the U.K.; L.J. Roberts's reflections on craft and queer theory; and Varvara Guljajeva and Mar Canet, who work together in Spain on text-based knitting machine projects. If this all sounds a little academic, it is a bit, and the book suffers somewhat from a sense of repetition in the author-penned pieces, which tend to make the same points about combining craft and activism. That said, the photos and interviews are astounding and powerfully inspiring. It'll be hard not to want to knit a cupcake to leave on a nearby park bench—or think about the political ramifications of recycling craft materials after reading this book. Full-color photos. (May)