faker

you've faked it. you bought a fake kate, louis, gucci, prada, rolex, hermes, whatever. you tried to pull it off as the real deal. you did. maybe you bought it on canal street when you were in nyc. or maybe someone you know went to japan and brought you back something that looked like the real thing but came, suspiciously, in a really crunchy clear plastic bag. sealed. no matter. you've owned a knock-off and in my youth---so have i. knock-offs ,in their own way, have become a trend unto themselves. i even remember seeing a louis vuitton 'speedy bag" with the word, 'fake' spray painted across the side. the fake has now become art: san francisco artist stephanie syjuco solicited other artists to join her in knocking off designer handbags. participants were asked to troll the internet and choose a coveted piece. then, working off of a low res jpg they were to crochet a replica. the idea was to make a beautiful piece of art out of this attempt at forgery.

"The resulting "translations" are both homages and lumpy mutations. Crochet is considered a lowly medium, and the limitations imposed by trying to create detail with yarn takes advantage of the individual maker's ingenuity and problem-solving skills"

stephanie's final knock-offs, along with several other artist's, were part of the "forged realities" exhibit, held in bejing, china at the universal studios gallery.