Hosting open access Craftanoon involves preparation of scavenging for materials, finding space, gathering materials & equipment, and inviting/publicising the event.
Public open access Craftanoon provides a unique and necessary 3rd space that is not work/school/university and not home. Unlike most monetised 3rd spaces (cafes, raves, bars, etc.) you do not need to be a consumer to be there. Simultaneously, unlike most free 3rd spaces (libraries, parks, community centres) there is a free, unending abundance of activity and material for the community to access. Thus, Craftanoon is enriched with appreciation and gratitude for rubbish, whilst also creating a free 3rd space where people can meet, converse, play, create, and connect. The people and garbage are fundamentally bonded by a powerful locality, Craftanoon simply puts this on display, tying community to their literal environment.
We are currently in an age of massive digital communication but lived segregation. 1950’s Americanised suburbia, white picket fences, isolated family-centric living arrangements still dominate the ideal image of a ‘home’, although the segregation of suburbia and subsequent isolated individualism spawns paranoia, depression, anxiety, and fear of others (Curtis, 2021)(. Digital connection does not disassemble, but reinforces this segregation, each individual confined to the borders of their @ (software) and phone (hardware). Digital interaction is interaction between individuals, not inter-action within community. Digital modes of connection are not the solution to, but a supporter of infrastructure that segregates, constructs ‘individuals’, and only allows community bonding (and collective power) to form through controlled institutions of work, or sights of consumerism. What we desperately need is infrastructure and accessible events that enrich locality. Local, inter-personal, inter-community, inter-generational bonding. Social media here is not an enemy, but simply a false solution to chronic isolation. We can reclaim platforms for their inverse intention, using their massive reach to peruse tangible, material, face-to-face relationships (Doctorow, 2023).
Chronically overstimulated by our mixed online/away-from-keyboard reality, we are restless, socially anxious, endlessly searching for background noise or something to do with our hands. In striving to build community, Craftanoon acknowledges this and delivers its methodology as solution. Crafting mindlessly or with intention allows people to become intoxicated, loose their inhibition in socialising. It provides casual, inoffensive talking points that allow people to comfortably begin conversation, return to upon feeling overwhelmed or awkward. Craft essentially cradles those engaging in it, delivering a soft, comfortable, safe, non-judgemental space.