HBL Book of the Week
Home-Made: Contemporary Russian Folk Artifacts

Wednesday 14 March 2012

A toy train made by Aleksandr Chebotaryov for his son in 1996; image via Island Breaths
Home-Made: Contemporary Russian Folk Artifacts by Vladimir Arkhipov (Fuel, London, 2006) documents more than 220 unique objects, each made by ordinary Russians during the collapse of the Soviet empire when access to manufactured wares was very limited.

A wire brush made by Vasilii Arkhipov in 1992; image via Island Breaths
These objects are a source of fascination for Arkhipov, a Russian artist who collects the objects to preserve their idiosyncractic functionalities. Readers can expect to be equally entranced by their ingenuity.

Subscribers can look to WGSN-homebuildlife A/W 13/14 macro trend Hacktivate for further examples of the hand-made, hacked and modified.