CURATORIAL PROJECTS

HAND MODEL 

Serena McCarroll AKA Hand Model collaborated with Monastiraki to create these stunning visuals of the model's hand showcasing our unique morsels.
Please find more of her collaborations under Gallery

MELANCHONSUMERISM
Alexis O'Hara

Sept. 2015

Last week, I passed a billboard advertising the Yellow Pages app and was immediately overcome with melancholy. It used to be exciting to receive the new phonebook. I remember the thrill of spotting my name amongst the thousands of other O'Haras living in the city. Not my full name, mind you, as every mother had cautioned her daughter to only use her first initial lest the mention of a woman's name serve as an invitation -  Call me! - for rapists and predatory telemarketers. The white pages have, of course, gone the way of the 8-track tape.  And we can faux-piously claim death to the phonebook and its waste of trees as we line up to slip the newest, slightly sharper, slightly faster, portable radiation machine into our pockets. Considering the ubiquity of Google, one wonders how well the Yellow Pages will fare with their mobile reincarnation. Good luck.

While I mourn the corpses left in the wake of technological advances and the progress of post-modern modernity, I know that melancholy is a key motivator to the consumer impulse. We are always behind the curve. Find out what you've been missing. For some, there is no emotional block to throwing out one thing in order to acquire another. Other amongst us cling to a every broken whathaveyou , sure that eventually it will get fixed.

I've been noticing a lot of walkmen on the metro lately and I love it. Garbage pickers of the world, unite! We find poetry in a discarded note, a slightly chipped figurine, a quaint relic of antiquated ideology. We swoon at the endearing wtf-ness of a hand-typed recipe for a "salad" that requires canned fruit, gelatin and a can of 7-UP. We are charmed by the corsets of the past as we turn our noses up to the high-heeled sneakers of today.

But sometimes it's just so bloody amazing to discover just how vast and weird the world of consumer-goods-making can be. Behold this figurine, Betty the Beautiful, first issue in the Clowns on Parade collection, a limited edition series created by Roger Brown for the House of Global Art in 1987. Aside from a few ebay listings that highlight the competitiveness of Monastiraki's pricing, there is precious little information to be found online about Betty, Roger or the House of Global Art. Betty is truly mystifying, she'd make a rather perverse addition to Aunt Margie's tchotchke collection but is not quite obscene enough to make her way into the curiosity cabinets of the avant-weirdo shoppers.

One thing for sure is that she makes a lovely addition to Bow Town, the group exhibit curated by Zuzu Knew and Starchild Stela. Come check it out. You can marvel at the eerie parallel between Betty and Laura Harte's sexy clown. And while we're at it, we'll toast the rebirth of the cassette tape.

MONASTIRAKI CURATORIAL PROJECT:

Delving into that which has been dwelling at Monastiraki for days, weeks, months, or years.

This project begins to reckon the countless curiosities nestled into nooks of the shop. To enumerate each and every specific item would be damn near impossible, but to document those brief moments spent with a few of them is excellent fun. Fluctuation is constant at the shop; so to record what is constantly coming in lends a sort of embryonic perspective that keeps a reader in the loop de lou. Rediscovery of more seasoned items proves that old-timers are often untapped sources of wisdom and merriment. 

Our first contributor is Tara Slaughter who presented herself to us requesting to work with our collections. Here is her first project :

OLD + NEW  (Misinterpretations and Reevaluations)

by Tara Slaughter

The first series of items include elements from the scrap box, where two bits only cost a dollar. The thread, if you’re looking for one: old meanings are neglected in hopes of constructing newer, increasingly foolish ones.  

http://monastiraki.blogspot.ca/2013/02/monastiraki-curatorial-projects-launched.html

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COMPLEMENTS OF THE SHOP 

March 2013

Dr. Yves Benoist is, indeed, the centerpiece for this week’s curatorial project. The psychology publication, one that encourages the reader, “Master your life,” supplied the complementary colour palate.

Beyond its kick-ass design and presumptive title, the publication encourages contemplation of both personal relationships and the future. “’L’ALCOOL ET VOUS” and “COMBIEN D’ANNEES VOUS RESTE-T-IL A VIVRE?” are some recommended sections. Benoist  closes by urging his patrons, “Choisir des AMIS SAINS, physiquement et moralement.” Just full of wisdom, this one. A treat, really. “POUR VIVRE LONGTEMPS, VIVRE LENTEMENT.”

Another gem in the complementary collection is “The Ladybird Book of British Wildflowers,” by Brian Vesey-Fitzgerald, with paintings by Rowland and Edith Hilder (brother and sister, husband and wife, coincidence?). While the book does a downright swell job of pointing out which wildflower is which, it can also serve as a spring of inspiration for parents who just can’t seem to find the right name for their child. My personal favorites include, but are not limited to, Purple Loosestrife, Germander Speedwell, Scarlet Pimpernel, and Heartsease Tansy.

“Citrate Magnesie”, or magnesium citrate, is a saline laxative, but you’d never guess at first glance.

Anyway, next time you drop in, ask yourself, “I NOSTRI TEMPI TURBOLENTI CHE COSA SIGNIFICANO?” Your answer will most likely be one of problem-solving capabilities: buy something to distract yourself from the real answer.

A Small But Nevertheless Significant Sample Of Dolls

Look at the dollsLook at the dolls.

 

the psychedelic collection

Round & Blue
Blue? Come in and buy something blue.
Own your sadness!
Hang it on the wall!
Show your blues who’s boss.
Latest curatorial project by Tara Slaughter

round & blue