Swoon and Upper Playground Present:
The Walki Print for The Konbit Shelter Project
New York based artist, Swoon, has teamed with creative lifestyle brand, Upper Playground, to release the limited edition Walki print - 100% of the proceeds from the print will go towards support of The Konbit Shelter Project.
The Konbit Shelter Project was created with the idea that a group of artists, engineers, architects and builders could pool their individual knowledge, resources and time to make a lasting difference in post-earthquake Haiti. Konbit Shelter is a rebuilding initiative, which uses dome-style structures and the super-adobe technique of earth bag architecture to create sustainable, inexpensive and dependable housing for the people of Haiti. While the structures are extremely resistant to natural disasters, they also have the major benefit of being comprised of 90% earth and requiring no specialized scaffolding and understructure to build - making it a viable option for the people of Haiti to continue building on their own once they learn the method.
During the summer of 2010, the team behind The Konbit Shelter Project traveled to the village of Bigones, Haiti with the goal of educating and employing the local residents while constructing a community center using this technique. Now, the team will be returning again on December 21st to begin construction on single family homes, and the sale of Swoon's Walki print will immediately go towards funding the construction of these homes.
The efforts of the individuals involved in The Konbit Shelter Project are an amazing example of people doing everything in their power to give back. While we who make up the general public don't always have the time and resources to do incredible things like this on our own, it's important that we support those who take it upon themselves to do what we can not - which is the idea behind the sale of Swoon's Walki print.
The Walki print itself is an immediately touching portrait by Swoon of a boy named Walki who lives in the village of Bigones and spent time with the Konbit Shelter team at the community center building site this last summer. The print is made of a three-layer screenprint on handmade Indian jute paper measuring 13" x 21" and is limited at an edition of 300 - all proceeds from the sale will go towards support of the Konbit Shelter Project.
The print will only be on sale for a limited time until January 1st and is priced affordably at $125 so that as many people as possible can be involved with this unique project. The print is available exclusively online at the Upper Playground Web Store.
RELEVANT LINKS:
The Konbit Shelter Project: http://www.konbitshelter.org
Walki Print: http://shop.upperplayground.com/p/SWOON-WALKI-PRINT-KONBIT-SHELTER-PROJECT/UP40610PT
Upper Playground Web Store: http://shop.upperplayground.com
ABOUT SWOON:
Swoon is a Brooklyn-based artist whose life-sized woodblock and cut-paper portraits hang on walls in various states of decay in cities around the world. She has designed and built several large-scale installations, most notably the Swimming Cities of Switchback Sea at Deitch Projects in 2008. Her pieces have been collected by of The Museum of Modern Art, The Brooklyn Museum of Art, and the Tate Modern. Major pieces have appeared at PS1, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, and Black Rat Press. Swoon has been traveling for the past several years creating exhibitions and workshops in the United States and abroad. Her artistic process is predicated on the belief that art is an immersive, provocative, and transformative experience for its participants. Although Swoon’s aesthetics can be seen as an outgrowth of street art, her engagement with ethical living and making art share a close kinship with the idealism of off-grid, barter-based cultures and economies based on sharing. She uses scavenged and local materials and embraces print media as a potent means of action for social change.
ABOUT UPPER PLAYGROUND:
Based in San Francisco, CA, Upper Playground is the leader in today’s progressive art movement with its innovative apparel and accessories line and art galleries. Since 1999, Upper Playground has been recognized as a catalyst for the fusion of fashion with fine art. UP apparel and accessories are designed by local and international artists including Sam Flores, Jeremy Fish, Estevan Oriol, David Choe, and Alex Pardee. The Upper Playground collection is sold in over 300 boutiques worldwide and online. In addition, Upper Playground has stores and galleries in San Francisco, Berkeley, Sacramento, Portland, Seattle, Mexico City and London.
