"I think people are tired of the massive amounts of sameness that exist at the mall," she said. "You know that when you are walking down the street that you're the only person to have this fantastic, original, personal item."
Many of the pieces make a political statement, and the subversive themes appealed to Levine, who spent her teens exploring Seattle's underground punk scene and the Olympia, Wash., riot grrrl community and her adulthood traveling the world, living communally in large groups, working in collectives and always, she says, making art.
Though Levine had been connecting with other crafters online, it wasn't until she attended Chicago's Renegade Craft Fair in 2003 that she understood the size and influence of the scene.
"No one was documenting what was going on," Levine said. "It was a bigger cultural community and it was leaking into mass media. They were starting to realize there was a demographic and a market there.
"I wanted to make sure to capture what was happening from an insider's perspective," Levine said.
That point of view has been invaluable. Her eight-minute clip, at www.handmadenationmovie.com, led Levine and her assistant producer, Cortney Heimerl, to a deal with Princeton Architectural Press, which will release a companion book of the same title in November.
The movement's effect on mass culture may seem inevitable, but Levine also hopes to capture the intellectually provocative character of the artists and how they use craft to create awareness about social issues.
"It's not," she says, "just girls making cute stuff and selling it."
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valli.herman@latimes.com
The Handmade Nation Silent Art Auction is from 6 to 10 p.m. Saturday at Poketo headquarters, 510 S. Hewitt St., No. 506, Los Angeles. The first 50 guests will receive bags of handmade crafts and art. A film clip will be screened at 7 p.m.
