Buttons: A Post in Two Parts

Image courtesy One Fine Day

Turns out I love buttons. I suppose the charm has something to do nostalgic feelings for late eighties teen fashion, though I haven’t been looking for replicas of my lost Corey Haim pins so much as a clever or well designed nic nak to put on my shirt. I also don’t mind the occasional art work constructed out of buttons (as gimmicky as it sounds), or a special edition book.

Speaking of books, my recent purchase of Badge Button Pin rekindled my interest in the format, and has inspired a post outside the range of gallery art we usually cover here to profile some of the finer buttons found in the publication. Notably, the majority of my favorites were located in the promotion chapter, though some of the artists profiled in the art section weren’t bad either. Every category had at least one button set I liked, so I’ve listed my favorites each below.

DECORATIVE

If the MoMA went so far as to describe Matisse’s paintings as decorative in their Matisse Picasso exhibition of 2003 surely the gallery world moves past the point where the word connotes negative evaluation. Even if we’re not, I’d ask that for the further propagation of world of buttons we work together to get past this.

Image via Rose and Sadie

Unlike many of the other button makers, Rose and Sadie have an entire website dedicated to their pins as opposed to others who use the surface as one of many means of promotion or periphery art making. I like these buttons for their home made feel, and overall cuteness.

Image via: Sweetie Pie Press

Sweetie Pie Press provides buttons of uneven quality –many too reliant on pattern — but the above photo documentation can’t be beat. Mixing smooth metalic texture, fur and mimicked wood, these surfaces are nothing short of stunning together.

PROMOTION

Image via The Nation.

Nike doesn’t appear in this section, so I don’t have to hate it. Not that I necessarily have anything against major corporations, but Nike, would have to give away their earnings for the next decade to make up for all the harm they’ve done. Appealing to my infrequently voiced political opinions on this blog, buttons produced by the Nation are featured in this book. I’m not sure I can claim any extraordinary artfulness to these pins, but the message is important so they are listed.

Image courtesy One Fine Day

I’ve always been a fan of stripes and psychedelia, so the fact that One Fine Day‘s badges are my pick of the lot aren’t much of a surprise when you factor in aesthetic bias. But really, who wouldn’t respond to a black and white button of a zebra standing in a herd of elephants or a mess of Technicolor hair? Certainly not us.