Tonight the San Francisco Film Society will play host to a screening of Handmade Nation, a documentary about the work and connections between independent artists across the country. Made by first-time filmmaker and craft blogger Faythe Levine, the film focuses on the role that the Web has played on the marketability of handmade objects (Etsy, anyone?). That, and the “punky do-it-yourself ethos [that has been] informed by modern aesthetics, politics, feminism and art.”

A discussion will follow the event at Mezzanine, and will include design*sponge editor and co-owner of The Curiosity Shoppe, Derek Fagerstrom and Craft editor Natalie Zee Drieu. At $12 a ticket the event will still be less than seeing a flick at Sundance.

Cleveland-based artist Phoebe Marie is unabashed about her mixed heritage and unapologetic about her sense of humor. Following her breakout/sold out Dia De Los Dunny series, she did a few Halloween editions. Now, just in time for St. Patrick’s Day, Phoebe combines two seemingly disparate cultures into one awesome toy. Her series of six original customized Dunnys reimagines the platform toy as a group of “drunken leprechauns.” Although half the pieces have already been sold to those who appreciate the intersection of Mexican and Irish rituals, a couple are still available for $45 each here. If you think you have the luck of the Irish (and a good St. Patrick’s Day yarn), Toycyte is giving away the sixth (and most elaborate) figure in the series. Leave a comment here with the best story of drunken misconduct.

Barbie’s always been plugged in to the latest and greatest — from her pink Corvette to her Malibu dream house, she lives a life of wealth and fame without any of the paparazzi. For her 50th anniversary in France, Colette is going to help you look like a bit more like this icon (no surgery required) by offering a limited-edition light pink bluetooth headset, manufactured by the fashionable designers at Jawbone. Just don’t wear it out to dinner with Ken. Total turnoff.

There are those who are darn proud to break wind. We’re talking about Nike’s iconic Windrunner, of course, which started off as a functional apparel piece to cut pace-slowing headwinds. In their latest Brazilian campaign to promote these classic nylon jackets, Nike Sportswear called upon my dear friends Paula Reboredo and Gil França of street fashion blog Freakstyle to help oversee the one-off Windfreak Style contest. Sao Paulo residents are invited to send in photos of themselves in Windrunners, via their blogs, for a chance to win a package that includes (another) Windrunner and VIP tickets to Freakstyle’s monthly party — essentially the bragging rights far outweigh the prize. So far the entries range from dudes on skateboards to stylish fashion shoots. Help pick the winner by leaving your comments on the Flickr page. What a great example of connecting a campaign to the local market.

image: pancho tolchinsky

If you happen to be in Barcelona during the month of March, you might notice a number of billboards that aren’t selling you anything, and are more eye-catching than the average ad. ROJOOut is an exhibition that takes place all over the city, placing the works of 20 emerging artists on 44 backlit billboards in a strategic pattern throughout Barcelona. The pieces range from black and white collage work to tripped out M.C. Escher-esque depictions of color from artists around Europe. If you can’t make it out there for this, check out some of the work at ROJO’s site. More after the jump.
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If you’ve ever been a tourist in London, then surely you’ve ended up in Trafalgar Square. Amongst the statues of lions and kings and queens there is always one Plinth with some contemporary art that looks a bit out of place. This is known as the Fourth Plinth, a space reserved for contemporary artists to display sculptural work. The time has come for Antony Gormley (the guy who did this) to create a piece for the Fourth Plinth. He’s come up with a bit of a crazy idea for his sculpture … you. He is asking for people to sign up for 24 one-hour slots for 100 days in a project called One & Other. You can do anything you want with your hour, the only rule is you must stay on top of the Plinth. Sounds simple enough, and it isn’t every day you get to be a piece of art in such a landmark location as Trafalgar Square. You can register here. The sign up sheet hasn’t been released yet, but it will be soon, and I’m sure spots will go very quickly. The entire 2400 hours will be streaming online, which could make for some really good reality TV. So, what would you do with your hour?