question of the week

Question of the week from graduate meeting: "How is what we are reading affecting your 'work'?"
Elaboration: 'work' being outlook, how we create, what we create, so a very loose definition of work. We've been reading several of Bruce Metcalf's essays, also a paper that the MFA students at SUNY New Paltz delivered at the 2002 SNAG conference. I've also started reading some art philosophy- Danto. So the readings are revolving around fairly large and abstract questions.
Apparently I think out loud well, now I'm going to try to remember what I said and elaborate on that. (edit: Thanks for the notes Jan!)

I feel like these readings are bringing up some points that resonate with me, and are reinforcing some of my changes in outlook and beliefs since the start of grad school. I am looking a much larger picture, both in terms of how my work fits in and also in what our field is. Regarding my work, I feel that I am developing an understanding of how and where in the timeline of craft/art I fit, what my references are, and also where I want to fit in, where I want to be going, and where I want people to place me. For our field, I feel that I am looking at several of the dimensions of what could be considered under the umbrella of "the field" and seeing how they converge and what a possible path forward might be. I feel that my perspective is pretty open and there's not a lot that I'm ruling out right now.

One of the concepts that came up in Bruce Metcalf's Towards and Aesthetics of Craft and A Moral Theory of Craft was the idea of social responsibility (part of what he refers to as the moral aspect) in our work. This strikes me as important and also something that is gaining popular support at the moment. More on this in another post.

In addition to thinking about where I want my work to fit in, I am also thinking about where and how I want to teach. The beginnings of a conversation have been traded back and forth several times between Jan and myself of what do we keep, and what do we leave. Faced with a more interdisciplinary job market and new technologies, how do we do justice to our students and the history of the field while preparing them for the world? I feel like the readings are helping me identify the nubs, the pearls, the heart of what makes jewelry special. Once I have those, I want to reinforce and amplify that through what and how I choose to teach. If we can't identify why we are a unique branch of the design and arts, then we can't be relevant, and we won't survive- both in the marketplace as well as in the academic arena. The readings are giving me the basis/history and the beginning development of a framework in which I can teach beyond the purely technical aspects.

I feel like one of the nubs for our field is the personal interactivity of the work. While we may not make things that are intended to be wearable or even practical sometimes, I feel that it all does have a level of personal interaction. Whether that is in the materials, or the scale, or the imagination of the viewers when presented with the idea of wearable; we create things that are intimate with people.

I am using the ideas raised by the readings to make better informed decisions. While they may not directly impact the form my work takes and the actual objects I create, they do affect how I think about them- both in relation to the body and to a wider audience, as well as figuring out what they say, and what I want them to say. Helping me to identify the why, not just the what.

My undergraduate background was formal and fairly dogmatic. This has certainly shaped how I create things, as well as what are some of my strong and weaker points creatively. I feel like by taking a wider view, I am better able to identify what it is that I am looking for, and what I hope to be able to do. I want to make work that I enjoy creating and that I have a bond with. I also want to make a living off of my work. That is important to me. I also feel that by looking wider and less reverently at the history and traditional paths, I am finding out what roads I am actually interested in, how to position myself and my work to line up with the areas I am looking to pursue. I also feel that I am gaining the perspective to create a pathway if there isn't one where I want it to lead rather than picking from the options presented and forcing myself into something that only sort of fits.

These readings are giving me morethings to consider, more options. This tends to have the result of feeling like I know even less than I did before, but when I arrive at a conclusion, I feel that it is one that I can defend and stand by.

Artist Statement

As an addendum onto the pics from final crit, I wanted to post up the text of the Artist Statement that we each wrote that helps to give the backstory and context to the work we're producing. Grad school(as I see it) is not just about the physical objects, but also about the underlying context, intent, and meaning. I heaven't read this since I wrote it, so I can almost guarantee that it needs much work, but it's a start.

The work that I did last semester, with its relationship to the body and the unconventional way in which it was designed to be worn, was the starting place for my work this semester. I wanted to tie the forms that I was using to the body in a less generalized way. I began to look at anatomical references, as I was curious as to how imagery of the body on a microscopic scale could be used to form the decorative language for my work. I'm interested in the idea of removing the concept of jewelry from it's traditional forms of ring, necklace, etc., and displaying the work where it seems most appropriate on the body.
The idea of body as site combined with body as visual language formed the basis for the work this semester. I also took a more medical and science-based approached to my imagery. Instead of creating forms that go with the body as I see it, I took imagery from scientific photography and then reworked aspects of those images in to three-dimensional forms. I then reworked and reinterpreted those forms to abstract them further from their original site. For example, I took the form of alveoli lung sacs and created a vac-u-form mold. I then cast plastic into that mold, cut the plastic casting into slices, then pierced them out so that they had a lighter and more cellular appearance bringing the sliced form closer to the original physiological form. I am interested in taking the visual language of interior anatomy and using that as exterior ornamentation of the body. Microscopic imagery of the body has a real beauty to it in the visceral quality as well as the patterning created by the body's structure. By combining this language with nontraditional material choices, I am attempting to augment and expose the interior of the body as ornamental.
I am also interested in the way the jewelry is worn. Any object placed on the body develops a relationship with the body and the wearer. Not just from a site perspective, but also from the interaction or restriction on movement that is created by choosing to wear that piece. This can be behavioral, direct or abstract, or purely physical; but the way that we change what we do simply due to what we are wearing is fascinating to me. Not only are we choosing to limit or augment ourselves by what we adorn our bodies with, but we are also deciding to portray a facade or a specific portion of who we are. Making those choices affects how those around us interact with us as well. By tying this back into that anatomical references we are making choices about ourselves and what is inside of us in a direct way.

Lessons

The semester that was:
It was in retrospect a good semester. It was messy and difficult and occasionally tearful. There was lots of feeling adrift and wondering how/why I got there in the first place. I found one of my hard limits, and crystallized where priorities stand for me. I think I have managed to exit with a better sense of me, where I'm headed in my work, and looking at a better balanced picture of how what I do fits into who I am.

So what happened/ what I learned:
I need balance. I need my life outside of school. When I was in undergrad, I lived in the studio. My friends (with the exception of my husband-then boyfriend) were artists. While I don't regret that time, it will not and doesn't work for me now. Being solely focused on art and the field makes me less productive and happy. I fall down the rabbit hole and lose perspective on life and what is important to me. Making work and being in the field I am in, and being involved in the what's going on in the world in relation to craft academics and current craft work is important to me. But it's not all that is important to me. I need the time for relationships and friends and living life outside of the bubble of school. This time not only grounds me, but it gives me the perspective on the daily frustrations and problems so that I don't get lost in and dragged down by them. It helps me be a better person, a happier person, and a more productive and better artist.

I also need a constant outlet or part of my brain to be devoted to my school work while I'm here. I lost that over the summer and I feel like it took a while to get back. Not that I wasn't thinking about my work, but it was in the really wide view of why do I make things, and why do I create rather than the specific, or even object-related aspect of it. I think I wind up tackling those huge questions when I feel lost as then I avoid the immediate issues at hand while still feeling like I'm "making progress". By sidestepping what I want to be making for me and tackling the intangibles, I'm not forced to come up with an actionable answer or decisions. By having deadlines and a schedule for working I avoid that to a large extent. Not all the way, but it helps me remember to not get lost in the clouds and to keep putting one foot in front of the other.

It's okay that I don't know. And it's okay to make mistakes. This is hard, and harder than it seems like it should be. Somehow I feel that since I've been out of school and chosen to come back, it translates into "Must always know what I'm doing." I came in with a set of goals, and some of those have been discarded, some have changed, others I'm working towards. But I feel the yoke of having "been out" around my neck, and perhaps because of having lived with the restriction of creating saleable creative work, I have a "can't fail" mode. Even in my experiments, I fight the feeling that all attempts need to result in something that I can turn into a product. One of the reasons I let me work take such a turn when I came in was to break that mode, and it has mostly worked. It came back somewhat this semester when I had forms and didn't know where I was headed with them. The luxury that I have now to let pieces sit until they resolve or solve themselves in my head is just that- a luxury. I worried that I was getting too used to that.
There was a lot of not knowing this semester, being uncertain of what my work is about, developing the fledgling ideas around that, the uncertainty of the future and what it maight hold once I leave here. That tends to get me spun around and unable to tell up from down and worrying that I need to know where I'm going before I can begin the journey. Especially when it is a journey I feel like is a gift to me rather than something I earned and consequently mine to steer. But that isn't the case, or more accurately, it can't be the case. If I wait until I know it will be too late. If I don't take the chance it will pass and I won't ever know if it would've been good for me or not. I'm trying to remember that.

I am human. I can't do it all. And that is okay. This semester was the first time that I really bit off more than I could handle. I know I tend to complicate things and make them hard on myself. If it's too easy I don't think that it's worth doing. I know that isn't actually true, but I have to remind myself of that constantly. It feels like if it is easy, then I should be able to figure it out without needing to pay for the education. I feel like I get stretched thin a lot, and I feel that some of it is for good reasons, and most of it I recognize when I commit to things. I have a limited time here at school. Since I've been out and working for so long in many ways this is like a surprise gift of time and freedom that I feel like I need to make the most out of. I have a pretty decent hang-up about money and self-reliance. I don't like needing people to support me. I know that this is completely unrealistic. However, going from earning a living (not a big one, but one nonetheless) to being a full time student has done a good job of feeling like I have an expectation to live up to. I know that the actual expectation is for me to get the degree. Period. That's it. The expectation in my head is a lot higher. That expectation is more along the lines of getting a reprieve. That this sacrifice is being made for me, and if I don't have a clear road map and am taking all the opportunities and creating things that are clearly in line with furthering my career then I have failed. Which does a neat job of excising a lot of the experimentation and leaving me feeling like I am looking at a path littered with landmines. As if I spend time on experimenting and it goes nowhere I have wasted time.

I am learning to explain myself better. Not just in crits, which is certainly true; but in life. I am learning to explain my outlook on my education to people not predisposed to understand it intuitively. I am learning to justify myself. As I explained during the semester, I have thrown many of the limitations placed on me when I am working aside while I am enrolled. I haven't managed to throw them all off, and I think that there are still a few to go, but by and large they have been cast off. This isn't permanent however. Once I graduate and begin working for a living again with me art, many of those will come back into play. But this is the time when I don't need to have them. When I can develop the vocabulary and do the exploring that will result in tweaking those limitations to create sell able interesting work. That will help me not be just another jeweler out there, that give me the chance to be great not just good. Now is the time for me to get it wrong, to lean too far one way or another. (Which is much easier when said than to accept when I'm doing it) I don't know what post-MFA life will look like. I do still want to teach. I'm rethinking my ideas of teaching and the future of craft education. I am also 99% certain that I do not want to do shows again. I don't believe that what is out there fits in for me. I would rather spend my time coming up with a solution that is better than the existing ones than shoehorn myself somewhere that I don't think can last. I'm interested in selling my designs to be produced, but I don't know how feasible this is. I want to figure out how technology can help us move forward and not get left behind in the sales area.

I learned that people think what I do is important. And that makes a huge difference to me. I know that what I do makes me happy, and that there is a large part of me that needs to make in order to be me and feel fulfilled. Making equalizes me and gives me an outlet when words fail and I don't know how else to get something across. However, I always thought that is was tolerated and looked upon as that thing I do. Not something that makes a difference in the world and to people on a real daily level. But it does. And that knowledge gives me a much stronger belief in myself and my work. Which helps to get through semesters like this one intact.

DesignThinking and Faberge Eggs

There's a new blog by Tim Brown on Design Thinking, somehow I think this will be a must read.... (via Core77)

also the Instructables website has a Make a Faberge Egg contest! I can't wait to see what people come up with, and maybe I can squeeze in making an egg.... (via Make)

So while running yesterday, I got onto a train of thought about wondering whether good design needs to be the same or overlap with green design. My instinct is that they don't. But I'm having trouble finding examples of that, and I'm not sure if that's because the good design boom hit at pretty much the same time as the eco-design craze or if at this point in time, good design means green design.
I tend to think of good design as anything that communicates or interacts well with its audience. By "well" I mean products that seamlessly fit into their place and purpose. Objects that make tasks easier or simpler, things that really do make a difference in the way people live/use/work. These can be objects that you didn't have a need for beforehand, but now you can't think to do without. So they aren't necessary design, just good design. Or smart design. That may be a better phrase.
I tend to think that while smart design doesn't need to have overlap with green design, eco-awareness is so big right now that it tends to. Should it?
I've been reading Cradle to Cradle and so far it has left me frustrated and annoyed at it, and also just depressed. I've gotten through the first 3 chapters and I hope it gets better because right now it just makes me want to throw up my hands and say forget it. The message that came through to me is that adressing these issues in the framework that the world exists in right now is pretty much worthless. It's the equivalent of sticking a bandaid on a serious injury. The authors are advocating redoing the enitre framework. Maybe I'm too pessimistic, but I don't see that happening. So I'm left thinking that we're either tilting at windmills or screwed. Cheery.
The reason I tie this in is that they do seem to equate good/smart design with both social design and green design. This may be because of their architecture emphasis, but it leaves me questioning the future of our field (the larger object design field) as we make stuff. Most of which isn't needed, or necessary, or for a larger purpose than personal statement. So where do we fit in?

China, part 1 of ?? : why china matters

So as part of the "what is going on in the world" research, I've been looking at China.
Good magazine has a feature this month called 'Ten Reasons Why China Matters to You'. Some thoughts and synopsis...

From Reason #10-"its achievement scares nations around the world—and excites others—because it suggests that you can rapidly embrace globalization, achieve great income growth, and remain a single-party state by following the so-called China model."
in the Lexus and the Olive Tree. Mainly, that in order to reap the rewards of globalization a country needs to have the infrastructure, ,skill set, and processes; i.e. "software" to deal with the demands of the global market. I'm not sure that China has that. I wonder however, if the sheer volume and population of China is enough to carry the country over the hump as it currently appears to be doing. It is certainly odd to see the I find this interesting as it seems to go against some of the theories posited by Thomas Friedmanprinciples of a globalized economy humming along in a communist country. It seems jarring to me that what I might consider a fairly pure capitalist notion (globalization) is working. I wonder if that regardless of the political hold that the communist party retains, the social forces of the marketplace will erode those principles.

Reason #8 does a great job of laying out some of the challenges that China will face the longer it remains a global player. This brings up the issues of transparency in process- both governmental and business oriented, as well as corruption. There are several separate booms/seas of change going on in China right now- from sexual revolution to the results of the one child act. These will each change and affect to landscape in China- the question is how? And how will/can the government control these changes and mold them (as they have done before) without running up against the forces of the global markets?

From Reason #7- "Frankly, the best crises are the ones you actually hear about, because that means the international press got ahold of them, and those already affected or at risk will get the information they need to protect themselves. Once tracked back to China, Beijing is put on public notice that whatever laxness exists simply cannot be tolerated anymore, with threats of quarantine, bans on exports, cessation of investment flows, and so on. A generation ago, such threats would elicit yawns from China’s ruling elite, but now, with the Communist Party’s legitimacy riding on economic expansion, they’re taken with the utmost seriousness."
I think that now that China has committed itself to being a player in the global markets, it is that marketplace that will have the power and incentives to push forward social reform in China. I believe that many of the issues that people are bringing up and have brought up over the past decades (treatment of workers, human rights, corruption in the legal system, etc.) will not be solved nation to nation. I think that the force that can put the pressure on the government to change these issues is globalization. The global markets have the incentive (more investment, continued growth) as well as the clout to demand these changes. If the above quote is true (and I think that it is) the government has placed itself in a position were it has to listen. I don't think that there is any way that they can shut the doors on the global market now without completely destroying the country.

Reason #6 talks more about the political aspect of China's rise. I think this is where a lot of the uncertainty for me comes in. In order to get what it needs to keep growing and sustaining the growth, China is getting resources from all over- including some pretty unstable places. What happens to the global markets if China's supply is disrupted? If you don't think that will have some adverse reactions here, you are mistaken.... we should be paying much more attention to this than we currently are. This is the type of issue that we simply do not have any control over happening. If we aren't keeping an eye out and see the warning signs, we will be caught off guard.
I know there is a lot of people worrying about design and jobs shifting more to China than they are, and they might be right. I also think that if we keep trudging along as we have been head fixed in one direction, not looking around, and truthfully, not thinking very hard about what we're doing and where we're going, that there is nothing we can do to stop it. That said, I think that if we can wake up, take a deep breath and knock down our self-imposed restrictions on ways of thinking and creating, that we can offer "new". We cannot skate by on our reputation without doing anything to deserve that reputation. It isn't fair that manufacturing jobs are going or gone, it isn't fair that we aren't, as a country, what we used to be in terms of innovation and drive. But whose fault is that? Ours. And the world isn't fair. The longer we spend complaining about it and being nostalgic for when we were the hot market and everyone wanted us, is more ground we will have to cover to catch up.

Reason #5- Apparently I may be an economic determinist as I agree with the following quotes: "I believe economics shapes politics more than the other way around.....That doesn’t mean I want Washington to forgo pushing Beijing’s leaders in the direction of increasing political freedom and transparency, it just means that I have more faith in the transformative power of markets than others do, so I don’t argue for picking fights with China on that score...." I should look more into that economic concept (and this is where a part of my brain goes, "Economic Theory?!? You're in Art School! What are you thinking???"). This reason also brings up my earlier point about a potential crisis affecting us seriously. This is what I get for typing as I read....
The characterization of a "financial 'balance of terror'" reminds me greatly of the Cold War mentality: Us v. Them, both sides understanding the destruction of actually acting on their threats, but needing to perpetuate that image.

Reason #4 addresses some of the environmental concerns about rapid expansion of infrastructure. While I agree that international pressures and concerns may tip the balance to a smarter style of growth, I worry that the cheapness and ease of the "old" way may win out regardless. Also, once you start down that way, the damage gets done very very quickly. So it really won't take a big push to start that avalanche. Especially when you are tyring to catch up to the rest of the world, and are aggressively pursuing growth, there is the danger (proven through history) of looking at the now and short-term future, and ignoring the long-term effects until it is too late. I don't have a lot of faith in humanity here.

From Reason #1- "How America engages China’s emerging elite in coming years could well determine—for good or ill—the lasting contours of the most important bilateral relationship of the 21st century.....Bind America and China together, and globalization cannot be derailed. But set them persistently at odds, and that’s a recipe for unacceptable danger." China is not going away, and we cannot ignore that. To position ourselves into that global chain would be the smart thing to do. After all, you pay more attention to those you work closely with and have constant dialog with than distant acquaintances- regardless of whether you agree or disagree most of the time. It simply affects you more.

Messengers of Modernism

My thoughts and ruminations on Messengers of Modernism (American Studio Jewelry 1940-1960)by Toni Greenbaum

"A Craftsman's Creed:
All the fine traditions and the skill...
Are mine to use to raise my craft's renown,
And mine to teach again with reverent will...
Thus do I love to serve,
With fingers that are master of the tool."
This quote taken from the book was originally published in a 1942 artists manual.

How relevant is this today? What would be the changes and/or additions to make this resonate with artists/designers today?

I feel that the pure reverential treatment of the past in terms of technical skills does a disservice to the students today. I think that the traditions of our craft are important and should be passed along and acknowledged, I feel that all too often they are placed on a pedestal and not questioned. This worship of the old tends to leave no room for the new, and in many places breeds a fear and a reaction of inferiority and skepticism when dealing with new techniques and technologies. The rose colored lens that we view the past of our craft with is doing us a great disservice today by closing our eyes to possibilities for ensuring the future of our discipline and marginalizes our discussions and concerns about where we are headed.
However, I do feel that a broad and competent set of technical skills is necessary for a designer to be able to innovate and create. So how to reconcile these thoughts in the classroom and in practice? That needs more puzzling out, and is a question that all educators of craft fields should be examining closely.

It seems like the post WWII views in the crafts movement strongly echo the Arts & Crafts movement's ideologies at the turn of the 20th century- The emphasis on creating a more fulfilling life and society through the introduction of handmade crafts into everyday life. The idea that if people are surrounded by beautiful and meaningful objects that will raise their collective consciousness and give spiritual fulfillment to their lives. Industry and mass-produced products are the soulless opposition to be overcome.
The first part of that theorem, I don't mind- I do think that raising the status of designed objects is beneficial. I don't believe that it will somehow cure the world's ills or even really uplift anyone however. I think that it simply makes the world a more aesthetically pleasing place to exist in, and that to me has a soothing effect. Plus it benefits all of us financially as well, which is also a worthy aim.
The second part of that- where industry is viewed as the enemy of the handcraft, seems to still linger in studio practices today, and I think this is exceedingly detrimental to our field. We cannot continue to exist in our hermit's cave of pure compartmentalized studio arts, neatly arranged by discipline if we are to adapt and survive in an increasingly global networked society. It only serves to marginalize us further from relevence in today's society. I feel that instead we should look toward the post-war designers who seized the opportunity to work with industry to bring design to market. Right now this is the domain of "designers", but isn't that what we are as well? Why should we not be actively seeking these opportunities out? It is true that much of the work being produced in art jewelry and in academia is not suitable for the marketplace, however the kernel of the piece- that idea that drives it, can be. Designs can be adapted and reworked with the marketplace in mind while keeping the essence or purpose that initially spawned their creation.


Art Smith- He views jewelry as an incomplete sculptural expression until it relates to the human structure... I like that idea. It addresses the ideas that jewelry can be seen as its own object, but also that it needs to relate to the body to be complete.

Artists to look into further:
Harry Bertoia- hollowware
Art Smith
Paul Lobel
Everett MacDonald
Betty Cooke (local Baltimore!)