Stand up for your rights. And get some attitude!!
(above) Waste Basket #8, Brenden Scott French.
As previously stated, ad nauseum(!), the driving impetus for this blog is a desire to perpetuate a climate of dialogue/genuine exchange of view across the broader glass community. This is by no means intended as an in-house clique-fest (quite the contrary.) We welcome instead the participation of all and any interested parties, be they practitioners, collectors, dealers, patrons, arts industry apologists or merely curious by-standing others. No need to be shy, the very nature of the internet will afford you some degree of anonymity – unless of course you’re keen to publicly identify yourselves (which, frankly, wouldn’t disappoint us!)
But where to begin?
What is your view of the glass, and craft, ‘sector’ today? Does it not even vaguely concern you that we now operate in what is actually officially referred to as ‘a sector’? Does the Arts/Craft debate have any relevance at all to glass anymore, given ‘the sector’s’ unabashed interior decor/market focus? Whence came that insidious imperative for glass artists to become ‘corporatized’? How on earth did it become de rigeur for glass artists to comport themselves in a manner that can only be described as ‘motivational-management-seminar-esque’ (with a superficial sound-bite patter to match)? And more importantly, has calculated ambition dealt passion and creative integrity a fatal death blow? (Nothing like a little tautology to spice up a bone of contention…)
Perhaps it’s time to climb down off that fence and get involved in a spot of collective discourse.
To get things rolling we’re putting in a link to an opinion-piece-slash-review published last year on the Craft Australia website. There’s no need to address the article per se, but we’re rather hoping it might prompt an opinion piece of your own…..
http://www.craftaustralia.com.au/ewp/20060226.php
And we’ve just been given the nudge (see comments) to add a link to a blog called Whale Sushi, who posted an extraordinarily insightful piece immediately following the late-May opening of the Canberra Glassworks….!
http://whalesushi.blogspot.com/2007_05_01_archive.html
If you would like to post a point of view over and above a mere comment, please send it in an email attachment via
Have you not considered that the nature of the ‘comporting’ might just be a Canberra-centric thing? Perhaps it’s the only way to deal with the governing bodies, ie the working place political reality.
Yes it is true that Canberra is a ‘company’ town, and that many artists work in the public service (the arts sector by preference) and that the culture (psychologically) is undeniably focused on upper-managerial aspiration. Think of it in terms of a cult scenario – perhaps it’s time to mount a recovery. n(Ed)
I’m really surprised that you haven’t drawn attention to the “Whale Sushi” blog’s take on the new Canberra Glassworks. I know you’ve seen it, you left a comment. It’s worth sharing I would have thought. You’re not going soft are you?
http://whalesushi.blogspot.com/2007_05_01_archive.html
Yeah, you’re right, it is worth sharing. And it would be hilarious if it wasn’t so tragic. I’m not going soft – it’s all just so incredibly disappointing, frankly. n(Ed)
Look,
It is very interesting
tits