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Tuesday, April 27, 2010

statement.

it was a hardboiled fiction.
plastic eggs, silver, blackboard paint.
zoe brand 2010

She was trying to construct a life that made sense from things she found in variety stores.

Sunday, April 18, 2010

Schmuck 2010 (PART #2)


So armed with little more than a hangover and my wits I found myself traveling in a pack of unfamiliar people in an unfamiliar land on a train heading towards the Munich Craft Fair. On arrival I was relieved to find that most of my pack where flowing towards the Auto show that was also on, so I bought my ticket and proceeded past the shiny cars and scantly clad women towards Hall A where all my craft needs where to be met.

I worked my way slowly to the back of the exhibition hall, past some interesting and some not so interesting displays, trying to savior the moment before I would actually witness, the often thought of, but far off reality of attending, Schmuck. Of the 59 artists in this annual award showcase, there were some who I recognized instantly, others unfamiliar but excited me all the same, just to see the scope of work and artists on display was, well, pretty bloody awesome. It was interesting to note, perhaps because I was an Australian/ Australien a long way from home, but to see two of our national animals referenced, by two non-Australians, a pink plastic koala in work by Jantje Fleischhut and a ceramic Kangaroo brooch called Australia-Mary has a bigger bag by Marie-Louise Kristensen, made me reconsider my thoughts about how ‘faraway’ Australia really is. Highlights: Felieke van der Leest, Sergey Jivetin and Gesine Hackenberg.

Felieke van der Leest

Schmuck shared the back of the convention centre with Telente and it was a buzz with fresh excitement and approaches. It clearly succeeded in presenting the youthful exuberance of the best in their fields under the age of 30. The total highlight for me was two South Koreans, Semi Kim and Ji Hye Lee, there is just something about the immaculate technique and interesting subject matter that gets me every time. “Frame” was also placed in the back corner of the hall and showcased three of the more influential galleries in Europe, Galerie Marzee (Netherlands), Galerie Platina (Sweden) and Galerie Ra (Netherlands).

One of my first destinations on day two of my trip was Galerie Für Angewandte Kunst that was showing, Nicht Dass Du Mir Von Der Blause Fällst (don’t you dare fall off my blouse) a group show by who, I might consider the ‘parents’ of contemporary jewellery in Munich (and perhaps the rest of the world). Back in 1999 these jewellers got together on the last Wednesday of the month for some beer, food and jewellery chats. It appears that while the members of this group seemed to ebb and flow what was to be “…constant was only the young talent still in training and all jewelry gallery owners, collectors and customers were categorically denied attendance.”[1]. I was rather excited by the exhibition design, it had been a while since I had seen such a considered effort in the display of jewellery, and it was a great solution for such a large space, but honestly can’t remember a single piece from the show. I have often wondered if is it better to have an exhibition stick in your mind because of the wow factor of display and not remember the work as apposed to seeing good work displayed poorly and forgetting the show entirely. Because lets face it, there is a very fine line between these two things, even if the work is great, if the display doesn’t do it justice, it’s just another show.


[1] Klimt02 Community, Don’t You Dare Fall Off My Blouse, http://www.klimt02.net/showcase/index.php?item_id=17118, date visited 31st March 2010

to be continued...

Friday, April 9, 2010

re-sauce 2010



re-sauce
a contemporary jewellery conference.
attended by 2 sydney jewellers who could not attend the other conference.

young & brand

'make your own' pin swap

re-sauced conference bags

we checked out this great exhibition called 'designer jewellers'

interesting installation

I think this piece really 'pops'

always a fan of a 'pearl' necklace

-----00000000000000000000000000----

it twas a wonderful night, full of jewellery chats, slideshows and Kammadhenu (yum).

I hope all that made it to the other conference had as much of a rocking time as we did.

Sunday, April 4, 2010

Schmuck 2010 (PART #1)

kate, gillian & me.

Austr(alien)

Visiting somewhere new isn’t a foreign concept, it’s the foreign part that is, well, foreign. I arrived in Munich after spending a week in Madrid with my Family (I now understand why family holidays are such oddities), and it seemed that I was unprepared for the snow, the overwhelming amount of jewellery I was about to observe and they quantity of bread and beer that I was going to consume over the next six days.

I unfortunately arrived into Munich on the tail end of Schmuck, missing a good portion of the program (I did manage to catch about 15 exhibitions out of the possible 28 or so on the program) but spent my first night meeting up with the New Zealand contingent who very kindly filled me in on what I had very jealously missed out on. Later that evening after a few goodbyes I found myself wondering around the very cold and snow lined streets of Munich with two Talente participants, Gillian Deery (nz) and Kate Britchford (aus.) who allowed me to tag along with them to an Academy Student night. It was in a little bar where the bar staff wore shirts that said “your Sunday is my Monday” that I had the chance to meet, if only for an exceedingly brief moment, a man whose work I had ogled over for years, who I had only ever dreamed of meeting, and of the witty banter I imagined we would partake. My first (and only) meeting with Otto Kunzli, sank lower than the anchor on the titanic, it started with a handshake, proceeded with a high-pitched “hello” and ended a second later with a nervous schoolgirl giggle. This was perhaps one of the first moments I really felt like an Austr(alien), in another world and notching up yet another moment of life experience.

I have often wondered if Jewellery is not best observed through the mist of a hangover. It’s that state of fragility that requires you to muster your strength and focus all your attention to the task at hand just so you can make it through the day, and it was in this condition that I was to observe my very first Schmuck.

To be continued...

Saturday, April 3, 2010

114-124/365

124 - a sign from the ladies bathroom at the MLC centre.
123 - from the fabric pouch that you get when you purchase/receive as a gift a piece of jewellery from Prouds.

122 - a sign from a hand drier in a bathroom. yes, that is a kangaroo and an emu drying themselves under a commercial hand dryer.

121 - my expired medicare card

120 - found old green fiberglass

119 - cardboard from an old receipt book

118 - taken from the back of a plastic outdoors chair found on the street

117 - found headlight cover

116 - "A lovely day for a Guinness" vintage metal sign
115 - scotch bright (10 points if you can guess where you have seen this before)

114 - from the cover of a children's book