An article by Andrew Waggoner titled ‘The Colonization of Silence’ discusses the increasing intrusion of manufactured sound into daily life. He argues that silence plays a critical role in our appreciation of the sound environment. Silence is important for what he calls the ‘noiseless recalibration of the soul’.
Here’s what he says about the composer Morton Feldman:
Feldman’s view was equally rich and evocative, colored as it was by his friendship with Cage, though expressed in more workaday terms (he once remarked that like a tailor, he was a craftsman, committed to quality of detail; “the suit fits better” he said.)
Design students from Valparaiso University showed the first results from their workshop with residents of Pedernal. These are early days, as the students explore how products might be developed that relate to life in this remote village and also activity engage the residents in their production. The next phase is the response of the residents themselves. Let’s see what unfolds. Given the interruptions due to the closure of the university for 50 days, the results are quite remarkable.
The images also include some recent shots from Santiago and can be seen in full here. This includes the ironic exhibition Hecho en Chine (Made in China) by Chilean painter Bruna Truffi and the Museum of Shadows, otherwise known as the Museo de Artes Decorativas in Santiago.
yolandayandres Hilado de fantasía realizado por Yolanda (Hilandera), a partir del hilado tosco, con un diseño propuesto por Andrés (Alumno de Diseño). |
Patricia Gunther is a lecturer at the University of Valparaiso. Her students feature elsewhere in this blog. She is part of a very interesting push to make craft applicable to the otherwise remote communities. They are just beginning to negotiate how their skills might be of use far from the urban centre. |
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Las HILANDERAS DE COLLIGUAY poseen la tradición de hilar bellamente la lana de oveja y tejen productos tradicionales de muy buena calidad. Cuando intentan realizar nuevos productos, estos no logran la misma belleza y calidad, haciendo difícil o nula la venta de los mismos. La ESCUELA DE DISEÑO de la UNIVERSIDAD DE VALPARAÍSO ha desarrollado varias experiencias académicas relacionando el diseño con la artesanía tradicional con efectos de trascendencia para los alumnos pero no para los artesanos, quienes no hacían uso de los resultados de aquellas experiencias. En la experiencia 2006, se está realizando una relación sostenida y constante, de mucha interacción entre artesanas y alumnos, provocando a la fecha inquietud en el grupo de artesanas de Colliguay que evalúan las propuestas de los alumnos y los resultados obtenidos, y plantean nuevas propuestas en base a lo experimentado. No se trata de que repliquen las propuestas de los alumnos sino que descubran lo nuevo que ellas mismas pueden crear. El Taller y Práctica posterior académicos, se han desarrollado aplicando la experiencia de dos talleres anteriores (2000 y 2004) y rescatando como puntos de partida en la búsqueda de nuevos productos, los recursos propios de la artesanía textil de Colliguay: el payado que es su manera de dibujar en los tejidos, el hilado tosco usado para objetos de inferior calidad, el ponpón utilizado solo para dar terminaciones a los bolsos, el vellón usado como tramas decorativas, el mimbre utilizado por un artesano vecino que ha hecho los muebles de toda la comunidad y que las hilanderas jamás habrían tejido. |
The Hilanderas of Colliguay have the tradition to spin beautifully the ewe wool and tile traditional products of very good quality. When they try to make new products, these do not achieve the same beauty and quality, making it difficult and hard to sell. During 2006, a regular relationship is being developed, with interaction between craftswomen and students. This energises the group of craftswomen of Colliguay, who given their evaluations of the resulting proposals of the students, and make new proposals on the basis of the experimented thing. It is not just that they respond to the proposals of the students, but they discover what’s new that they themselves can create. The academic Workshop and later Practice, have been developed applying the experience of two previous workshop (2000 and 2004) and maintaining outcome possibilities in the search of new products, the own resources of the textile crafts of Colliguay: the payado one that is its way to draw in the weaves, the used coarse spinning for objects of inferior quality, ponpón is used singlly to give completions to the purses, vellón used as decorativas plots, the wicker used by a neighbouring craftsman that have made the furniture of all the community and that the Hilanderas never would have woven. |
“Imperdibles”, 2006, 3 superficies de 30 x 30 centímetros, construidas con imperdibles (ganchos de seguridad) metálicos. |
It’s been a while since we had the meeting in Valparaiso where we brought craft practitioners from across the south. There was far too much to show, and too little time to hear it all. Afterwards, I asked some of the local artists to provide me with an image and text of their work. I’ll post this material here, hoping that it might gather some interesting possibilities. |
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Artist statement in Spanish: Cursé estudios universitarios en diseño hace dos décadas y, desde ese momento, mis actividades han estado relacionadas con las artes visuales a través del textil. El objeto central de mi investigación está enfocado en las preguntas derivadas de la noción de tejido. Como artista y docente, mi compromiso reside en acercar el textil a aquellos nuevos ámbitos que ofrecen las artes contemporáneas, desplazando operaciones tradicionales hacia derivas más experimentales. Todo esto, se refleja en tres conceptos que forman y dan sentido a mi trabajo. La transformación de los materiales, lograda a través de la integración y coherencia formal en la construcción de las piezas. La reiteración, entendida como elemento narrativo que el tejido permite para la formación de superficies. Y, finalmente, la exposición de la fragilidad que existe en los procedimientos manuales y sus productos, sean estos complejos o simples. |
Artist statement in English: I studied design at university two decades ago and, from that moment, my activities been have related to the visual arts through textile. The central object of my investigation is focused in the questions derived from the weave notion. As artist and teacher, my commitment resides in approaching the textile with the new spheres that emerge from the contemporary arts, moving traditional operations towards more experimental drifts. All this, is reflected in three concepts that form and give sense to my work. The transformation of the materials, obtained through integration and formal coherence in the construction of the pieces. The reiteration, understood like narrative element that the weave allows for the formation of surfaces. And, finally, the exhibition of the fragility that exists in the manual procedures and their products, be these complex or simple. |
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The Museum of Glass in Washington celebrates is fifth anniversary with an exhibition of glass used by artists including Wim Delvoye, Teresita Fernández, Mona Hatoum, Maya Lin, Jean-Michel Othoniel, Kiki Smith, Fred Wilson, and the late Chen Zhen.
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Much is made of the way these artists defy the merely decorative appeal of glass. But the way the exhibition is presented doesn’t suggest that there is an engagement with glass and its process beyond the simple expression of a concept.
A new competition from Nandos calls for designs that will be used on bottles of Coca-Cola. The theme of the design is ‘happiness’.
The advertising is another example of the use of the thumbprint. This image gives the pattern the appearance of a wood-cut, within which is the ubiquitous Coke bottle.
So, in the primordial mark of human presence, lies embedded the global brand of modern life.
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I was up at Canberra School of Art as guest of the ceramics department, a progressive and creative scene thanks to the hard work of Janet de Boos and Greg Daly. While much of the art school is getting brand new equipment to replace what been damaged in a recent storm, ceramics is resilient. Here’s an image from Brighid, one of their long-serving kilns. |
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At the other extreme, here’s Kirsty Rae, the Creative Director of the new Canberra Glass Centre, an amazing facility of hotshops, studios, cafe, shop, gallery and heritage building. |
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Among other things, the centre is an impressive spectacle. When I was there, the Canberra Camera club had descended to make a photographic challenge out of craft. It’s a reminder that with so much visual technology at play in our world, there is a need for activities like glass as a subject for image-making. |
This is an image of a hotel in south-west Bolivia made entirely of salt. The only inhabitants of this cold harsh region are salt miners. More here.
The temperatures were plunging down to their minimum of minus 3 degrees. Around forty locals gathered in the yard of artist-run gallery Watch This Space, huddled around the glowing braziers.
Just after 7:30pm, they were called to their seats for the start of a video projection on an outdoor screen, billowing in the night breeze. The video showed a male form in contemplative pose. To the side of the screen, a live cellist started playing. Tiny fragments started to break off from the male figure. Gradually we realised the figure was made of clay, slowly dissolving in the water.
The 55 minutes that followed provided much food for thought. Though the figure’s destruction seemed inevitable, its slowness seemed to counter any anxiety we might feel. The fragmentation was quite beautiful, and we could only anticipate what part of the figure would be next to fracture.
The overall scene orchestrated this well. For relief, we could look down to the braziers, and see the logs being slowly consumed by the flames. Near the end of the screening, the billowing mud created by the falling clay was accompanied by wafting smoke from the braziers. The face cascading down was the dramatic climax of an otherwise quite contemplative scene.
The video was produced by Alice Springs ceramicist Pip McManus and the cello was played by Nic Hempel. Visit Pip’s website for more. It’s the kind of collaboration that is more likely to happen in a town like Alice than in a big segmented metropolis.
