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| the auction exhibition in CIT Crawford College foyer (photo Michael Holly, 2013) |
Dear reader, On Saturday the 2nd of November 2013 the
recently re-formed Glass Society of Ireland held its first international
symposium; ‘Orientate’ in CIT Crawford College of Art and Design,
Cork. Early that morning our favourite GSoI
members (I joke, we have no favourites – we just hope even more of
you can make it next year) sacrificed their Saturday lie-in to join us for a
day of stimulating talks and presentations from a variety of glass
practitioners, craft writers and curators.
The choice to include such a range of professional
fields amongst our speakers was deliberate. We are acutely aware that the
future of glass as an art material relies upon much more than a talented
artists working alone in a studio. Everyone is connected by a vital network of
dependency – the artists, the writer, the curator, the buyer. The symposium ‘Orientate’
was aptly titled; this conference aimed to
uncover how contextualising the material has underpinned glass as an occupation
- exploring how we orientate ourselves around the material.
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| Mimmo Paladino: El Rabdomante, Glasstress 2013 |
With her charming Italian accent, Francesca talked us through the
origins of Glasstress, a project she described as ‘a bridge between the
old idea of glass and the future.’ Projects like Glasstress are breaking
down the perception of glass as a disciplined craft material and injecting it
into the ‘anything’s possible’ world of contemporary fine art. Francesca’s
lecture really set the tone about the pivotal point that glass is at today. The
Glasstress exhibition 2013 was on show in Venice until the 24th
of November and will travel to the London College of Fashion next year.
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| Helen Story: The Dress of Glass and Flame, Glasstress 2013 |
After Dr Giubilei’s lecture the audience had the opportunity to ask
questions and converse. An interesting discussion arose from the audience about
the importance of ‘intellectual property’ when a glass-master is involved in
the production of an artwork. Do projects like Glasstress undermine the
technical skills and achievements of the glass-masters? Many of the makers
present in the audience felt slightly uncomfortable with the idea that this
style of a conceptually led project might be the way forward for glass. While
everyone seemed to agree that the collaborations and exchange of knowledge
occurring in Venice are exciting there also seemed to be a consensus that ‘we
must not just train thinkers’ and that technical skills must not lose their
value.
The next speaker of the morning was our only Irish national:
Dr Eleanor Flegg. Eleanor is a writer and lecturer. Craft is her
main inspiration although as she informed us, she does not consider herself ‘a
champion to the cause of craft’ she writes about it because she finds it
interesting. Eleanor’s talk was a personal favourite: though it had very little
to do with glass, it had everything to do with the potential of writing to
explore all kinds of art/objects. She talked about the different types of
writing that may be used in the context of writing about craft – how it is
often indulgent writing, focusing on promoting the artist/gallery/material or
bland information based around dates locations and statistics about the piece
or person in question. Critical writing is less common but is something that
perhaps should be considered more since, Eleanor pointed out, “the reason that
I write at all is to find out what I think.” Our thoughts and opinions are rarely
straightforward; the reflective process of writing can help us assess them more
clearly. She referred to writing as “a making process – it’s just not three
dimensional”. Eleanor is interested in finding new ways of writing about craft
and she is currently writing a speculative fiction novel based on her
experience of a ceramic artist’s work (the name eludes me, I apologise). She
delighted us by reading an extract from it during her talk – it was the most
unusual way of engaging with an object I've encountered and
strangely captivating.
A central point of Eleanor’s talk left lingering in my mind was the idea that we should be ‘pushing boundaries without being certain of the results’. She is pushing boundaries in her atypical craft writing practice just as exhibitions like Glasstress push boundaries and break material tradition. If the audience – who were largely makers and students - were to take just one thing away from her talk I hope it’s an appreciation of the power of writing as a tool towards understanding our own opinion and perhaps our own practice in a way that is just that little bit more considered and - no pun intended, crafted.
A central point of Eleanor’s talk left lingering in my mind was the idea that we should be ‘pushing boundaries without being certain of the results’. She is pushing boundaries in her atypical craft writing practice just as exhibitions like Glasstress push boundaries and break material tradition. If the audience – who were largely makers and students - were to take just one thing away from her talk I hope it’s an appreciation of the power of writing as a tool towards understanding our own opinion and perhaps our own practice in a way that is just that little bit more considered and - no pun intended, crafted.
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| Jerome Harrington, 'Glass in the Expanded Field' - Diagram. |
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| Emer Lynch and our panel of speakers (photo Michael Holly 2013) |
The morning session concluded with a panel discussion featuring the
three speakers and led by GSoI Vice-Chairperson Emer Lynch, a curator whose
own practice has developed from her educational background in glass at the National
College of Art and Design. Emer invited the audience to engage with the
speakers and ask questions on issues raised in their lectures. The main subject
that was discussed was the difference between glass art and glass craft, and if
indeed there was a difference at all. The apparent consensus within the audience
was that the labels are generally nothing more than ‘marketing categories’ and
that in general the discussion is one that makers can become fixated with but
the general public don’t particularly care about the distinction. Everyone in
the audience seemed interested in the debate and I imagine that if time allowed
we might have continued to pick the speakers brains all afternoon but time
waits for no one and it was off to a delicious lunch of home-made curry,
courtesy of the college canteen. Yum!
To be continued!
Written by Meadhbh McIlgorm
GSoI Media and Communications Officer
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