Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Collect

Just yesterday I returned from London where I visited ‘Collect’; a major exhibition of some of the best applied arts represented by some of the best galleries from all over Europe.
Seeing so much great work in such short time is so overwhelming that it takes some time to digest.
However one thing keeps coming back to me as it is an issue that I feel strongly about; The uncritical use of rp-materials in the exhibited pieces. I have to admit that I was disappointed to see good people using a material, that for me is only sketch-up material or prototype stuff. What could have been great pieces ended up as dull white resin, showing a lack of an individual expression.
The fascination of new technology should never compromise the overall quality of a piece of work, and I hope the use of a great but not-quite-there-yet-material will find it’s way out, as more and more artists find their own ways of combining available techniques. 
For this exhibition I stuck to traditional time consuming hammering techniques using plain and simple silver. The result can be seen at the Scottish Gallery next month.