Juror Statement
New Glass Review… New… Glass… Review… At first it seems an obvious and direct title for a document aspiring to present the cream atop today’s broth.
But a more literal reading reveals the underlying contradiction. How do you present the best of the future while gazing backwards? As in our title, is Glass somehow stuck in the middle, bracketed by an instinctive fetish for discovery and a nostalgic respect of family traditions? Where does “good” lie when artists are coming to the medium with so many contradictory intentions?
Put more positively, can the studio glass movement stride forward into a new, as yet unimagined, reality while still drawing strength from its roots in centuries of material investigation and accumulated wisdom?
Judging by the view, afforded by this unique curatorial experience, my answer is: absolutely yes. I was inspired to find that the structural seeds planted by our glass ancestors have ripened into a field that encompasses an extreme depth and breadth of enquiry, full of work that confused, irritated and moved me.
The concept of quality is increasingly a moving target, but from what I have seen, the perceived crisis of our field is nothing more then the growing pains of a generation as we slowly realize that we must now build evolved systems to support the promise of our future growth. There is no shortage of talent.
Along with my fellow jurors, I tried to wade through the submissions in a fair and deliberate way. Many considerations came to bear on our far ranging discussions, not the least of which, is that this is a print publication which unfortunately favors certain work and documentation styles.
I personally attempted to take as intuitive an approach as possible. I registered exceptional reaction in any direction as a positive and advocated for that work regardless of, or at times because of, its formal aesthetics.
A month removed, I am reviewing my selections on the kitchen table and a few characteristics emerge that my subconscious clearly registered as intriguing outliers when sequestered in the sensory withdrawal of that dark room in December.
In many of the entries, I was drawn to a directness of approach and material misuse that I strive for in my own practice. The brutal, pseudo organic, architecture of Simone Fetzer’s new work aggressively seizes possession of space while Eli Hansen’s day-glo cook house contraptions arrive at sinister via more seductive routes but each possess the vital immediacy of artists trying furiously to keep pace with their inner voices.
Intelligent use of humor and clever innuendo are a short cut to this juror’s full attention. Wearing many masks, from Mike Hernandez’s dirty drip of a composition to Megan Stelljes suggestive banana bros, funny and suggestive work repeatedly showed the ability of laughs to circumnavigate audiences’ most stubborn filters.
Out of an abundance of exceptional character driven art submitted, the fantastically hapless creatures inhabiting Tom Moore’s peculiar planet and the over the top obnoxiousness of Kim Thomas’s crunchy trio of twerps float to the top by invoking the wacky wonder of Pee Wee’s Playhouse and Tim Burton at his best.
Defying the flat page, endearing characters also popped up in several entries that managed to overcome the documentation obstacles inherent in translating dynamic live and video performances into still photos. I was lucky to have previously viewed videos of the adventures of Stanislav Muller’s superheroic Mirror Man, but his submitted still somehow perfectly encapsulates this humble, hilarious and profound work and is stunning in its own right.
Likewise, a very strong graphic from the collaborative group, “Flock the Optic” hints at the group’s avian obsessions and their creative interplay between craft, performance and emergent technologies without portraying the full multimedia massage of the senses that awaits their once and future audiences.
It is encouraging to see an enormous amount of experimentation combining glass with “new” media approaches from video and sound works to microcontroller driven, responsive sculpture. I did my best to resist my moth-like attraction to blinky lights and hold this charismatic, but all too often conceptually void, work to the same standards of originality and true innovation. For me, the Art itself had to be more compelling then the machines, sensors, programs, leds or glass making the magic happen.
The work that most successfully superseded its components was often the result of collaborations amongst exceptional artists and technicians from a range of backgrounds that bridge the digital craft divide. While in Residence at Pilchuck Glass School, David Stout and Corey Metcalf, known as Noisefold, worked with glass artists Jason Christian and Daryl Smith to make a series of illuminated forms visualizing aspects of mined atmospheric sound. These objects will, no doubt, permutate through their work in the physical, digital and now virtual worlds that they create.
A similar venture teamed up sculptors Ami McNeel and Mark Zirpel with multi-media artist Sam Stubblefield for a long-term residency at MadArt in Seattle. The resulting sonic and visual playground fed data from poetic sources through monumental kinetic mechanisms, laser light shows and instruments of medieval wonder and space age delight. These fruitful partnerships show a pathway to unlock the true potential of these new tech tools in the hands of non-linear artists and flexible designers.
Above all, my selections show a clear underlying affection for the absurd. It is in this realm that artists can most effectively plant conceptual seeds and nourish the growth of new thought. Whether it's the schoolboy charm of Erwin Wurm’s water bottle boy or the haunting humanity of the bald spot atop Dagmara Bielecka’s “Organica” these pieces challenge logic with their existence and win.
Nate Riccutto’s pimped up psychedelic man-trike and spaced out survivalist installations lead the viewer down a wormhole of sci-fi aesthetic and narrative non sequitur. Their initial oddness is magnetic and upon engagement one finds oneself within a conceptually airy atmosphere that allows us to choose our own adventure through a glorious jumble of half implied storylines.
So those are a few of my favorite things.
I tried with my juror selections to highlight artists who echo these same attributes and share with you a few of the many next level thinkers and makers that I have had the honor of crossing paths with in this magical career. Although sporting widely varied backgrounds, and digging in different fields of inquiry, I feel they have all brought something new and good to glass.
I will end by saying thank you to Susie and Corning for this once in a lifetime experience, to my fellow jurors for a delightful collaboration and to all the applicants in the book and out for taking the time to invest yourself deeply in making meaningful objects, events and atmospheres. The world needs your efforts, now more then ever…