In the press…

The Australian Financial Review Magazine, a glossy monthly that comes with the weighty business tome, often has items of luxury exposed in its pages.

The September 2009 issue doesn’t disappoint, with the below two items:

(1) pg 57, a magnificent ring by Phil Mason represented by e.g.etal; text (not shown) states: “Goldsmith Phil Mason recently became the first Australian selected as a finalist in the Saul Bell Award (Las Vegas) and the Passion Award Design Competition (St Louis). His passion ring features a faceted black spinel stone set onto gold hinges that open to reveal a secret compartment. 18ct yellow and white gold, black spinel, rubies, diamonds” (image is not attributed, but is also on the e.g.etal site here).

Spectacular! [though I imagine I would snag it on all manner of garments and soft furnishings]

The Australian Financial Review Magazine, September 2009, pg 57

(2) pg 14; an article on the unusual jewellery of Patrick Jelk; interesting but not really to my taste; however, the incorporation of historic references is something most art does, though usually more implicitly

The Australian Financial Review Magazine, September 2009, pg 14

Seeking: art school exhibition dates

There are lots of exhibitions coming up for undergraduates, graduates and post-graduates from the many fine art degrees in Melbourne … so I thought I’d start a calendar for all of them.

I am seeking contributions from readers – do you know of any?

For now all contributions will be retained as comments, and I’ll create a new post in late October or early November with all the collated information.

I cannot seem to find a lot of information, but those I have found are below, in starting-date order:

• 4th – 13th November 2009: RMIT, undergraduates (1st/2nd year), gold & silversmithing; RMIT School of Art Gallery [link]; opening night 4th November, 5-7pm
• 12th – 22nd November 2009: NMIT, graduates, jewellery; Northcote Town Hall [link]
• 16th – ?? November 2009: RMIT, graduates (3rd year), gold & silversmithing; Guildford Lane Gallery [link]; unsure about opening or closing date
• 24th – 29th November 2009: VCA, graduates and postgraduates, all school of art; Margaret Laurence Gallery [link]; opening night 23rd November
• 8th – 13th December 2009: VCA, masters students, all school of art; Margaret Laurence Gallery [link]

No need to be shy, please add those you know about!

Update (6th October): be sure to check out the comments for the latest information

Update (7th October): new information from RMIT for many other fine art exhibitions [here]

Blog roundup

Wee-hee … lots to read:

• I have discovered (oh I know I’m not Magellen!) the Art Jewelry Forum [link]; it has an American focus, but has some great discussions and image bank
• MetalCyberSpace (and other sites) point out that entries for inclusion in the Lark book ‘500 Silver Jewelry Designs‘ is open, last day for arrival of application is 4th December 2009 [post]
• in searching the RMIT site for some images of a recent exhibition and student work, I literally stumbled upon a story about Robert Baines’s publication and the RMIT Research Repository – well worth looking at for academic work [link] – I’m looking forward to reading this paper, and perhaps writing about my thoughts on it…
• the Powerhouse Museum in Sydney has a gorgeous exhibition ‘From Earth to the Universe‘ – I love images of space [link, another link]
• the BBC news site described the conservation of a silver Viking hoard [link] – I love these kinds of stories that connect us to the past
• Vikki Kassioras has gorgeous new earrings using bronzite [post]
• and lastly, Katherine Bowman shared a lovely poem [post]

Happy reading!

‘Losing the Unique’ @ Shifted Gallery

Jasmine Targett and Debbie Symonds recently collaborated on ‘Inside the Realm of Invisible Spheres‘ [previous post], and their latest work ‘Losing the Unique‘ is at Shifted Gallery in Richmond.

This work continues the focus on the changes seen in nature and implicitly questions the role of humans in this shift. In the text that accompanies the exhibition, Debbie writes: ‘my artistic practice is an investigation and interrogation of humanity’s ecological conundrum and the discourse pertaining to this situation. The precarious position that human and non human species face are the central themes of my research …‘. Debbie has created two-dimensional representations of the call/song of selected albatross species, to call ‘attention to their plummeting population numbers‘.

photograph taken with gallery permission

Jasmine’s work is in three parts: stoneware, porcelain and silver; all referencing the Pelargonium genus. In her text she states: ‘the notion of reductionism within scientific paradigms is that it excludes the need for individual identity … individual identity masses into group classifications. What was once unique is now lost within the system‘. I think the silver installation, ‘Memores acti prudentest futuri‘, best represents this idea – by preserving the individuality of each leaf, not just the variety or the plant.

photograph taken with gallery permission

I’m interested in how Jasmine was able to keep the natural shape of the leaf after the casting process, which I would think would flatten the leaves out (but that could simply be my incomplete understanding of casting of course!).

In a little example of connectivity, the other artist exhibiting in the gallery was Terence Bogue – who is one of the photographers of choice for Melbourne jewellers, metalsmiths and ceramic artists. Here he shows a small number of photographic studies of the clavicle and scapula – quiet and contemplative work.

‘Losing the Unique‘ is at Shifted Gallery until 26th September 2009.

Metal prices

Recently I heard that the gold price had gone over US$1000 per ounce.

As I haven’t made anything for a few years now, I was wondering how the prices for silver and gold have changed in the last five years. I found the following links for gold and silver prices, and have the graphs below.

5 year gold price, per ounce, in US$; as at 11th Sept 2009

Gold is now at the same price as it was early last year when the GFC was just being realised; and the same price it hit later last year. I wonder whether that is a portent? The Age recently had an article dampening the excitement of the price, looking more at the price in Australian dollars after accounting for the exchange rate etc [for the more financially minded], here.

5 year silver price, in $US; as at 11th Sept 2009

A couple of other observations:

• silver moved in parallel with gold until mid-last year when it fell much heavier than gold did;
• it looks like silver now costs more than double what it did (in $US) when I was at university;
• we should have stockpiled silver (and gold, if you can afford it!) late last year;
• and though I didn’t use a lot of gold (though she is just lovely to work with), it is now over two-and-a-half times more expensive than five years ago;

The comparison of silver and gold reminded me of something my very first teacher once told me – silver is the bitch of metals, gold is the queen (if you’ve made with both, you’ll know what she meant!).

Calendar: October 2009 sneak peek

first, an update for September 2009:

• 15th September: Pieces of Eight, ‘Nomad‘ by Djurdjica Kesic; until 10th October [link]
• 18th September: Chloe Vallance ‘a moment at a time‘, area contemporary art space; until 4th October [link; previous post]
  

• 18-20th September: Yarra Valley Open Studios, includes a number of gold and silversmiths [link]
• 21st – 23rd September: last day for arrival of pieces to be included in ‘Explorations 2009‘ sponsored by A&E Metal Merchants at Gaffa Gallery [link]
• 26th September: last day for Jasmine Targett and Debbie Symonds ‘Losing the Unique‘ at Shifted Gallery (Richmond) [link; previous post]
  
• 26th September: last day for Bridget Farmer‘s ‘Bird Story‘ (etchings, drawings) at Bird’s Gallery (Kew) [link; previous post]
• 26th September: last day for ‘Seppeku‘, VCA Honours 2007 group exhibition, at Lindberg Contemporary Art, Collingwood [link]
• 27th September: last day for group exhibition ‘Walk: a NETS Victoria touring exhibition‘ at Counihan Gallery (Brunswick) [link]; thanks to Katherine Bowman for sharing this one [post]

…

now for October 2009 sneak peek:

all month:

• NGV International [link] ‘Persuasion: Fashion in the Age of Jane Austen‘ (primarily textiles); until 8th November; my review story
  
• NGV International [link] ‘Building a Collection: Recent acquisitions of prints and drawings‘; until 31 January 2010; my review story

1st October: last day for application to Talente and Schmuck [link]

1st October: last day for application for Ian Potter Cultural Trust [link]

1st October: Hand Held Gallery, Claire O’Halloran ‘Keepsakes‘ (contemporary jewellery); until 31st October [link]

2nd October: last day for applications to the Liverpool City Art Prize [link]

4th October: last day for NGV International [link] ‘Salvador Dali: Liquid Desire‘; my review story

6th October: Gallery Funaki, Carlier Makigawa ‘October 2009‘ [link]; until 31st October

10th October: Craft Vic ‘Hatch’ market [link], City Library, Flinders Lane, 11am – 4pm

11th October: last day for ‘A changing land: Devilbend 2009‘, group exhibition including Vito Bila and Marian Hosking, at Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery [link]

18th October: last day for The Art Gallery of Western Australia’s exhibition of Mari Funaki’s ‘Works 1992-2009‘ [link]

25th October: last day for Melbourne Museum [link] ‘A Day in Pompeii‘; my review story

30th October: last day for application to the ‘Graduate Metal 12‘ exhibition as part of the JMGA Perth conference [link]

30th October: last day for application for Jam Factory Associate program [link]

… link to exhibitions and events on the September 2009 calendar …

Similar but not the same

It’s almost embarrassing to admit, but the other day I bought a “women’s” magazine – I can’t even defend the action! However, the reason for sharing this out-of-character purchase is what I found in its pages.

Now I know that in jewellery there is a fine line between copying a design exactly (which is a breach of artist copyright, if it can be proven from a dated sketch or technical drawing etc), producing work that is very very similar and meant to deceive (fakes), and producing something that is very similar ….

The below image is cut from page 226 of the October 2009 issue of Marie Claire (Australia). It shows a pair of earrings from Yves Saint Laurent – can anyone else think of whose work they are similar to?

from Marie Claire, October 2009 issue, page 226; photographed by Adam Flipp / Todd Sutherland

Mmmm…. in shape and design they remind me very much of Jessica Morrison’s beautiful work [eg.etal, Studio Ingot, blog]. However those above are gold-coloured [for other images go to the YSL website, go to collection, then jewellery, then scroll across] and not enamelled with lovely colours like Jessica’s.

There’s no accusation here – but I find it so interesting that people who may have never seen Jessica’s work have produced something similar. Are all the artistic ideas that exist in the universe floating about and more than one person gets a glimpse of them?…