SCHMUCK 2009 Part Two

Hello again,
So I realize that I never finished up the second part of my Schmuck Blog, and I finally have some time in between crit cycles, so here we go..

I did end up going to all the shows I wanted to (listed before) and here is what I thought..

My favorite show was definitely the JAMES show, where I got to meet my new friend Lisa Juen. I had met her initially online (via facebook of all places) and the thing is, I really, really, really LOVE her work. She combines enameled metal and fiber in unusual ways and I really respond to the work. So call it being mesmorized by being in Germany or distracted by all that I saw there, because I didn’t even really realize her work was going to be there, and about a ½ second after I realized it was her work, she walked through the door, and I just went for it, introduced myself and it was great!










Lisa Juen















Lisa Juen
















Lisa Juen




The work she presented was really great! She included some artificial fingernails and they looked liked flower petals, and she had this great wrapping technique of the stones she used, that I can't stop thinking about. The purpose of the show was that there was an exchange between students based off of packaging.





The packaging the work was based off of




I ALSO really loved the show because of the way it was installed. When I first walked into the studio I couldn’t quite wrap my head around how they installed these boards hanging from the ceiling with only mono filiment and staples?! However, after scratching my head for a few seconds, my art detective Erin explained the boards were actually Styrofoam, and I was just amazed. Call it the dumbfoundedness that Schmuck or Germany or all of the above did to me, but I was just blown away and I LOVE that! I just feel like it doesn’t happen enough in life and it was great.







The lovely installation





Then we went to go see the In Transit show, which has the work of our friend Helen Carnac in it. I wasn’t holding my breath that we would see Helen, but there she was! When we got there not only was she there, but she wasn’t surrounded by fans like she would be if she was here for an artist lecture or something, she was quietly arranging her work and some papers she had in her hands, so Erin and I got to go up, give our hugs, and chat with her for like 20 minutes! It was just great. That’s one thing I really loved about Schmuck was being able to actually be able to chat with artists that I love, which I feel is a little harder at times here, and I’m not too sure why.








The foundry




What I also really loved about the space that Helen (and several others) were showing at is that it was such a cool space! They set up their show in a metal foundry, so the whole place smelled like freshly cast aluminum or steel, not sure which one they were casting, but it definitely smelled like cast metal in there. And I loved how well the work fit into the space. At times it was hard to tell where the foundry ended and the art began.








Helen and her illustrations hanging


That’s another thing I’d say I really loved about Schmuck was being able to see the artwork in so many different venues, instead of herding around like cattle in a big convention center, which can just get SO exhausting. The main reason I find these events so important is being able to see the work up close and personal! There is so much you can find out about a piece by seeing it in person! For example, I saw a Ruudt Peters piece that was SO much larger that I thought it was in the images.








Ruudt Peters




Finally, the show we saw last was probably my least favorite show, not because of the work, but because of the venue. It was the WITTENBRINK show, which showcased the work of students of Otto Kunzli. It was inside a mall, which was weird, and it was really difficult to find, which was totally frustrating. By the time we got there I was just angry, and the work was good but I just didn’t like the venue after being in that sweet metal foundry, it just couldn’t compare.














The one nice thing about the WITTENBRINK show was that the show was near the Residence Hall, which is where the Munich Royalty stayed. I went there once before when I was in Germany a few years ago, and it is awesome – painted ceilings, relics, gardens – an absolute MUST if you are ever there in the summer time.














Overall we had a pretty sweet Schmuck! And now that I get how it works, I’m excited to go back and do it all over again!

Craft-tastic ness for the Day

This just made my day

Schmuck 2009

This is how I started my wonderful day today, with the stamp from the disco we went to last night plastered to my head because I slept on it just right. Amazing.

What an amazing day. I am stunned, amazed and humbled by the work I have seen today. This work is all so amazingly constructed – with purpose, care and intent. It’s all just so breathtaking to see it all in real life. This has been a very inspiring trip but also important to the questions I ask myself as I grow as a jeweler. I find myself occasionally questioning why it is that work needs to be perfectly rendered because I really enjoy work that has a very sketchy quality to it, but after seeing a showing like this, I totally get it, and I really thought about these questions when I admire some of these pieces. It seems like even though the work has a sketchy/messy quality to it, it is very intentional and it looks like they completely understand how to do it right, but chose to tweek it, to make it look different, to cause us to question, and make it interesting to look at. Seeing how perfectly everything is put together just leaves you there to sit and drool on yourself at the years of meticulous engagement with materials these artists have dedicated to their craft.


Look at these Giovanna Corvaja pieces. He has worked for a long time trying to push metal as far as it can go to be thin, but metal strings in these pieces are so thin they look like fur! Giovanni is a metals a rock star.

Everything is just so perfect! I literally almost lost it when I saw the new Katja Prins work. I considered crying, fainting and crawling into a little ball all at once.

The work is just so powerful, which really makes me think because my work doesn’t really exist on the intimate scale that most of this work is living on, but it still moves me so much. The work presented in both Schmuck and Talente is definitely existing in a professional sphere. The work is priced high, but how amazing is it to see work that you have only studied in real life?! For example, I saw this piece by Ted Noten, and seeing it in a magazine you would never understand that the scale of the piece is actually about the size of your hand, so much bigger than I thought. Plus there were so many artists represented that I haven’t seen before, so it was great to start to see new work but emerging artists, and see new series of work from artists that I love. I saw work by Sarah Trooper, who I met when I visited SUNY New Paltz, when looking at Grad Schools and I was actually there when everyone was criting her Two Car Garage piece. Awesome job Sarah! Congrats on getting into such a great show. You are amazing, and I hope to be amazing like you one day.

Schmuck in general is kind of a mystery. There isn’t a fixed place that everything occurs like SNAG or SOFA, its more like a week when there is a handwerrke trade expo happening – which includes everything from industrial design to culinary design - and the Schmuck exhibition is just a small part hidden in the back of the expo center. The work is truly amazing and well worth the travel over here, but much different than what I was expecting. But what is exciting about this time is that all the jewelry galleries in the area open up with new and exciting shows. Today in addition to Schmuck, we visited Galerie Biro who was having an exhibition of Andi Gut and a show called Lollipops in the wood – bites from the everyday. I didn’t take any photos of the Andi Gut show, but what I liked most about these tiny carved nylon rings is the way they were presented, attached to metal dentistry tools that telescoped out to extend the pieces into the gallery so they demanded to be viewed. The Lollipops show was a bunch of neckpieces and brooches that were made from dental plaster and referenced the mouth or chewing in some way by Mia Maljojoki.

Here are some horrible images of wonderful work I saw today, but don’t worry, I have overspent my budget on amazing books, so I have much better images of the work now in my personal library.










Beate Eismann











Stephanie Jendis








Q Hisabashi Shibata









Renata Vietzova

Tomorrow we plan on hitting the gallery tour. Three shows we definitely have to see are:

JAMES Exchange. Jewellery And Metalwork Enquiry Show


and look how awesome the back of the card is?? Little punch outs..really great.



WITTENBRINK ZEIGHT SCHMUCK. A show of four students of Otto Kunzli.
what an amazing card.



In Transit.
A show with Helen Carnac, whom I met and have had some great conversations with before. I probably wont see her there, but it will be nice to go and see her work.

Alright. We are off to the disco. Arg! Germany is amazing.

Glenn Adamson

Earlier this week Glenn Adamson came to UWM as a guest artist, invited by the Metals student organization Object, to answer some questions about his book, “Thinking through Craft,” and give a presentation on his research into Craft’s impact into the art world.

I was so lucky, because I got to spend most of the day with Glenn! He came to my studio and gave me a personal critique of what I am working on right now, which was really helpful to hear from an art critic perspective. He told me about where my work fits into what is going on right now in contemporary practice, which was really helpful in addition to the feedback I already receive about the actual making and how that fits into my field. I told him I wasn’t sure if what I am making could be considered jewelry or Metalsmithing, and he told me those lines aren’t even going to be there in the future, so I shouldn’t worry about it! It was just so great to meet with him! He gave me artists to look at, as well as shows that are happening right now that are dealing with the same subjects I am approaching and I can’t wait to start reading!

After our meeting in my studio, we went to Alterra and had a coffee and a snack. A one-on-one little chat over coffee with Glenn was an unexpected bonus! We chatted about his book, my background, his background, you know, coffee talk. ☺ It was really lovely.







After our coffee, Glenn and I headed up to campus to dissect his book, “Thinking Through Craft.” If you haven’t read this book yet, and you are at all interested in catching up with the big art vs craft conversation, this book is a definitely one of the more current additions. It was interesting to hear that most of the book was written for his dissertation back in 1997, although he added to it before it was published in 2007, he said it was mostly written when he thought this idea of craft wasn’t hip or cool at all. Now that it is a much bigger conversation, and with the sudden emergence and strength of the DIY movement, Glenn has already started creating an anthology, and is considering another book to continue the rich coversation he started with “Thinking Through Craft.” Glenn answered questions ranging from his background and interest in the subject to specific reasons behind his use of artists in the text. He made sure that everyone asked at least one question (I got greedy and asked two..) and he went into detail answering each question, making sure everything was understood. Everyone in the class enjoyed his visit so much. We all thought he was easy to approach, informative and he assured all of us our questions were valid and we should continue asking them because we are on the cusp of real change, but we have to be aware of what is happening around us and push ourselves further.

After our great personal Q&A with Glenn we all went over to the lecture hall and watched Glenn’s presentation about his personal investigation into craft as a methology in the art world. I talked to several people afterwards that thought he did a wonderful job.

















My favorite artist that he mentioned was Lacy Jane Roberts and her pink knitted fence. I took some time and found her website, which I’ve added to the link list on the side, and she seems like a real rebel, craft style. Sweet. Thank you again Glenn!