IC Projects
Jellyfish Necklace by Charlotte de Syllas, part of the Matter series
IC:Innovative Craft Blog
The latest developments at IC:Innovative Craft, including contributions from a range of guest contributors:
April in action
Posted Monday 27 April 2009, 10:22am
Neckpiece by Dorothy Hogg
Amanda Game writes:
The ‘Age of Experience’ exhibition opened at Dovecot’s South Gallery on 3 April with a talk by one of the exhibitors, Fred Baier. London fog nearly intervened as he arrived two hours later than planned. Fortunately the waiting audience were happily entertained with an improvised talk between Barbara Rae and David Weir in the Reception Area (where Dovecot rugs designed by Barbara are on show as part of the Dovecot: Art and Making series). When Fred arrived he gave us a serious, engaging, humorous and informative introduction to 30 years of his furniture design, from early days scouring the junkyards of Birmingham to a recent commission for a school re-creating a 250-year-old felled oak as a play zone. Equally at home with the computer and the bandsaw, Baier has a rare ability to design and make studio furniture that engages with rather than rejects our contemporary high speed world.
At high speed I then travelled to London, Morvern and Caithness over the Easter break, my computer usefully propped up on hotel beds, car roof and roof tops to ensure that planning for future projects continues on the hoof. From the detail of how to instal 16 one-metre panels in the Reception Area in May (Keiko Mukaide’s ‘Light of the North’ from the Tate), to fine tuning the words for funding applications (‘sentenced to death’ as one maker observed), to negotiating dates for taking in shows called (with one felt a slight sense of irony), ‘Taking Time’.
A short Edinburgh break ensued, hugely enlivened by gorgeous Spring weather and a second talk – this time by Professor Dorothy Hogg MBE. Another serious and engaging presentation, Dorothy’s talk highlighted the exceptional quality of thinking that is present in small studio practice. The wealth of illustrated material – jewellery and projects – from a distinguished 30-year career was given tangible form when the audience was invited to punch out hallmarks on aluminium sheet at the close of the talk. The noisy bang of 50 people stamping punches was a great reminder that extraordinary objects are born of physical effort as well as imaginative thought.