THIRD INTERSTITIAL SALON!

RSS
Email

Author	Comment
krismcd59	THIRD INTERSTITIAL SALON!	Lead	[-]
Posts: 33 (05/04/08 04:55:07) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	Tags : interstitial, arts Our next Interstitial Salon will be a discussion with some of the artists -- including K. Tempest Bradford, JoSelle Vanderhooft, and Elise Matthesen, plus many more -- contributing to The Interstitial Arts/Interfictions Jewelry Auction, which starts today (May 5)! We'll be talking about creating visual art inspired by texts, about the relationships between narrative and wearable art, the cultural history of personal adornment -- anything we can think of! Watch this space....we'll be opening the discussion in about a week (May 12). Here's info about the auction: April 30, 2008 is the one year anniversary of the Interfictions anthology release. This groundbreaking anthology showcasing nineteen writers from four countries gave a glimpse into what interstitial fiction might look like (without drawing any clear borders). To celebrate the anniversary, the Interstitial Arts Foundation (IAF) invited jewelry makers to further blur the borders by creating pieces based on the stories in Interfictions. Many artists responded, including Interfictions authors Leslie What, Rachel Pollack, and K. Tempest Bradford. Other interstitial artists and admirers of Interfictions have come forward with some truly stunning pieces based on the stories by Matthew Cheney, Catherynne Valente, Jon Singer, Veronica Schanoes and Colin Greenland. Participants include artists Elise Matheson, JoSelle Vanderhooft, Mia Nutick, Kris McDermott, and many more. Auction launches on May 5 with two select pieces from Sarah Evans -- and all proceeds will go to supporting Interstitial Arts projects, including the second Interfictions volume. Last Edited By: krismcd59 05/05/08 07:33:57. Edited 1 time.
krismcd59	Welcome Interstitial Crafters	#1	[-]
Posts: 34 (05/12/08 05:56:50) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	Time to start the third Interstitial Salon, this time in conversation with some of the artists who have contributed pieces to the Interfictions Jewelry Auction. Now that I've had a chance to see some of the work, I'm ready to talk with the artists and fans about this project. So, jewelry artists (I'm one, although I'm very much an amateur compared to people like Elise and JoSelle!) - what was your starting point for your creation - was it a feeling or a visual image? Maybe a character? What are some of the decisions you made along the way in translating the story into physical form? What do you think it means to "wear" a story, or even the mood captured by a story? And authors - what is it like to see your work re-interpreted in this form? (BTW, our friend and Interfictions contributor Matthew Cheney has already commented on this over at The Mumpsimus) Have you done something similar yourself - turned an element of one of your stories into another form of art? I'd also like to ask any crafters reading this about their thoughts about how handcrafts like beading can be considered Interstitial Art in the sense that it's work that falls in the cracks between recognized "fine art" and the often-ignored "ladies making crafts projects at home".
Elise Matthesen		#2	[-]
Posts: 1 (05/12/08 06:51:21) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	Hi! I'd like to start with the last question, if I may. Beading is definitely Interstitial Art! The first name that comes to mind when that issue is raised is Virginia Blakelock, who is an amazing, amazing artist. She wrote a book called "Those Bad, Bad Beads," in 1990 which was a revolutionary text in beadweaving. She is a painter who got seduced into beadwork (which is funny because she started out wanting to be a systems analyst and got lured into fine arts), and it really shows in her work. I have never taken a class from her, but she was teaching at Split Rock when I was studying with Jane Hirshfield, and I got to hear some of her talks and see some of her work, and watch an astonishing slide show and hear her talk about her paintings and her beadwork and how they were related, and it definitely had an influence on me, and on whether I took my work seriously as art. That Split Rock Arts Program week was also when my Artists' Challenge program started. It's kind of funny, because doing this piece for the IAF auction is sort of an artists' challenge in reverse. Usually, I make a thing and then other people write poems or stories in response. I don't tend to do it the other way around, because the last piece before this one that I did as a challenge piece where I put beads to words turned out to be a four-figure piece. One cannot always know where the piece is going to go, and they do tend to get expensive sometimes. This one, "Willow Pattern," used a piece of broken china I'd been saving for years. When I agreed to make something for this auction, I knew immediately which story I would choose.
krismcd59		#3	[-]
Posts: 35 (05/12/08 07:28:56) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	Hi, Elise! Thanks for starting us off. And thanks for the book reference, which I'll definitely add to my reading pile. I'm really intrigued by the concept at the heart of your piece -- the fragment of Willow Pattern china -- for the same reason Jon Singer's story intrigued me -- the free-associating that can be inspired by the contemplation of a design when you let your mind wander outside the design's original context. I remember picking up a fragment of blue-and-white stoneware on the beach at St. Ives in Cornwall -- where a 19th-century pottery had stood -- and imagining any number of scenarios that had sent that little object to my hand. Was it really old or just a little old? Was it industrial slag, somebody's trash, a shipwreck? Was it part of a cup, or plate, or bowl? What had the picture been? But I was just trying to analyze the fragment for its own story -- I'm in complete awe of folks like you and Jon who can take a fragment like that and spin an entirely new story (or stories) from it. And to some extent, all beads are fragments, really -- rarely noticeable on their own, but fascinating when combined with others into a larger form. But then again, they're not just 3D pixels -- each bead really does have a unique shape and form, independent of its setting. This metaphor may be running away with me....
Elise Matthesen		#4	[-]
Posts: 2 (05/12/08 08:07:04) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	If it's running, it's heading straight toward the place where I go when I compose! Every bead does have its own identity, as does every fragment of china. That's why when I make jewelry or sculpture, I start with the materials, not with an idea in my head that I sketch and then impose upon the pieces. Usually I get my ideas from one or more beads, often in juxtaposition -- which is probably why I love grab bags of beads so much. All those juxtapositions, just waiting.... That's one of the things I love about Jon's story: all those stories, those versions, juxtaposed. It's a very layered thing, with reality constantly shifting within the story. When I picked up that piece of broken willow pattern china all those years ago from the hedgerow outside Diane Duane and Peter Morwood's house, in the Wicklow Hills in Ireland, I didn't know what I'd do with it. But I knew I had to save it. It wanted to be something, and I would have to find out what it was. The technical considerations of making the piece were interesting, too, since there are so many mixed metals in there, and some very strange beads....
copperwise.surlalunefairyt...		#5	[-]
Posts: 1 (05/12/08 10:46:22) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	Interesting questions. I had wanted to contribute, but I had not had a chance to read the anthology, so Deborah Brannon went over them with me and gave me themes and a good synopsis of each. Since I make my pendants out of phrases and words cut from old books, I had a theme in my head for each story and went looking for phrases to use for the little poems. The ones that worked out seemed to fit certain stories. Now I look forward to getting to read the book and see how well they worked, though Deborah concluded they were apt. So far my pieces seem to be the only ones that are not primarily beaded. I do bead work, but the pendants based on fragments of old tales and myths seem to be very interstitial to me. I am using mostly supplies used by crafters and I suppose I primarily think of what I'm doing as "artsncrafts" rather than strictly art, or at least not fine art. They are really a combination of art and writing, because I am writing new little poems and aphorisms using the phrases...I try not to use more than 4 or 5 word phrases and I mix words and phrases from different stories and myths for each piece. I have always been a huge admirer of Elise and other artists who take what some see as a simple thing, stringing beads, and turn it into an intricate and artistic and extremely interstitial thing. I've always been about the written word and had a difficult time translating it to three dimensions. In this case, I don't know if I would do anything based on my own previous written work, but I am doing something simultaneously three dimensional and written. So it's weird, for me. I have always been fascinated by the interplay of inspiration between art and music and writing. I think that's what I'm trying to do here.
WEllertson	beading on...	#6	[-]
Posts: 8 (05/12/08 11:30:22) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	Great discussion - ah yes, the bits and pieces that call to one, then hang around in a studio sometimes for a long time until that day..when you see if and realize it's just perfect...and exactly what you want for something new. ...or that it just won't wait any longer to have it's story told.... Elise - I totally relate to what you said about starting with the materials...not a firmly sketched idea etc. That's definitely the way I work as well. (Of course it helps that neither sketching or organization are my strong points.) For me, the spontaneity and willingness to let the piece go where it wants to rather than limiting it (or creating too tight a box...) makes it all that much more interstitial fun. Some of my favorite pieces are ones which I had not idea what they'd look like when I started. I'm guessing writers love that as well....when a story takes off on its own. One beader I admire tremendously for lots of reasons is Joyce Scott of Baltimore. I saw her "Kicking it with the Old Masters of the Baltimore Art Museum" several years back....including a large beaded sculpture which hung above the museum's "The Thinker". As a child, Joyce used to visit the museum a lot and always wondered what the thinker was thinking!...Joyce very much lives in our interstitial halls...activist/teacher/beader/ sculptor...and pretty awesome jazz singer to boot! Another interstial beading duo: Steven and William Ladd (stevenandwilliam.com). - featured in American Craft Dec/Jan08 issue. These guys LOVE beads...Definitely fit my version of interstitial artists! They say their journaling informs a lot of their work...and directions they are pulled in...especially with their presentations. They design and make beaded jewelry/bags/panels/ties/sculpture (including a beaded grenade sculpture), box containers and on and on ...all presented in a very performance art fashion. They had a booth at a show I was in recently.. they changed the entire booth every day! (You can see them in action on their website videos). Energy and inspiration plus. Thanks to everyone who contributed to the auction...It's been lots of fun to see the pieces and watch the bidding....and special thanks to you Tempest, for conceiving it and then making it happen!.. Looking forward to more discussion here.
Elise Matthesen		#7	[-]
Posts: 3 (05/12/08 12:33:02) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	Joyce Scott! I've been seeing pictures of her work for years. She's really good -- and it doesn't surprise me that she's an awesome jazz singer. Her work has wonderful structure and color. I think there's a big difference between working from the head (an idea that precedes and sets parameters for the material choices) and from the hands (where the materials suggest and shape the work). I go so far as to call what I do a form of co-creating with the materials. It's possible that one of the symptoms of interstitial art, if you pardon the choice of words, is that it goes where it wants to go, whether or not we expected that, and we have the choice of staying with what we know and not following, or following it with no idea where it will wind up. As you said, that takes spontaneity and willingness. Are some of the writers around to speak to that? Any similarities to what you did, there?
ktempestbradford		#8	[-]
Posts: 1 (05/12/08 13:36:51) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	Your method of working completely intrigues me, Elise, because I don't actually work that way at all. My poor drawer full of beads that haven't been used yet can attest. I used to go and buy interesting beads just to have and try to work them into something, but I discovered that I often get the idea first and have to go out and find materials to fit my idea unless I just happen to have that material at home. But maybe this is because what you do is so much more free form than what I can do. I'm pretty much limited to necklaces, bracelets, earrings, beads strung on a wire (unless I lose my mind and decide to make links). I would have no idea how to go about weaving a piece of china into a pendant!
Elise Matthesen		#9	[-]
Posts: 4 (05/12/08 17:11:14) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	Mia, I was going to say, I love the use of words cut from old books and what you're doing with the pendants. Really, really neat stuff.
FireRiven		#10	[-]
Posts: 1 (05/12/08 17:29:08) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	I am primarily a writer recently awakened to jewelry-making. (Well, the actual making. I've been designing things for years, as I will soon elaborate...) I'd spent a long time convincing myself that I have no skill in the visual arts, but a confluence of events (including this auction!) inspired to explode that idea into tiny bits and launch me into this new mode of creative expression. With that admitted, and considering the question "So, jewelry artists (I'm one, although I'm very much an amateur compared to people like Elise and JoSelle!) - what was your starting point for your creation - was it a feeling or a visual image?" in a broader context: The only way I can describe my jewelry-making is as "very organic and fluid." I've had a compulsion towards design since I was a little girl: except, I wasn't dreaming of a wedding or whatever they often say little girls spend all their time dreaming and planning about. No, I was planning my ideal house, beautiful gardens, costumes...and, sometimes, jewelry. (Oh, and I was also writing stories and designing books since I was wee. Naturally.) When I approach creating jewelry, it's actually often because a story has inspired me. And I do start with a sketch, but the sketch is nothing more than a condensation of imagination that is then re-configured when I begin exploring materials. I don't eliminate materials from my compositions because they weren't in my original idea... rather, when I see something that just sings, my idea immediately shifts to incorporate it. Often in surprising, yet incredibly right, ways. So it's very much this give-and-take between the imagined piece in my head and the materials I'm interacting with. In fact, the imagined piece in my head is often more an impression and a feeling rather than a precise idea. (Witness: many of my sketches come in multiple versions with notes scrawled in the margins.) It might change according to a shifting understanding of the story or by the inflections certain beads or other elements can add... and, when I put my hands on the beads and materials, depending on how they shift, fit together, they start to feel RIGHT and then I know I'm on to something. As I said, it's very deep and organic. Like my imagination. I have to admit, I'm also a magpie like Elise. I have a habit of picking up odd pieces and holding on to them for a long time, or picking up all sorts of components both due to "ooo, shiny!" and "hmmm, there's a story there..." compulsions. -Deborah http://earthwalked.livejournal.com Last Edited By: FireRiven 05/12/08 17:33:57. Edited 1 times.

<< Previous Topic Next Topic >>

Yuku free message boards

THIRD INTERSTITIAL SALON!

THIRD INTERSTITIAL SALON!

Quick Reply