[Jewelry making - Article 00152] - Re: [Orchid] Smithsonian jury results

[Kimberly Starbard]

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Hi

>     Should we all then, John, compound our own pigments, mine and mill
>     our own stock and alloy our own solders? 

    About 3 years ago, I made a focal for a necklace from a shell that I
    found on the beach. It probably took me about 12 hours to weave lots
    and lots of tiny beads around the shell. I thought it came out
    pretty, so I entered it into a competition for a "found object art"
    show. 

    To my surprise, my necklace was accepted. I bought a new outfit and
    went to the opening....I was so excited. I took a walk around the
    gallery and looked at some of the other works that were in the show.
    I kept thinking "I must be so far removed form being a real
    artist...I don't understand any of this stuff". One piece, a a
    cardboard diorama of a Ken doll crawling up a staircase and a Barbie
    reclining on a chaise left me miffed. I thought, if I can't
    understand it, I can't be it. I might as well have another goal
    because I'm not cut out to be an artist. It never dawned on me that,
    possibly, the Barbie/Ken thing shouldn't be called found object
    "art". Maybe it's because I'm a veteran. I have been trained to
    follow orders, not question any kind of establishment. John, I'm glad
    you brought these points up. I know, a couple of your posts haven't
    been responded to favorably ( and I didn't agree with everything) but
    the things you said made me think a bit. I think it should be ok to
    question, what is craft? what is art? what is functional, wearable?
    Curators and jurors are surely not all-knowing entities with the
    power to categorize and quantify everything we produce. There is a
    possibility that mistakes have been/are being made. If,
    hypothetically, I spent 30 hours or so of my time designing and
    creating a wearable/functional piece of my own (work, art, whatever
    you would like to call it), I would be a little miffed again if my
    piece was passed over for a picture of an arrangement of rocks on
    grass. What I'm getting at is, I hear ya. 

    Then again, I have looked at the Smithsonian show page a few times.
    I don't see where the issues are. I find a lot of the work to be
    inspiring, some of it pretty cool to wear, a couple things I would
    buy if I had the chance. Someone said, maybe a lot of talented people
    are not trying to get into this show....this is why we are seeing
    some of the same artists over again. I don't know. I know it will be
    a few years before I can consider trying so maybe I will find the
    answer out then. 

    I'm going to consider this a sign to grow on. If the Barbie/Ken
    dioramas and rocks on the lawn pieces can do it, why can't I?
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