SNAG's Metalsmith EIP, another disaster

Jewelry Discussion
81 
Nice to know I'm not the only reader of Orchid who's pretty
disturbed by this whole thread. A whole lot of people not looking
to learn from unfamiliar ideas, but rather, looking for any excuse
to dismiss the things they don't understand

I have learned to respect Peter and Nanz but I think the thread is
expressing a different point than they perceive. Many people on this
forum are ground breaking artist/craftpersons themselves and respect
others who are. But, these are people who have devoted their efforts
predominately to metal (any type really) and jewelry. Metalsmith has
a long history severing these very people, and now many issues don’t
have any mention of metal except in the ads and anything called
jewelry seems non-functional. I think this is a problem because of a
sense of ownership; not of Metalsmith, but, instead ownership of
metal and devotion to functionality. If the name and mission were
changed then there’d be no issue. As far as changing from the inside,
at least for some of us, SNAG is clearly too inaccessible.

Respectfully,
Daniel Culver

82

thank you karen, peter, and andy…

your take on this thread is a much needed breath of fresh air…
picture bolting out of a studio after some unconscious person left a
solution of liver of sulfur boiling away, uncovered, without
ventilation… for a while i swore that i was reading the first
draft of george Romero’s “night of the living dead”… done in the
style of bill burroughs’s cut up technique…

the possibilities of creative expression are limitless and have no
boundaries… we need to get out of our precious metal shells and
open up to what’s being created by dedicated craftspeople throughout
our planet…

in 1997, nancy worden curated an exhibition of ken corys’ work at the
tacoma art museum. the title of the show was “The Jewelery of Ken
Cory: Play Disguised.”…it’s said that you know true love when it
takes you to enchanted places, both physicallyand mentally…if it
happens to comes with an impish sense of humor, so much the better…
this show made me take a step back and look at the big picture. that
this very special man composed… cory was one of the most exquisite
metal artists.i have had the pleasure to come across…his technique
was iimmaculate. he was a magician with metal, enamel, and so much
more. his work was filled with visual puns,bawdiness,and
beauty…ken cory’s legacy is the joy that he brought to our hearts
we are so much wealthier for the gifts that he gave to us…

the absence of joy, humor, open mindedness and discovery is
sad…life is short

if you come to san francisco (flowers in your hair are optional)
visit velvet da vinci…the variety of style is the keystone of what
this gallery represents… velvet is a showcase of wearable art
that has no borders…the owners michael holmes and elisabeth shypert
were iinstrumental in coordinating the snag conference here in
2003…those of us who attended came away with smiles on our faces,
grey cells firing and warmth in our hearts.

aloha
rp leaf

83 
Metalsmith has been scrutinized and criticized for the very thing
it does the best. It is the pinnacle of critical thinking in the
jewelry arts. Its mission challenges how we as humans wear
jewelry, what part of our personal geography that it lives and
choices in materials. It is conceptual at its very best, and it
invites to do one thing...ask...question...and think.

Why dont you ask SNAG publishers to explain what they have done and
what they gonna do to fix it. If it needs fixin

Frank

84 
After reading the majority of posts on the subject of the newest
EIP it seems to me that the sensitivity and emotionally charged
responses that another poster mentioned lie primarily on the
non-SNAG side of the fence....

Could you explain what the above statement means?

85

Dear Paul Anderson!

The work of Picasso, in particular, evokes an even more negative
feeling from me… Look at the work of da Vinci, Praxiteles,
Michelangelo, and others. These artists required no ‘artists
statement’. Their art exists and is appreciated universally,
viscerally.

"The time ‘distance’ of a couple of centuries and the historical
background based on the life experience of the mentioned Artists is
what allowes us, today, to ‘see’ and understand Art: the majority of
those Artists had to trespass the boundaries of what was generally
accepted, had to look behind and beyond tradition & convention and
fight for their Artistic Identity… thus open new ways of Thinking
and Perceiving… with a capital T and a capital P…And Art is open
to everybody, to those with as well as without any ‘formal
education’, academic or not…

Respectfully
Sigrid
Vienna, Austria

86 
This may illustrate the dividing line in this discussion: those who
earn a living making jewelry and those who write about or teach
jewelry making.

I’m not making a judgement here; it’s an observation about where
one’s interest lies.

KPK

87

Nanz makes a good point - when criticizing, one should also concern
themselves with improving the situation.

SNAG has been remarkably resistant to suggestions for change. I
noted in my earlier post on this subject that more than 10 years ago,
several of us petitioned the board and the editor of Metalsmith
magazine to include articles on the techniques of smithing. That
request has been repeated, formally, at least twice to my knowledge.
So far nothing has changed.

Secondly, as in all of my posts regarding a person or organizations,
I include them on the email with a “cc” - the old carbon copy. It’s
only fair to let them know what you are saying.

Third - I did copy Dana Singer on the post, and received a notice
that she is out of the office. I expect that the Orchid family will
get a response when she returns.

Judy Hoch

88

Jim’s post certainly has provoked interesting and some very
emotionally charged responses.

I went back to the Spring 2002 issue of “Metalsmith” and looked over
an article ‘The Virtues of Unwearability’. It reminded me of PMLA,
Publications of the Modern Language Association. The articles are
directed to a very small community. Sometimes the articles are almost
painful to read.

What I miss most about not subscribing are the ads.

Metalsmith as it is now constituted lacks a viable audience and
without charitable contributions will wither and cease publication.
Whether that’s good or bad depends on your point of interest. Market
forces will play out even in an academic situation.

Carla Fox ended her post with:

Others?! What would you like to see in Metalsmith.

Carla’s is a very thoughtful post, but the contents of “Metalsmith”
are not, and shouldn’t be determined by popularity. It has a mission
to be provocative. Only academics have enough time and leisure to
write for publications like “Metalsmith”. Sometimes academics do not
write well.

And I’m assuming "Metalsmith can not afford to pay its contributors a
competitive rate; or maybe they don’t pay at all.

One last thing as my caffeine has run its course; cui bono and
consider whose ox has been gored.

KPK

89 
I submit that art should not require understanding. It should be
visceral and human. Look at the work of da Vinci, Praxiteles,
Michelangelo, and others.

Man, I know I should not be jumping in here, it won’t change
anyone’s mind, but AAAAAARRRRRGGG! Of course art requires
understanding!!! If you have any awareness of the history of art, you
know that every icon that we now hold up as a paragon of art had to
struggle for acceptance when they did something new! Why did Van Gogh
die penniless and early? My favorite example is Rodin. His sculptures
are now so widely known that they have become cliche’ (the Kiss, the
Thinker) but when he was alive, his work literally caused riots!
Admittedly, this was in France… Even the much-beloved Mona Lisa
wasn’t a shoo-in, if I remember right.

On the contrary, work that demands no second look, no understanding,
that provokes no controversy, cannot be doing anything new. There is
always resisance to the new.

Sheesh.
Noel

90

James,

Some folks that I respect have questioned the validity of this
thread and have put forward some reasons why they feel that SNAG
and Metalsmith are doing a good job. I must respectfully disagree.

Once again, Amen. I read Nanz’s posting and I looked and reread the
article. Yes, I understood the concept. Yes, I got what the artist
was trying to convey. No, I did not consider any of it to be
jewelry. I don’t think a critical thread on Orchid swayed opinion.
The exhibit shown spoke for itself.

JoT

91 
In my opinion, college is intended to train people how to think,
and to work productively, and to expose them to a wider world of
possibilities so that they may find the direction(s) they wish to
pursue. Further education should hone and refine those skills.

Hello, what you are saying is true. But, if you had gone to the
university to study chemical engineering you would have graduated
with the abilbity to get a job in that field. That is the point that
I was trying to make. Yes, if you go to the university and get a
liberal arts degree you will get just what you said, the ability to
speak well at a coktail party. That is something that going out and
expanding your mind will help with. But really, does one need to
spend tens of thousand of dollars just to be clever? I still believe
that a university does owe the student a full knowlege of their
chosen field. Whatever other courses one takes to expand ones
understanding of the world is a great added benefit of college. I
hope that if your sons do decide to follow you in the field you train
them as much as possible and then send them off to learn from others.
It sounds like a great plan.

I am very glad that I took two degrees at university, it helped to
make me who I am today. I took two degrees in ceramics! My parents
weren’t happy but I was on full scholorship so they didn’t try and
stop me. Isn’t there a saying something like ‘youth is wasted on the
young’?

92 
Stephen Walker so eloquently said it well: The point I believe most
of us are making is that this stuff, such as what is represented in
the EIP, is not what we joined SNAG for and we have been getting
progressively less and less of what did expect from SNAG. I don't
want to banish the body artists or whatever it is they are called. I
just don't see a meaningful place in SNAG for someone like me
anymore.

Thank you.

It seems odd to me that if I don’t like the current issue or the
direction of SNAG-there is something wrong with me. I’m either too
plebeian, dumb, unsophisticated, mean-spirited to get it and
therefore my feelings and criticism is invalid, damaging, less
erudite then those who do “get it.”

Let’s stop and consider that I and all those who didn’t like this
EIP issue may have a point? That we are not just the cretins of anti-
art, who have no business criticizing that fine magazine Metalsmith.
If indeed this is how SNAG & Metalsmith accepts/deflects criticism
no wonder the very people from who they are repeatedly asking $ are
mad.

I would find the pro-EIP/Metalsmith arguments much more compelling if
it didn’t stayed on point and didn’t stray off the what I can do…
(get involved (I’m very involved thank you), write letters (don’t
assume I haven’t) etc. Let’s return from my short comings as an art
critic, subscriber, and try to tell me what Metalsmith and SNAG was
trying to do with the EIP issue that was relative to metalsmiths. And
why is this outpouring of feelings so offensive. It seems very honest
to me.

I see many people who want to love SNAG, want to be involved and
embrace it, want to enjoy every issue of Metalsmith, but who feel as
Stephen said there is no place for them. Many have said they are
chronic rejoiners, trying again and again to come home to Metalsmith
and wanting to love it. Here is a golden opportunity for SNAG &
Metalsmith to listen to their unwashed masses and return them to the
fold. This sort of feedback from ones customers is invaluable.

Carla

93

Beth,

Your point on the “mission” is echoed by other posters on this
thread. What’s in a name? What is the mission? These are all valid
questions and perhaps, when the mission of Metalsmith was developed
back in the 1980’s, that the art, ornamentation, metalsmithing has
evolved and the the mission statement of SNAG no longer serves its
intent.

All of this dialogue is GOOD, all of the critique is GOOD as I am
sure when Dana comes back from her well deserved vacation, she and
the Board will sit down and read through all of these.

EIP, Exhibition in Print is NOT the usual offerings, as it is given
over to the vision of a visiting editor as it were.

We all have a voice, and that voice is speaking up loud and clear.
The same arguments for Orchid have been heard from others in
academia. Oh those Orchid people, what straight laced, simple minded
cultist conformists of boring and pedestrian design.

This “us vs. them” position does not help our field, it polarizes
our field. How many of you watch “Project Runway” or “Top Chef”. Is
there anything different in stretching the fashion or food envelope,
people using odd ingredients or strange materials in their fashion or
what’s on their dinner plate.

Would you feel better if Metalsmith was called “Conceptual
Ornamentation” and their mission statement changed to reflect the
evolution and changes in material choices for body geography?

I postulate a solution for all of us. Long ago, Metalsmith’s EIP
produced a brilliant issue on Studio Jewelry. Maybe its time for
another one, to see the innovative and revolutionary ways that studio
jewelers are using different materials in their work. You can do
that, you can be the editor, any of us can be the editor, and if that
is what WE at ORCHID want to see, then suggest the idea to SNAG.
Personally, I think it is time and it would be a well received idea.

karen christians

94

This has been a great thread for the articulate, intelligent, and
well thought out replies (both sides) that address the issues brought
out by the EIP.

Seems to be that this has precipitated a critical mass of opinion
(apparently of working goldsmiths) and seems to me to be quite
apparent that there are a lot of people who have been frustrated with
the direction of SNAG. There are people who have tried communicating
with the powers that be for many years and the result seems to be
that SNAG and Metalsmith moves farther away from the needs of North
American Goldsmiths. Apparently there are no complaints from the
academic community about needs not being met.

Pretty apparent to me that in personal relationships when needs are
not met and we are not heard, when there is not a response that takes
what we care about into consideration, relationships do not fare
well.

I have learned that it is more important to observe behavior than to
lisen to any story. I know people who have attempted to communicate to
SNAG board members for years and are frustrated and disappointed by
their attempts to make their needs known in relationship to the
stated goal of SNAG and the direction that is taken. What is
interesting is that by having this forum there are a lot of people
able to express how they feel and there is more communication, so
more people are able to be supported in how they feel about what is
happening. Because of the internet the power of public opinion can be
gauged quickly and accurately.

Whether SNAG will pay attention remains to be seen, but it is quite
clear from the post on this forum how unhappy people are. It will be
interesting to see how SNAG responds. Will they take any
responsibility?

Richard Hart

95

Hello

A few points I’d like to make, maybe a little more analytical,
although first I will agree that a magazine called Metalsmith should
be about metalsmithing. HOWEVER, a magazine must sell copies to stay
alive and what sells is content that is interesting and maybe the
editors feel that non metal work is where its at today. Both art
jewelry and commercial jewelry is fueled by trends and today those
tends are about technology whether in processes or in materials.
Commercial jewelry is changing through new styles and manufacturing
methods plus replacements for traditonal metals and stones. At the
same time Art jewelry changes as artists explore new techiques and
materials and ideas. Can you see the realationship here? I work in a
custom jewelry store and customers nowdays educate themselves and if
they want conflict free or green jewelry, or whatever the latest
thing is, or just something unique, we have to be able to respond
and quickly. Jewelers skills are imperative but so is the ability to
think outside the box plus considerable knowledge of the world beyond
the traditional jewelers bench.

SNAG and Metalsmith are not the best names for organizations in
todays art jewelry and metals world but when they were perhaps named
nobody anticipated how jewelry and metalsmithing would change or how
their organization would come to represent a different population
than it did in the beginning.

Celeste

96

Dear Daniel,

I have learned to respect Peter and Nanz but I think the thread is
expressing a different point than they perceive. Many people on
this forum are ground breaking artist/craftpersons themselves and
respect others who are. But, these are people who have devoted
their efforts predominately to metal (any type really) and jewelry.

This response is digressing from the original thread, but I felt I
needed to make an important point regarding your statement.

I know Peter’s work, it is in precious metals and fully functional
jewelry. Look at my site, I work in little else than precious metal
and have devoted my own work to wearable jewelry. Even my “art
jewelry” pieces are 90% traditional jewelry materials of silver,
gold, and gemstones and 100% wearable.

We identify ourselves no less with our chosen materials nor do we
hold less of an affinity for jewelry metals than any other individual
in this community.

Just because I may never chose to experiment with felt, painted
wood, silicone, or crocheted nickel chains does not mean I must deny
their validity as creative expressions in body adornment. How many of
us have seen the elaborate feathered head dresses of native African
and Indonesian tribes in Ornament Magazine. Did those articles spur
such an attack on the publishers of that journal?

American Craft has published many articles on European craftspeople
and yet they are not Americans and the name of the magazine is
“American Craft.”

Is the name of the magazine alone the basis for acceptance or
rejection of ideas? I am not defending the curatorial choices made,
I am just stating a fact.

26 images out of the 50 images in the EiP had metal (of some kind)
as part if not all of the pieces shown.

Nanz Aalund
www.nanzaalund.com

97 
Metalsmith has been scrutinized and criticized for the very thing
it does the best. It is the pinnacle of critical thinking in the
jewelry arts.

Now there’s someone who needs to get out more…

Jim Binnion’s like that - when he sees an ant nest, he gets a stick
and stirs it up, just to see what will happen…;}

On the side topic of whether schools are actually training people -
Revere academy and others are training people. The problem with
university metals programs is that they aren’t teaching goldsmithing
at all, they are teaching a “made up” university method that is
disconnected from what working goldsmiths actually do. That’s based
on seeing graduates flounder on their job interviews, time and
again, and glimpsing some of the methods. What’s this with the
binding wire?

As for the central issue, I would suggest that the publication for
an organization is probably supposed to reflect the membership.
Judging from the posts here, and the quantity, I’d say metasmith has
lost sight of that. Lots of unhappy people…

98

I’m not a SNAG member, but purchase Metalsmith from the newstand all
the time. I buy it because of the conceptual stuff… lots of other
places to see regular jewelry. But I buy it for the metal
conceptual jewelry… disappointed to hear this is lacking in the
new EIP!

As far as people in school being misled by all the art jewelry in
magazines like Metalsmith… magazines like that should be the last
place for doing business research on your chosen field. In my
opinion, it’s not their role.

Rita
www.FirelilyJewelry.com

99

I hadn’t looked at the current issue until this thread. Now that I
have […] Aside from the fact that there’s not much metal
involved, the “art” is so conceptual and utterly useless that I have
to wonder if SNAG is just sticking a finger in our eye solely to
create some buzz. I think that I too will let my membership lapse,
because this is hardly the first time.

Allan Mason

100

Over 80 messages in this thread, wow. I am one of the Studio
Jeweler/Metalsmiths members in SNAG. I have been a member on and off
for at least 15 years. I have questioned many things myself over the
years. I decided to get more involved about 5 years ago and start
attending the conferences and now I am the conference volunteer
coordinator for SNAG and the Enamelist Society. I also attend the
MJSA. I feel SNAG is in a transition period. It will take
involvement and not divisive actions for an organization to work
through the bumps. I am staying in.

Susan
www.ThorntonStudioJewelry.com