I have written before of my friend, Carrie Fertig (here and here) and it was with some delight that I noticed that she was performing one of her glass-making-music works here in Birmingham on Friday night, hosted by the MAC by Craftspace. Accompanied by percussionists and live electronics, she makes and plays instruments made entirely from glass and part of the performance includes the live making of some of the instruments.
We were requested not to take photographs during the performance, so here is a video by Carrie of the sort of thing we experienced:
My favourite moment was undoubtedly the violent clash of an incredible glass-icicle chandelier hung from the middle of the space:
Which is then allowed to drift slowly to rest and silence, reminding me of nothing less than Ligeti's "Poem Symphonique":
The gradual fading of the sound allows the ear to pick out patterns which subtly change, slipping in and out of focus until all that is left is silence. From the chaotic, almost terrifying action of the clashing glass rods - the fear of them shattering, the idea of them falling on the audience - the performance space becomes a contemplative space, full of mesmerised people. From a personal point of view, I didn't really want it to stop.
The rest of the performance mixed serious musical intent with humour, small pieces of theatre, such as the rolling of these beautiful glass rattles:
As well as pathos and fear, such as the piece performed on a piece of glass chain:
Far from the sounds one might think that these instruments would make, the range of sounds is incredible, enhanced by live electronics.
Left to right, the "Torcher Chamber Arkestra" are, Stu Brown (percussion), Carrie Fertig (glass blowing and percussion) and Alistair MacDonald (percussion and electronics).
Afterwards, before we all headed off for curry, the audience were invited to try the instruments for themselves, which was brilliant.
Saturday was my usual jaunt to the Digbeth fruit and vegetable market followed by a visit to the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery "Waterhall" for the exhibition of work by the MA Jewellery, Silversmithing and Related Products course at the School of Jewellery. It is pretty impressive that the show is being held in the main public gallery space in the city and I hope that this continues.
There were loads of graduates exhibiting and there is not space to go into it all but there is a Facebook page for the group here. What follows is a small personal selection of my own favourites:
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| Enamel works by Du Juan. |
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| Enamel works by Du Juan. |
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| Ring by Yen-Chen Wang. |
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| Bowls by Charlotte Smith. |
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| Bowls by Charlotte Smith. |
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| Work made from paint by Xenia Walschikow. |
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| Work made from paint by Xenia Walschikow. |
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| Work in porcelain by Karen Lester. |
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I've been back in the workshop again, making more works for "Made in the Middle", including a large selection of gem-set nut rings, still to be polished:
Set (l-r) with yellow sapphire, pale pinkish zircon, garnet, garnet and cornflower blue sapphire.
Apart from that, I've been working on the garden, planting my winter salads!
More soon.