Codpiece Update

Further to yesterday's post, I now have the professional photographs of the codpiece, taken by Simon Murphy:

Simon just "got" the whole thing and I think that his shots are fantastic. As you can see, it really needs to be worn to make sense of it, but he took the shot on the skull to show off the texture of the corroded steel knives.

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I've been having a calmer day in the workshop now that the codpiece is finished, working on some "stock" earring trios which I may submit to the call for entries for the Heidi Lowe Gallery, "Earrings Galore".

The Post-Industrial Man - Empire State Human

First of all, a belated "happy new year" to my colleagues and friends and followers. I returned from my festive break to a 'flu which completely knocked me for six, to the point that I was in bed and unable to move... feverish, coughing, weak and aching. Horrible, in short.

2013 has already started off to be busy. First of all I had a quick-fire commission to make a ring "with fish that have a bit of life about them, something in blues and greens" but which had to be completed and delivered to France before February. Wolves, bears and stags are more my animals than fish, so it was a bit of a challenge to come up with but I drew up a couple of salmon in Rhino, milled them out and cast them. These were then put onto an iron disc which spins around a blue topaz:

The ring itself is made from a piece of iron gas-pipe and the back is set with a beautiful pale Umba sapphire:

I am pleased to report that the customer loved the idea of "alive" meaning that they can move freely around their little pond!

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The ACJ is organising a members' exhibition as part of the next "Galvanize Sheffield" festival in Sheffield, Yorkshire. I was part of this last time with my work for the "Beneath the Skin" show and so I was keen to take part again, especially as part of a show of work representing the ACJ. The theme for the exhibition is Stain-less, a celebration of 100 years of Stainless Steel: right up my street in some ways. I did, however, struggle for ages with what I was going to make.
I've always been a big fan of the strange electronic music which was produced in Sheffield from the mid-1970s to the mid-1980s and it was a comment by Richard H Kirk of Cabaret Voltaire which started me thinking about the politics of this music and how it related to the wilful decisions by government to allow the heavy industry of places like Sheffield to collapse. Interestingly, this led to me making my first overtly political piece of work, "Empire State Human - A Post-Industrial Codpiece"!

Made from ten vintage "Viners" stainless-steel table-knives (made in Sheffield, now, alas! made in China), corroded spring washers, silver, 40/60 shibuichi and set with small Cubic Zirconia. I'm having it photographed on a body tomorrow, so I'll post more pictures to show how it is worn later in the week.

The political theory is as follows:

Empire State Human [1] – A Post-Industrial Codpiece

The 1980s saw an emasculation of Britain, nowhere more so than in the heart of steel-producing cities like Sheffield where a political agenda cut away at the core values described by Marx as 'The Dignity of Labour'. The destruction of this pure ideal lead to the current hubristic - in the Ancient Greek sense of ὕβρις - political thinking, endless recession and the crushing humiliation of a service-drone population.

Taking a cue from the Nitzchean and Marxist ideals of the music which evolved in Sheffield [2,3] at the very point of transition from industrial to post-industrial – music by bands like The Human League and Cabaret Voltaire – this piece seeks to protect the steel-worker from both literal and figurative castration by the god/dess Mammon, leaving the wearer’s ideals and body Stain-less.

[1] The title 'Empire State Human' is taken from a track by The Human League, written in 1979. In this song the lyrics express a Nietzschean ideal:
'I never wanted to be human size
'So I avoid the crowds and traffic jams
'They just remind me of how small I am...
'...if I'm not tall, tall, tall, then I will grow, grow, grow
'Because I'm not tall, tall, tall, tall, tall, tall, tall, tall'
See also David Stubbs, 'The Battle Between Thatcherite Pop and Marxist Funk', The Quietus, March 27th 2009. 

http://thequietus.com/articles/01376-david-stubbs-explores-the-battlebetween-thatcherpop-and-marxist-funk

[2] 'Made In Sheffield', Plexifilm DVD, ASIN B0009I7NGC 2001 - interviews with Philip Oakey (The Human League) and Richard H Kirk (Cabaret Voltaire). 

[3] 'Synth Britannia', BBC Enterprises, Broadcast on BBC 4, 2nd August, 2010 – interview with Richard H Kirk (Cabaret Voltaire)."

end-of-year

I am now winding the workshop down for the end of the year. I'll be shutting-up fully on Thursday for two weeks, back again in 2013 with new projects to tackle.
Although I've not been quiet in this holiday season, I have been dealing with people who have been startlingly organised and this has meant that for the last week and the week to come, I don't have any rush-jobs to complete, no last-minute dashes to the post-office. The last Commission for the season was sent out on Saturday.
What this has meant is that I've had time to work on some projects which were begun a while back and not completed for various reasons. I've also completed the "Imperial Overcoat Star Of The Order Of Aksentii Poprishchin", made from silver, pure iron, found steel sewing-machine needles, rock crystal and amethyst:

The lettering on the front reads, "сумасшедшего" - "Madman" and is cut from pure iron sheet.
The back is engraved with the details, "October 3rd - 34 March. February, 349.", the dates which open and close Gogol's "Diary of a Madman":

One of the old pieces which I picked up is this bangle from 2008, made from an old steel rule. It has the more up-to-date touches of the little graffiti skull and the spikes on the hinge, and the fastening is made from rare-earth magnets reclaimed from old electric toothbrush heads - none of which would have been part of this had it been completed in 2008 - so I am quite glad that it still works as a complete piece and doesn't look at all bitty:

I also started on a piece from 2009, "Fourteenth Century Nightlife", which was uncompleted for technical reasons, namely that I want it to light up with a self-contained, rechargeable LED light:

I think that I now have the ability to get the lighting sorted out to make the polished tagua nut glow!

A more recent project completed was another of the found nut rings, this time with a large garnet set in a true gypsy setting:

There will be a couple more of these small projects over the coming few days.

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I have had a really lazy day today, having done very little but read and watch old films. I was raiding the marvellous collection of"Film Noir" at Archive.org and found some marvellous films there: I can highly recommend Ida Lupino's "The Hitch-Hiker"; "Quicksand" with Mickey Rooney and Peter Lorre; and "Impact".

While on that subject, I have to suggest that for a festive movie treat, why not watch "Santa Claus Conquers The Martians"?

secret projects

Well, I've not been blogging so much of late because I've been working on a project which I have been forbidden from documenting until the client has received it!
It has been the Christmas Sale at work this week. All my students make their work and sell it in the college, a percentage comes to the department for buying equipment and the balance goes to the students themselves. We keep the prices low and go for volume and this usually pays off, especially as most of the customers are other students.
One of my 3rd year students, Anne Walker, decided to sell a piece which she made before she even started on my course, this alien-thought blocking hat, which doesn't fit me at all (but which looks fantastic on smaller heads with hair):

Other than that, I've been working on my "Imperial Overcoat Star Of The Order Of Aksentii Poprishchin" which should be finished in the next few days. Keen observers will note the similarity between this and the Christmas-tree ornaments I made for Goldsmiths' Hall!

I've been wanting to make a piece on a Gogol theme for some time now and inspired by an incredible Fabergé piece on the Russian Jewellery website I posted some time back, the "Antique Russian Imperial Breast Star of the Order of Saint Alexander Nevsky", I thought I would make a piece in response!