I just read through the the latest Metalsmith (or at least the parts I was interested in,) I'm always wishing I get a little more life out of it before I stow it away on my shelf, so I'm sharing some thoughts.

I was drawn most to the article "Mining History: Ornamentalism Revisited" by Lena Vigna and Namita Gupta Wiggers.

The article itself talks about the individual jewelers' work separately, but with so many common threads I was ping-ponging the text to reorganize the info so it made most interesting as a whole. Referential silhouettes seemed to be the strongest theme, present in all work except Lauren Kalman's Lip Ornament. The substitute, or absence, of materials was also important.

To me these pieces rely on our collective memory to fill in or juxtapose the "historical." In this sense, it is similar to cut steel and berlin iron jewelry, which were popular in comparable contemporary circumstances. Is it stange that, as a group, these pieces remind me of our sour economy and war?

-Also, anyone else notice the "Look" spread was absent from this issue? I left a comment over on SNAG's Forum, it was the best part of the redesign!

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Hi Tim,

I enjoyed the Mining History piece as well. One of the things that I would have liked to have seen addressed in the piece is more info about the artists. Specifically, what was "it" about the historical pieces that inspired/moved them? What was the "ah ha" moment in their creative process that lead them to their design and material choices? What makes these artists "tick"?

I also enjoyed Lauren Kalman's piece on South Africa. While reading it, I couldn't help but think how great it would be to have Lauren speak about this arts community at SNAG or to even have the South African artists present at SNAG as well....a cultural exchange perhaps????


I also missed the Look section. It is my favorite part of the redesign. I would also like to see pieces by different writers. I flipped through the past several issues and the same small list of names keeps popping up. While they're great writers, I would like to see more pieces by other voices.
Hi Tina,

That's FANTASTIC!!! Looks like I'll be adding another catalog to my collection :)

Best
Michelle

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