~DIY: DESIGN . . GLASS, GLASS & MORE GLASS / CERAMIC BRUT, FLOWER ARRANGING, and . . BRASS WORKING !!
DESIGN: YUSUKE HANAI / HENRY HAUZ T-SHIRT
GLASS: EVAN CHAMBERLAIN / JEFFREY TRANCHELL / JONNY CAMPOLO
CERAMIC BRUT: ELISA SOLIVEN / at HESSE FLATOW
FLOWER ARRANGING: KANA TOGASHI / of SAFFRON BROOKLYN & LES
BRASS WORKING: KARA HAMILTON PINS on DANIEL GIORDANO via MOTHER GALLERY, BEACON
A NEW GENERATION of ARTIST / ARTISANS . . is having a light bulb !! moment !!
screenshot / video posted by New York Times Style Magazine
& it’s totally dominated by new age: glass !!
hi-end, low-end. hot or cold process. stained, leaded, or fused / often functional, sometimes purely fanciful, it’s gorgeous to look at, and . . right through. luminous. rich, nuanced or primary bold colors – it’s a serious ‘surface’ that inter-plays with its surroundings, esp . . a window of natural light.
as. even . . the mainstream New York Times has discovered.
see: ‘Murano Glass . . a new generation of artisans’ – New York Times Style Magazine / Sept 30, 2020
here’s a key take-away:
“Brooklyn-based glass artist, ANDREW O. HUGHES 42, attributes contemporary interest in Murano (glass) to several factors (including): a bit of ceramic fatigue, (and) a desire for the luminosity of glass in an era of pared-down interiors…”
we would add, a new found appreciation for skills, and all things hand-made, and one-of-a-kind, and most importantly not able to be fully realized – on a (computer) screen !!
it can be opaque, or transparent, just like, well . . . people.
& in Jeffrey Tranchell’s hands, it’s even . . the new graffiti !!
but, don’t write off ceramics totally, yet. either.
somehow, in response to all this glass swanning, and fluid form, ceramics has become show-stoppingly: brutalist !!
and why do we feel, metal working, esp traditional gold – is the next big thing ?
and flowers of course, done with new flair – are always / the golden cherry – at the top.
Drawing for DIY Tee by HANAI YUSUKE,
for HENRY HAUZ, art gallery & retail store / Tokyo.
image via Instagram @grain_on _skateboards
see: @haniayusuke
see: @henryhauz
one of my very fav designer / illustrator / artists right now, Hanai Yusuke really gets both the outlaw, and the traditionalism of . . DIY.
it’s not just a new word for craft, it’s a community-based, often in-your-face . . attitude.
DIY also conveys indie entrepreneurship / in a way – all artists today are DIY, running their own little businesses, or at least pr / on the web & across social media.
to be DIY, doesn’t necessarily mean to be: functional . . but, it’s certainly cool, that this DIY anthem is !!
it is a basic tee shirt.
I also particularly like how,in Hanai Yusuke’s work, the ‘people’ who run through it – are the Shakespearean-like comic relief / peanut gallery – who are overlooked by the ruling classes, the status quo, the ‘privledged’, but who nonetheless . . dish up the real commentary, just as in the golden age of samurai films.
hand-blown glass / gold fumicello cruet . . by young Brooklyn-based EVAN CHAMBERLAIN.
Evan Chamberlain Glassworks / hand-blown glass art made in America.
DM for pricing wholesale & inquiry on IG @chamberlandia
image via Instagram @chamberlandia
fused glass art by JONNY CAMPOLO.
on the other extreme, boldly more art expressionistic, though great craft vestiges echo though-out.
& well, it is functional – if you consider uplifting your spirit & changing your head-set – a service.
but, no – no way craft, or DIY has to be functional, we got over that decades ago.
it’s more a working with traditional materials, and blowing upthe traditional – conventions.
image via Instagram @jonnycampolo
note: Jonny has a big / little (!!) show of his new fused work, titled: ‘The Big Orange’ . . . !!!
opening at the very indie / Calendar Gazebo space in Jonathan Hartshorn’s rural New Mexico backyard (!!)
Sun Oct 4, 2020 / tomorrow / more on that . . tomorrow !!
see: @jonnycampolo / @calendar.gazebo
JEFFREY TRANCHELL . . leaded ‘stained’ glass suncatchers.
I have to credit Jeffery Tranchell, a long time friend of mine / & more recently a founder/member/curator at Essex Flowers, who is now based in Detroit . . with turning me onto the new wave of DIY glass.
He’s always been into my DIY (!!) . . . repairing old quilts / all by hand-stitch and with a lot of ingenuity.
it’s interesting to note how vastly dissimilar the surfaces of glass (hard) and quilts (soft) are / as well as the techniques of working them. yet, (patchwork) quilts and glass – both have a very mosaic effect.
as well as a great potential for pattern, or non-pattern, total free-fall & artistic expression.
both are ancient hand-made arts providing both warmth, and symbolic wishes: stay safe / enduring marriage wedding bands, etc (quilts) / while we find stained glass windows in glorious cathedrals, and also humble abodes . . giving comfort, and allowing in light, as well as inspiration to the divine.
image via Instagram @jeffreytranchell
JEFFREY has . . followed the light (!!), by placing his glass suncatchers outdoors, and then in fact a-fixing them to gates, etc.
image via Instagram @jeffreytranchell
in effect, they become a new age ‘graffiti’, which is often very much prized by the new owner.
image via Instagram @jeffreytranchell
the stained glass projects, then evolved into bringing the lightweight, but weather-durable leaded glass pieces into the city, NYC city, specifically Brooklyn . . where they are basically non-invasive, although functioning as graffiti / & where people capture them ‘in the wild’ and post the I-saw-it photos. he’s even made a map.
& he even tries to hang them onto those ubiquitous NYC construction gates – with peep holes, or temporary windows !!
image via Instagram @jeffreytranchell
but mostly they are rather like this. stained glass – for contemporary ‘parkour’ worship.
image via Instagram @jeffreytranchell
Jeffrey screws them in with bits of wire and ‘one-way’ screws, so they are pretty much not easily removed.
these are all soldered, or leaded glass works – so pretty durable.
image via Instagram @jeffreytranchell
ELISA SOLIVEN, ‘Memory in the Shape of a U’ . . up thru OCT 17, 2020 / at HESSE FLATOW
read more / see images: Elisa Soliven – Hesse Flatow / gallery website
installation shot via Instagram @hesse_flatow
this weekend includes a flower arrangement / collab with . . KANA TOGASHI / of SAFFRON BROOKLYN, & L.E.S.
this is just one shot, there are larger arrangements thru-out, even in the bigger vessels !!
image via Instagram @hesse_flatow
ELISA SOLIVEN . . the vessels at first appear to be almost concrete, very brut / though I suppose that’s . . brutalist !!
but, because of the tiny colored tile or jewel-like / colored glass-like (!!) fragments imbedded into the clay surface, they also take on the aspect of those heavy metallic ornate, medieval be-jewelled manuscript covers.
image via Instagram @hesse_flatow
Elisa with a flower bouquet / designed by Kana Togashi.
flower arranging !! an equally revered traditional skill, esp in Japan – now caught up with the DIY 2020s.
Kana owns her shop, now with 2 locations / so she’s def a DIY artisan – entrepreneur.
note . . the DIY wrapping paper.
image via Instagram @saffronbk
DANIEL GIORDANO . . wearing DIY brass pins . . by Canadian artist . . KARA HAMILTON !!
yes, this is how the mighty !! love to play !!
DIY !! FOREVER !!
image via Instagram @mothergallery story / Photo: KATY GRANNAN
see: @danieljgiordano
see: @jkarah
DIY !! FOREVER !!
t-shirt / glass, glass, & glass
ceramic clay / flowers / brass.
note: DANIEL GIORDANO will be in the next group show at MOTHER GALLERY along with . .
CAITLIN MacQUEEN & MARCY HERMANSADER / titled ‘HUNCH’ . . opening: Sun Oct 31, 2020.
see: MOTHER GALLERY, BEACON