SNAG conference 2008

The 2008 Society of North American Goldsmiths conference held in Savannah, GA was an engaging one. My favorite speaker was Deb Todd Wheeler, she ended the conference on a strong, energetic and inspirational note. Her work combines her expertise in metalsmithing with contemporary explorations of energy, productivity and active viewer participation.
Our Ethical Metalsmiths exhibition, Composting Good and Evil: Redesign for Sanctimonious Sinners was well received and Susan Kingsley will bring this virtual exhibition live to the world wide web on March 15th. Over 200 letters in support of reform of the antiquated 1872 Mining Law were signed by active metalsmiths at the conference and will be delivered to Washington in the coming weeks. The Radical Jewelry Makeover (RJM) received a lot of attention and will be scheduled in other locations after the 2008 San Francisco edition.

Introduction

Welcome to the first entry of what I hope will become a catalog of ideas, projects and investigations.

Currently, I am particularly interested in materials that are used in both the process of making and the actual materials used in creating items of personal adornment. The goal of this research partnered with object making is to understand ecosystems of craft production and contribute to the design of sustainable methods and products.

This first part of this research will culminate in an workshop that I am teaching this summer at Ox-Bow School of Art, located in Saugatuck, MI:
SCULP 622 001
Ecosystems of Adornment: Investigations in Sustainable Jewelry
June 22-July 5, 2008
3 credit hours
Instructor: Christina Miller

This course is designed to make a conscientious effort to collaboratively develop responsible methods of production in the context of a traditional jewelry and metalsmithing studio. During the two-week session we will cover the reuse of old jewelry and metal recycling sourced from our community “mine”, cradle to cradle design concepts, site specific sourcing as a “green” design strategy, the use of waste products from other studios as a test of sustainability, as well as continuous assembly and disassembly of our own objects. In addition to an in- depth exploration of ecosystems of adornment a variety of techniques that are conducive to working with alternative materials will be covered as well as basic metalsmithing processes such as sawing, forming, soldering, and finishing. This class is open to all levels. Willingness to be part of a creative think tank and design group is the only required prerequisite for this course. Some reading materials will be sent prior to the start of the course.

All of this stems from my ongoing work with Ethical Metalsmiths and as a professor of jewelry and metalsmithing at Millersville University.

Until next time...