Jerwood Contemporary Makers
Flight take-off Long Exposure series, Geoffrey Mann, Kiln Cast Glass Mfr. Lhotsky Studios (listings, Plastic Fandago: Melancholic Mood Indicator, Committee)
Reviewed by Anna Bates
'We knew it would be more of a design show than a making show this year,' says textile designer, and judge Rebecca Earley, aware that one sharer of Jerwood’s £30,000 Contemporary Makers prize has never laid hands on his work
Aided by product designer Tomoko Azumi and exhibition manager Andy Horn, Earley whittled down 26 up-and-coming nominees to seven who are ‘making an impact with their work’. Some of them use CAD, some work with their hands, while others experiment with industrial techniques. The aim was to revise the discussion of what making is, by focusing on processes.
Digital craftsman Geoffrey Mann is a good exemplar of this. The self-named product artist uses CAD modelling, cinematic stop-motion techniques and rapid prototyping to capture the shape of movement and turn it into a sculpture. Mann is already known for shaking things up, turning up at shows to unwrap pieces he’s never touched. He’s the cliché choice for anyone wanting to open a discussion on what ‘making’ is; his dabbling with ultra-modern processes and thirst for debate also brings some relevance – and even cool – to a show in need of both, so a good choice for laying down the show’s aims.
Batting for the conceptual makers was Committee. The design duo are the only in the pack that don’t want to be there – it’s mass production they’re after. But seeing this studio’s work in a craft context demonstrates how well designers of limited edition or one-off pieces fit in. Their combination of narrative with meticulous handwork, and modern processes such as CAD, sees them fit the title of contemporary maker perfectly. Also apt for the award was Ismini Samanidou, whose work shows how interesting things gets when mainstream industrial processes are revisited from a maker’s angle. The textile designer uses industrial computerized looms to create her tapestries, but manipulates the process, taking over the steering wheel sporadically when she sees fit, to create vast unique pieces.
The problem with awarding processes, however, is that it occasionally ignores the finished object – not wise, if you’re going to put an exhibition together at the end. Earley’s ‘wild card’ Rachel Matthews delighted the judges with a blog that introduces knitters of unfinished pieces to others willing to complete them. But she failed to translate this to the viewer, and the work bordered on the sort of thing your great aunt might buy you for Christmas.
At points, it felt like the charity money was going to a good cause rather than the best work. One such winner was ex-Habitat designer Claire Norcross. She told the judges she wanted to leave the high street and set up a studio in the countryside to work with her hands. The paper origami light she exhibited for the show, while beautiful, was the least progressive in terms of process, but how could the Jerwood resist?
The foundation’s aims of starting a debate on what defines making, curating a themed exhibition, as well as channeling a good cause is a very ambitious set of targets for a single awards show. It’s the latter that seems to win through, but then the Jerwood’s prize is really a donation with a show-and-tell attached. Earley admits that the keenest nominees were the most successful, and why not? With so little money going around, perhaps it’s not a bad thing if it goes to the ones that really want it.
Jerwood Visual Arts’ Contemporary Makers
Jerwood Space, 171 Union Street, SE1
10 June – 19 July
www.jerwoodvisualarts.org
