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COLLECTIVE THINKING ______________________________
feat. MELTING POINT COLLECTIVE
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Knock On Wood by Judith Torzillo
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MELTING POINT COLLECTIVE Functioning as a supportive network of fellow jewellery and ceramics students at COFA, Melting Point draws on the collective experiences and concerns of its six members – Claire Johnson, Judith Torzillo, Kate Harris, Kimberley Peel, Kristian Fuhrer, and Laura Anthony. Although harking from different backgrounds, the members of MPC find their passion not only in the discipline of applied arts, but also in discussing key concerns of the field such as the differences between art and design, and the politics of making. Relatively recently formed, MPC functions as a forum for its members, and with bright plans for the future we can’t wait to see how they evolve!
YOLK COLLECTIVE YOLK Collective is a not-for-profit collective comprised of six Art Theory students from COFA. YOLK Collective’s objective is to create opportunities and editorial for emerging artists. We also write artist profiles, exhibition reviews, quirky articles, essays, and some of our projects include small focus exhibitions and events. In an artistic climate where opportunities are hard to come by, we decided to make our own and provide some for others in the process.
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Knock On Wood 1 & 2 by Judith Torzillo
HOW DID MELTING POINT COLLECTIVE COME TOGETHER? Judith: We decided to form a collective to cement a supportive network where we can talk about making – that means feed off each other's excitement about new techniques or help each other through tough times when all our attempts seem to be going wrong.
SOME OF YOU HAVE COME FROM DIFFERENT BACKGROUNDS (INDUSTRIAL DESIGN, SCULPTURE, MEDICINE), HOW DID YOU COME TO FIND YOUR PASSION IN APPLIED ARTS? Laura - For me it has always been there. Something I pursued on the sidelines. Three years ago this was no longer enough and I felt I had to make the time and effort to develop my skills in a formalised way.
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Judith - I didn’t know contemporary jewellery existed until I did the raft of first year introductory classes at COFA. Jewellery, ceramics and textiles were all together in the same class and from memory I think I chose that one for the textiles component. Jewellery really came out of nowhere but it tapped into all the creative things I’ve grown up doing: lots of playing with paper and making small 3D sculptures, often ones that involved some kinetic or interactive elements. Kate - I came to ceramics originally because I was interested in working with plaster and clay for sculptural purposes but after seeing what could be done with clay and how technical ceramics was I decided to focus on it. ______________________________
“I’VE ALWAYS DABBLED IN VARIOUS FORMS OF ART, FROM PAINTING AND DRAWING THROUGH TO CONTEMPORARY DANCE. I CHOSE TO SPECIALISE IN JEWELLERY BECAUSE I LOVE THE TECHNICAL CHALLENGE AND ALSO FIND EXCITEMENT IN ITS TEMPERAMENTAL NATURE, IN A MASOCHISTIC WAY. THERE’S NOTHING LIKE HAVING YOUR PIECE MELT AT THE LAST MOMENT.” - KIMBERLEY ______________________________
WHAT IS THE SIGNIFICANCE OF COLLECTIVE THINKING FOR MPC? Judith - I think for us it’s supportive thinking. We all have our own ideas about our practices and I’m sure they will continue to develop. Making can be something you undertake solo but it often involves at least one or two other people, you need to ask questions or bounce ideas off someone - making becomes more communal than it looks from the outside. I think right now we’re (we as in students who are learning to make ceramics and jewellery in a fine art context) are facing some definitional debates concerning who we are and what we
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do. Those discussions can be interesting or pointless, they can be worth having or sometimes just a waste of productive time - the worst thing they can be is alienating, I think MPC is in some way trying to avoid this result. Kimberley - MPC gives a sense of community which is important for a budding Artist. It’s a safe place for discussion of ideas, not necessarily on the same topics.
IF YOU COULD BE REINCARNATED AS AN ARTWORK, WHICH ONE WOULD YOU WANT TO BE?
Laura - For me it would be Beauty by Olafur Eliasson. It is a combination of beauty, immersion, isolation, and for me, transcendence. Kimberley - If I could be reincarnated as an artwork. Eek. I’d have to say as a mysterious figure of Euan McLeod. Judith – I can’t think of anything, I’d rather not be something that just sits around in a white room all day. So maybe an Andy Goldsworthy work? It’s probably bad that he’s the only environmental artist I can think of off the top of my head - I should take more art theory electives.
DO YOU SEE DIVISIONS BETWEEN THE CONCEPTIONS OF CRAFTS, DESIGN, AND ART? WHAT ARE SOME OF THE QUESTIONS THAT MPC IS CONCERNED WITH DISCUSSING?
Laura - I am fascinated by the divide between art and design. My father was head of Graphic Design at Enmore for many years so we have had many discussions about this. I guess my simplistic and loose view is that design is something that has a preexisting remit, with the resulting output structured by function and form. Artists produce work that begins with less functional remit, the idea of transmitting an idea or concept and the output is formed less by function or form and more by the original message.
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Lamps by Kate Harris
Lamps (detail)
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Untitled by Laura Anthony
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“CAN WE STILL BE ARTISTS MAKING JEWELLERY AND CERAMICS IF EVERYBODY ELSE SEEMS TO BE CALLING THEMSELVES DESIGNERS?” - JUDITH ______________________________
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Judith – We began discussing terms like 'making/maker', 'craft-based art', 'craft', 'fine art', 'functional work', 'functional design', 'Design' and how they all fit into our current situation, our community of artists and also the broader political position of creative industries in Sydney. These are the questions that keep going round in my head but its great to get opinions from Kristian, Kate, Claire, Kim and Laura. It really relieves the feeling that you have to decide the answers all by yourself, or at all! It’s a reminder that we can still be making work while asking and discussing; we don’t have to wait for a label.
HOW DO YOU LIKE YOUR EGGS? Kim - Sunny side up with avocado. Judith - Mid-morning, poached with avocado and nice people Laura - Brown, free range and warm fresh from the hen. Kate – Preferably chocolate.
WHAT’S NEXT FOR MPC? Judith – In the future I think we'd like to hold some exhibitions with work from each of us in dialogue, however right now the collective is less about showcasing our work and more about supporting each other to keep making work.
Contact Melting Point Collective
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Work in progress by Kate Harris
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THANK YOU Melting Point Collective & to all collectives involved. Images courtesy of Melting Point Collective. Images of works by Judith Torzillo by Patrick Cremin, images of works by Kate Harris by Jack Harris. We would also like to thank Arc @ COFA and Frontline Print. Front cover work and image by Laura Anthony.
YOLK COLLECTIVE Oliver Godsell Paloma Gould Georgie Hannam Vanessa Low Tahjee Moar Olivia Welch
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yolkcollective.blogspot.com X meltingpointcollective@gmail.com ______________________________
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