William Warmus where are you?

William Warmus where are you?

Does anyone have anything interesting or new to say about glass? It seems hardly any writer can suppress the urge to badly pun and rarely is a piece written that does not stumble on the first hurdle, "art or craft?". It's as if everyone is writing about glass for the first time and has no knowledge of what came before. Newspaper journalists, bloggers, and curators sound like a pop song stuck on a loop of "function vs. art", "art vs. craft", "brilliant colors", "standing in awe", "technical feat", etc.

Where are Robin Rice, Matthew Kangas, and William Warmus today? Did they tire of playing tug of war when they lost ground in leaps and bounds to the uproar about Dale Chihuly at the de Young museum last year? My impression of Kangas and Warmus is that they found the medium intriguing and so played "wait and see" with glass artists, and I don't know if they are waiting any longer. If not, who is?

In contemporary art branding leads to higher prices, and it's not critical writing but publicity that brings viewers to shows.* So, does glass need critical writing if it has both of the above? Glass magazine rarely provides anything more substantial than description in it's articles and glass never appears in any other Art publication. The amount of time it takes to master the craft of glassblowing, coupled with an artist at the helm as designer and gaffer at once (rare), merits a critical response. But, is there anything new to say?

I'd like to see writing about the cohesiveness of the glass community, are there goals they have in common? I'd like to see writing about these private collectors of glass are they investing or do they sincerely enjoy owning glass? I'd like to see writing that examines the motives of glass artists in order to delve into the idea of Seattle's Larry Reid, that says "it's all about the money, honey." I'd like to see an art historian place today's glass artists into the larger picture of contemporary art as Robin Rice was doing at Wheaton Art's critic in residence.

And from glass artists I'd like to see more jellyfish and octopi.

Just kidding.

photo credit: Warmus, W. http://www.warmus.us/tonga_humpback_whales_2005.htm

*Thompson, Don. "The $12 Million Stuffed Shark." 2008. Palgrave, MacMillian. London, NY. 2008.