Hidden away in a basement studio are four artists who opened their silversmith workshop to the general public last weekend. The Forging Red Studio's Design and Production Exhibition was a two-day event showcasing metal installations, silver jewelry as well as tours of their workspace. The formal opening passed, but their door is now officially open to the public to peruse the workshop and study the craft.
The startup costs for graduates in metal work can be overbearing, considering a sizable amount of equipment and a sound-proof space are need to work. Two years ago, Dandy Chao (
Photos Courtesy of Forging Red Studio
Financially, the workshop survives on commercial ventures taken on by the artists and tuition from onsite classes offered to the public. Jewelry making has the highest demand, but classes in metal sculpture are also offered if enough interest is shown.
Photos Courtesy of Forging Red Studio
The four artists use the same medium, but each specializes in a different technique. Yang Hsi-hsia (
"The only thing the curator of the festival said was, `Don't make anything that looks like a trophy,'" Dong said. "We didn't want to make anything too shiny and clean. Documentaries are about real experiences that leave imprints on our lives, so we created something more grainy, with hammer imprints."
At the opening, both Dong and Yang exhibited installation pieces completed during their graduate studies or while on residency in the US. Most unusual, yet attention-grabbing were Dong's tongue-in-cheek "domestic products" that include silver breast and penis measuring instruments.
Yang's work was less comic and somewhat disturbing in its resemblance to human body parts. Her installation involved a bed draped in white sheets with a collection of flowers and sculptures shaped like internal organs. She combined metal with silicon and vinyl, both of which she began working with during her residency in San Francisco.
In comparison to Wang E-ting (
While all four artists said they do make commercial are, normally they work for commission, which allows them more freedom over the assignments. Like other silversmiths, their work falls into an art/design dichotomy. Dong, however, brushed off questions as to whether metal work is a craft or an art, perhaps because he has heard it a million times before.
"It's frustrating when people say it's not real art. In a way, it [metal art] is more advantageous. We can make art for money and art for the museum," he said.
Exhibition notes:
What: Forging Red Studio
Where: B1, 155 Heping Rd Sec. 2, Taipei (
Telephone: (02) 2736 5381
When: Open daily 2pm to 10pm.
www.forgingredstudio.com
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