Looking for a list of top 5 Austin artists

[bildo]

Hello,
I am looking for anybody with knowledge of Austin area glass blowers to submit a top 5 list. I plan on tallying the results and disseminating it to the public in order to increase awareness to the glass scene as a whole. I will be asking headshop owners and managers for their list as well. I will assign a point system for 1-5 to establish the best artist. I will be looking to get 100 or so educated polls. Thank you for your time.

[bildo]

My top five: 1 Salt
2 Stoke
3 Tyme
4 S. Peirce
5 Ivy

If you do not want to post publicly, pm me. Also I am printing up ballots and I will be trying to visit any austin area blowers that are willing to talk to me.

[PyroChixRock]

I'm not sure you'll get much action on this because people don't want to limit people's choices/minds to five artists when there are a lot more than five talented people in Austin.

If you're trying to increase awareness among your head shops and such, may I suggest forming a local guild or glass group, having local meetings, and plotting together. ;-)

[bildo]

My thought was that after about the top 5 the list would turn into a muddled mess of a couple votes for so and so. I am hopefully gonna get an incredible list of artists just using their opinion of who the top 5 is.

One of my main goals in trying to do this is to meet as many of these opinion havers as possible, with the intention of bringing the community together, or at the very least bringing me closer to the community.

And..... I am doing this with the intention that the information gets out to more than just the glass community. I make prodo, middle ground stuff. I make working mans pipes. I have the assumption that very few of the people that buy my pipes know a single glass blowers name or proficiency. I plan to put an insert inside of my hand pipes to inform the general (not glass) public of the awesomeness that is austin glass. People love rankings and to know the names of your local badasses might get somebody like Salt greater fame.

I was looking on wikipedia the other day, and I typed in Robert Michelson, nothing. Then salt, nothing. Then Bob Snodgrass, nothing. Rappers with one hit have wikipedia pages. It got me thinking about how none of my non glass friends know who these guys are either. But I believe they would be interested if somebody put the info in front of them in a way they are used to and like seeing.

If you have a list I would really appreciate it.

[Aymie]

Salt doesn't need greater fame.

I wonder how the austin crowd would feel about this list.

Five doesn't even begin to cut it.

[BORO]

I gave this some thought . I see what you are trying to do . I just don't think you want a list of people , but places.

Sure you can name a few people from austin , that may or may not still be there now , or in the future .

What if you had a list of the top cities the glass was made in , in the u.s. ?

Off hand , #1 Eugene OR # 2 Denver? # Austin , I can think of a few others , burlington vt , L.A. , some peps in v.a. alot in florida ,but spread out . You get the idea . Sure ,toss in some names for reference , BUt the fact that austin has onw of the biggest , and most current glass scene of any place I can think of .

Yes we all know a scene somewhere ,but not all together in one place like austin , or eugene or denver ,or.......what did I forget ?

You could support locals ,and show people how great your town is ,and they need not look any further than Austin for great glass.

[bildo]

Boro, My overall thought is education. I am starting with Austin, because that is where I am and where my pipes sell, but I love the idea of top cities/states. Hopefully this will be somewhat successful and Ill continue with glass related polls.

Aymie, I am going to find out how the Austin crowd feels about this. I plan on hitting the pavement and speaking with everybody I know and dont know. I do not want any one with knowledge of area workers to not know about this poll. I used top five but I agree Austin has many badasses. Let your vote be counted. And please put them in the order you think they are.

[Aymie]

I have no interest in putting my friends in order of who is best. Furthermore, I don't get what you mean by top five. Are we talking artists or best sellers? The true artists in this town are not likely to be well known, and the top sellers are not even on my radar when it comes to art. Salt and Snic may be the top names around here but they don't even come close to being the best artists in my opinion.

[Greymatter Glass]

I have to agree with Aymie here... a top five list that pits local artists against each other is only going to result in drama, resentment, and ego manipulation.

Those are the top 3 things this industry does NOT need.

If you want to raise awareness of Austin area glass blowers form a collective that can leave fliers at area head shops, sponsor events, etc. From what I've seen the Armadillo Art Glass Initiative that Aymie, Craig and a whole host of Austin locals have been working on fits the bill for promoting local art glass no matter the form.

You can also do your own write up based on your own opinion of who's who, and include that with your glass. It doesn't really matter if you make up your own list or conduct some form of polling - not everyone will agree with the list, so why the extra effort? No matter what you put on your list some people are going to complain.

Also, if Austin is anything like any other glass community, the top 5 people on your list may not WANT the notoriety and attention, so you have to make sure they're cool with it. If they're not, then your list is no longer valid, it becomes arbitrary at that point.

Finally, this is a growing industry with roots in every state and a constant threat from foreign imports. Austin was one of the early adopters of the "Buy Local" mantra, so I'm sure there's already a good demand for local glass - I think you'd get much more bang for your buck by talking to shop owners and getting them to set up "local glass" cases. I know the shops here who have a case dedicated to local glass sell more out of those cases than the rest of their cases - you just have to make sure they're not trying to over price local work because it's local... keep things fair, and when it comes down to a $30 spoon made locally, or a $30 spoon made in Oregon, if the quality is on par, people are gonna buy local if they know it's local.

Leave the lists to tabloids and buzzfeed.


If you REALLY need a list, poll the headshops for the top 5 best sellers, as it's not about what we as other artists think, what matters is who's bringing money to the head shops.

-Doug

[bildo]

The headshop owners and managers will definitely be polled. As will all glass blowers I can speak to. Their is no criteria. You could list your best friends for all I care. I hope I get well thought out responses. I think one of the famous names will win out, but who knows. Like I said the list will end up pretty long because so many people have differing opinions. I am not going to ask anybody that I deem unreputable.

Aymie, I totally respect your opinions about who is or isnt the best, and I would love to have your input. Hopefully I will see you in my studio and shop travels and I can give you a paper ballot so you can keep your list confidential.

I was thinking about a why a top 5? And it comes from the amount of sports I watch. Its always top five qbs, or top five point guard, 3rd basemen etc.

And I also totally respect anybody that would not want to participate If I dont get enough of a pool for a legitimate poll, I will not release half assed results.

Not all glassblowers may like rankings or to be ranked but the populous loves it. Like I said, my pipes sell at a lot of places that dont place emphasis on artists, and the places I sell to that do place emphasis on the artists, their clientele might be intersted to know what the glass community thinks of itself.

[themoch]

1. dylon
2. dylon
3. dylon
4. dylon
5. dylon



buka-Shaw!!!!

[hashmasta-kut]

its not cool, dont do it :)

[Chad S]

I spit :HOT: fire!!!

[EFS]

Bill, bob, Betty, joe and frank!

[Kaizen]

Susan, Harry, Monroe, Juliette and edwardo.

[Greymatter Glass]

...all glass blowers I can speak to.
Their is no criteria.
You could list your best friends for all I care. ...
I am not going to ask anybody that I deem unreputable.


With that as the basis of your polling the results will be arbitrary, so why not just make up your own list? That's all I'm saying. Do it right, or don't do it...



I was thinking about a why a top 5? And it comes from the amount of sports I watch. Its always top five qbs, or top five point guard, 3rd basemen etc.


Sports have quantifiable and objective metrics that are tracked and analyzed by staffs of statisticians to computer those lists. For artists, the only real objective statistics that you could use in practical terms would be sales figures, maybe calculate hours of torch time (years are too subjective, I've owned a torch for 13+ years, but there are kids that have had torches for 5 years with more hours on them). Even rating based on how many competitions they've been in or won is kind of subjective, many of them are popularity contests that don't consider skill or technique as much as aesthetics and crowd/judge opinion.

You cannot quantify artistic talent...



And I also totally respect anybody that would not want to participate If I dont get enough of a pool for a legitimate poll, I will not release half assed results.

Who decides if it's halfassed? You, your peers, someone you designate? What if not everyone agrees? By what metric is a non-scientific poll and list considered halfassed?



Not all glassblowers may like rankings or to be ranked but the populous loves it.

So ask the public. What you'll likely find is that 99% of the people going into shops to buy glass buy based on price, presentation, aesthetics (color, shape, design) and availability. Very few walk in and say "I want a pipe made by so-and-so. It's not because they don't know who's who, they just don't care. Most pipes are not art, they're commercial products that fill a need in society and are sold as such.... no one cares who molds the tires on their car, or mixed the paint on their walls, or preps their food at burger king, right?



...my pipes sell at a lot of places that dont place emphasis on artists,


Ok, so they're irrelevant to this discussion, unless you educate them. You don't need a list for that.



and the places I sell to that do place emphasis on the artists, their clientele might be intersted to know what the glass community thinks of itself.

This is where I disagree. Facebook may paint that picture, but how many of the millions of consumers of glass pipes talk about it on facebook, really? I don't care what Juan at Burger King thinks of Matt at McDonalds.

If most consumers really looked at the drama and egotism that is a part of the larger glass community they'd probably be disgusted and buy imports :P

The few artists and collectives who manage to rise above it and brand their name succeed because they put in the time to culture a collector base and good relationships with shops. Most of them couldn't do it without some technique and skill, but mostly it's an aptitude for the hustle, and that doesn't make them better glass blowers, just better businessmen and women.

So at that point you want a list of who the best business men are in the glass industry, not the best artists, best people, most innovate blowers, friendliest blowers etc....

Anyways bildo, I totally respect and appreciate where you're coming from in this, and I am sorry that it kind of sounds like I'm shitting on your idea. I can't and won't stop you from following your desires, but I just don't see the same outcome as you do. I would LOVE for more talented artists to achieve the notoriety, even on just a local level, that some of the big dogs have in the last few years - but I just don't see a list creating all that much hype, and the energy you would need to expend to hype up the list would probably be more efficiently used to promote yourself and anyone else you wanna take along for the ride.

My idea, since I should contribute something more than my criticism:

Instead of a "top 5" list, why not create a local blowers profile website and promote that to shops and make some business cards to advertise a "buy local glass" campaign that benefits ALL local glass artists instead of pitting them against each other in a vapid contest of popularity among their peers?

You could set up a simple web site where blowers can email you pictures of their work, a brief bio, shops their works available in, and retail price ranges.... you would process their info and add it to a simple gallery page, and hand out cards to all the shops who participate, leave them in bars and music shops and stuff, skate shops, indoor gardening centers, anywhere you can find... and then, to fund all of this you get the local head shops that do support locals to advertise their shops as featured stores on the page. Every month or every quarter you pick the most supportive shop and feature them for free with an entry page to the site or something.

After a while you COULD, in theory, devise a way to calculate popularity based on hits to each profile... you could rank them on your page in real time, based on traffic.

But I think right now, the whole idea of ranking artist among their peers for the sake of selling their glass is divisive.... ya know?

-Doug

[yinzer]

I must say i agree with both doug and aymie. What you are asking for is like the equivalent of going to a pro-anorexia forum and asking for the 5 skinniest girls. You're stirring a pot that's too full. If you're going to base it on anything, it should be based on sales.
If your plan is to "increase awareness to the glass scene as a whole", and you're focusing on austin, 5 just isn't going to cut it.

[bildo]

tt

[bildo]

I would base it on sales, but I might make that list. I am not top 5, but I sell a lot of glass locally. Salt sells a lot of glass nationally, but I might? outsell him in austin. A lot of really good artists arent trying to make money like I am. Theres a chance that the most profitable glass blower (in the local market) is somebody that makes under ten dollar prodo. Also zero artists are gonna divulge how much money they make locally or nationally.

Yall know the nature of the sales business as well. Some shops dont carry some artists stuff, some artists use a distro etc...

[Liquidsand]

I'm personally very tired of having all those re-blogged lists and rankings shoved through my eyeballs every time I leave my safe little corner of the internet. Maybe give the common man a little more credit for their intelligence. The willingness to do so can often result in wonderful synchronicities between creator and audience.

A scroll is a cool idea. Have a little series to reward your buyer ... as in baseball cards, bazooka comics, crackerjack prizes. I've noticed a lot of glass artists also being accomplished graffiti artists, wordsmiths, and skaters. Nothing could be cooler than that combo to some average young smoker in Austin. Profile someone in your series, with an artist bio and an image; either a photograph or something they submitted, like a drawing. Maybe focus on the talent more than the notoriety someone has already achieved.

Petition your peers in the local scene to participate in a creative way.

Artists need to have well developed egos to survive as artists and market themselves. We also have a healthy respect for the kind of work and the factors beyond skill that it takes to accomplish notoriety, as Doug pointed out. I'm not sure it is that people are worried about "pitting artists against one another". I think the reaction your getting here is more complex than that and it might be good to take a minute, re-read the comments on this thread, and consider whether headlong pursuit of the Top 5 list is really the best way to follow through on your inspiration to educate the public.

[bildo]

So I guess maybe I shouldnt post the results on the Melting Pot. I really wanted to try to reach Austin peeps on here, but thinking about it there are prob less than ten austinites frequenting this site. If anyone has an informed list PM me.

The next one will be TOP 5 Melting Pot Members
1 The Moch
2 Greymatter
3 Pyrochixrock
4 Julian (banned) but I really liked that dude
5 Funksizzle (banned) can we get him back

Just playin melting pot, I KNOW that wouldnt end well.

[3rdI]

You shouldn't post it anywhere. Why are you not listening to everyone telling you this is a bad idea?

Greymatter outlined some excellent alternatives you should really read those again and revise your plan.

The top 5 thing will only alienate you from what you desire to be closer to.

[bildo]

Greymatter glass is the smartest most well thought out dude on here. I read, reread, and reread his criticism again. The fact of the matter, is that my opinion is different. And, I will find out very soon how my local scene reacts to this. If it is as negatively perceived as it is on here, I will most likely abandon the project.

On the other hand, I have had a couple Melting Pot members tell me this is a no go, but I have had a reasonably good reaction with the people I have spoken to here in Austin.

If people didnt do things because a few people didnt like it, nothing would get done.

I will keep the Pot posted on how this semi controversial poll is going. Not results so much as reactions around town, and experiences.

Again..... PM me if you want your opinion to be counted in my research.

[yinzer]

This is me not commenting about somebody calling doug smart. :p

[Aymie]

Bildo, this will not go well. There is already an organization in place to support and promote local artists, and we do it in a way that is non-competitive.

The list of top sellers in Austin is pretty easy and completely irrelevant. We recently took on two phenomenal artists here in town that undeniably changed that top five list. As new artists preset themselves and established artists relocate themselves, that list will continue to change.

An insert that listed places to find local glass and a lesson about imports would be much more useful in promoting local artists. You don't need more kids asking for a name brand if you are truly wanting to promote local art. You want an informed customer who can identify a quality American made pipe who asks for local work. Create the demand for local work, rather than spend your time promoting those who have already gained noteriety. What if everyone knew we had 50+ pipers rather than the 5-10 who make your lists?

[LarryC]

Are you sure you are pursuing this for the right reasons?

[Greymatter Glass]

It's his life, his time, his money, his project.

I've offered what I hope was a very concise and thoughtful break down of my own opinion, others have as well.

People who go into a project with a solid base of knowledge succeed more than those who don't, and hopefully some of what we've said will rub off and/or influence his progress in this endeavour. I've never meant to discourage him from doing this, just want to make sure it's well thought out.

Bildo, good luck with your project, please prove us all wrong - seriously, if this works the way you hope it will then it will all be for the better, right?

[EFS]

What are you trying to prove by doing this? Top five artists in what? Most sales, best personality or who makes the best over easy eggs? I have no idea who lives in Austin or who works there. I doubt really anybody does. I don't follow lamp workers careers like it is a tabloid. Who cares! Make your work and pay your bills.

[Mac Maestro]

1. Alex Jones

[Aymie]

^fuck you. I love you. Don't be one of the idiots who clumps us all together and makes Rick perry and Alex jones our mascots.

[Greymatter Glass]

Rick Perry
Alex Jones
The cop who cavity searches women on the side of the road without changing gloves
That other cop who cavity searches women on the side of the road without changing gloves
David Koresh

[Mac Maestro]

^fuck you. I love you. Don't be one of the idiots who clumps us all together and makes Rick perry and Alex jones our mascots.



Sooo.... You're not a freedom fighting, abortion outlawing, major policy forgetting, figurehead who stands up against tyranny and the global elite?

Well you're no fun.

[Aymie]

My mother in law drove the school bus that picked up the kids from the Waco compound.

[Greymatter Glass]

My mother in law drove the school bus that picked up the kids from the Waco compound.

^^^ that's hot

[J Howard]

i want my top 5 mins back for reading this thread

[bildo]

What!? There is priceless info on here. Aymies mom in law drove the bus that escorted peeps away from koreshian compound.