Lowbrow

[β]

Are pipes lowbrow Art? After reading http://www.thegldg.com/forum/showthread.php?postid=14112 i feel the same frustration. Juxtapoz and such have really capitolized on the unrefined movement which is more cultural than art for art's sake. So, is there a way to bring an acceptance of pipe culture into the more accepted art scene? Marbles and pendants are slowly making there way into galleries--especially marbles--and are being accepted by the common critic more and more. I know that lampers are part of the untapped scene within lowbrow that is waiting to explode. There are so many people that crave to express themselves and look at how other people express themselves that there has to be an economy for all of us to survive in. Mybe we can just give it a little bit more of a push.

What i'm proposing is a vessel for the delivery of the pipe art/history/scene to america. It has the recipie for success. As the "indie" culture realizes that there is more surface than substance, there will be a recycling of ideas that people truly want independant and new artists. There's also the government aspect in that this art is truly pushing the comfort zone for the moral majority. And IT'S NOT JUST PIPES that are part of the the movement that i believe we are all apart of whether we like it or not. It's tattoo's(almost accepted/just about) graffiti(almost) clothes(culture that goes with the scene) digital art(almost, a little more) etc....

Maybe high times and other publications have cursed us from the beggining. Maybe it was the people who hit the pipe too much. maybe it was the conservatives, BUT MAYBE this has been going on for hundreds, maybe thousands of years. There is a struggle presant. A conflict.

So what will the vessel be? I think a magazine can connect with america. It wouldn't focus on just pipes, but that would be the larger focus. It would be political, but not in the adbusters way. it would give people the inspiration to run out to the garage thinking "I might be able to do that" and make a huge mess. Get the blood off our hands and replace it with paint. The presentation of this glass art would force a louder conversation between critics, and MAYBE, JUST MAYBE, we can start popping our heads out into the open. i live in santa cruz, so i don't feel the local government nearly as much as some of you pipers that are in more conservative areas. That's not right.

"How could a magazine like this work" i guess is what i'm going after. Thanx for letting me ramble on this lovely friday if anyone has the attention span to read this whole mess/anthem. :contempla Maybe someone has already discussed and followed through with this :D

[Swampy]

It's all good what you said BetaB, I would like to suggest that anything that puts it (glass) in front of Joe public and leaves them gob-smacked is also good. Especially if it's in a gallery or a display case and the comment is 'Hey, look at that fucker!'.

I was reading my friend Robert Mickelsons website this morning about <Z Boys and Pipe Boys> and I have to say I agree with Robert's sentiments entirely.

[β]

"Pipe makers create their products, evolve new techniques, and generate new markets for their work completely separate from the existing accepted culture of glass art, and even of society in general. They tend to bemoan their lack of acceptance, but I maintain that this cultural rejection is their greatest asset and that it is to be celebrated rather than cured. As with the illegal substance itself, the societal rejection ends up being the single most influential factor in perpetuating it. Homogenization within society signals the end of a revolution. With cultural acceptance comes commercialization and with that goes true innovation. It is of course, inevitable that this will happen eventually, but pipemakers should drag their feet. They will miss these days when they are gone." -RM

Thanx for pointing this out swampy, this is exactly what i needed to hear. I know this all sounds idealistic, but as Mickelson said, it is this warm cloak of naivety that makes me believe that this is all going to go really mainstream, possibly soon. All the elements are here, they just need trojan horse.

[Pakoh]

Presentation is very important. if your piece is presented well, people will take it more seriously.

i am donating this piece to the Pilchuck auction and its a pipe. It should be in there with all the big name glass artists...

what are they gonna say..."that aint art!"?

[borealisglass]

yeah that's sick shit Pakoh.....
yeah I think I just wanna save up and get one of your pipe pieces instead of a marble. But I guess I will have to run that past Andy

[Izzy Spun]

That has got to be some of the craziest shit I have ever seen...my paradigm has shifted...

[Pakoh]

thats my job...

one of these is an accepted form of expression . the other is not. whats the difference?

the perspective of the viewer.

[β]

So how do we change the perspective, or rather influence it. I believe you are on the front lines of a break through that will evolve over the next ten years Pakoh. You're work embodies the frustration of the piper/borosilicate artist. Not to be blowin hot air up your bowl, but your deconstructed pipe above is amazing. Keep it up.

[somberbear]

Ha whats the point....

Why change peoples views.... just smack them with them.

If this is one of the worries in your life your spending way to much time away from your bench working.

Is it art to you? why do you wanna sell a IO fumed bub at a gallery? wanna be famous?

throw those skills down let your work speak for itself.

Wanna be ablet o show your face around hot shop artist.

ha your a craftman get over it.

Pipes are underground thats what makes tehm waht they are... the people who apreciate them will pay the cost. You want a pipe in the met? meh why.

does this make what you do more ligitmiate?

Im just wondering why oh why are you trying to take an underground grass roots hard core movement and busting it out main stream.... wouldnt that kill any aka undetground movement?

pakoh as always love the work.

Most pipes i see lack one thing.... subject matter... becouse there funconal patern and color meh there pretty , but once you make a statement an soul with them imbue them with magic that makes people think thats art.

If i dont see a work in a gallery or in a museum does it make it any worse?

What are you trying to prove? why?

I am not an artist dont know where to begian ... i make what i enjoy what i find beauty in. past that any one who buys them i think appreciate the work i do if not.... there loss.

Let your work speak for itself. you can help it with titles and pcitures etc.... but its the work at the end of the day that will speak for itself and you.....

Another reason why i think pipes arnt is becouse of the attiude involved with most pipers.

If your worried about it your not working enough and working with your medium. can you truely express your emotions thoughts and ideas in glass completly?

[Micah Evans]

Damn Rob, that was a great post. I have been pondering how to put it but you seem to have summed it all up. I'll add some more to this thread when I have a little more time, this could be an interesting conversation.

[β]

Ha whats the point....

Why change peoples views.... just smack them with them.

Exactly

If this is one of the worries in your life your spending way to much time away from your bench working.

Dude, i was "stuck" in maui, stranded from my torch and i was having a panick attack
Is it art to you? why do you wanna sell a IO fumed bub at a gallery? wanna be famous?

I don't really want to sell IO fumed bubs in a gallery, rather i would like the blanket of negative conotation lifted from lampworkers/pipers.

throw those skills down let your work speak for itself.

I'm workin on it, just let me get away from this thead ....ha ha

ha your a craftman get over it.


so over it, i do it for they joy and the money, wait.......what's money?

Pipes are underground thats what makes tehm waht they are... the people who apreciate them will pay the cost. You want a pipe in the met? meh why.


to bring recognition to people that deserve it. As in the nobel prize, it's not for the greatest breakthroughs in science, etc......it's for recognizing poeple that truly have made a change somewhere, yes albeit a little(a lot) political

does this make what you do more ligitmiate?

No, but it's nice to break down doors.

Im just wondering why oh why are you trying to take an underground grass roots hard core movement and busting it out main stream.... wouldnt that kill any aka undetground movement?

I think it is my bitterness of growing up in a DIY/indie fashoin and then having the superficial view extracted and spewed through the media machine ten years later, and now "indie" has such a negative connotation. Wouldn't you like to at least have some influence on the emerging glass scene that is uncontrollably expanding, possibly exploding one day. Maybe you have the guts to hold it back, maybe we could all resist, but it will happen.


Most pipes i see lack one thing.... subject matter... becouse there functional patern and color meh there pretty , but once you make a statement an soul with them imbue them with magic that makes people think thats art.

nicely put

If i dont see a work in a gallery or in a museum does it make it any worse?

No

What are you trying to prove? why?

to Give other people more recognition

I am not an artist dont know where to begian ... i make what i enjoy what i find beauty in

Let your work speak for itself. you can help it with titles and pcitures etc.... but its the work at the end of the day that will speak for itself and you..... Another reason why i think pipes arnt is becouse of the attiude involved with most pipers.

ditto

If your worried about it your not working enough and working with your medium. can you truely express your emotions thoughts and ideas in glass completly?

i'm really thinking now......

Rob, you a a nail on the head. I was having a panic attack of some type while i was in maui. I was over a week away from the studio when these thoughts came into my mind, and i think i had to interact with glass at some level, so i started this magazine idea up. Not for my own fame, but looking at other peoples work and thinking that the public HAS to see this. Do i have the responsibility to keep these glass artists hidden like gems, or do i have the responsibilty to NOT hide, but rather share these beautiful expressions and such?

This is a great conversation, and thanx for putting up with me b/c i have only one other person to talk to about this subject, and that's my fiance(don't know if i like this word yet)

peace.....