Made You Look and Metal Arts Guild unveil Scotiabank Nuit Blanche installation
The work of one’s hand can reveal much about the soul. Becoming a metalsmith or jewellery designer takes significant training and Zen-like practice. It takes about 10,000 hours to become a master and to perfect your skills as a craftsman, which is why the Metal Arts Guild of Canada and Made You Look are celebrating Scotiabank Nuit Blanche with an innovative installation called 10,000 Hours, representing the collective practice hours spent by metal smiths and designers across the country.
The installation includes up to10,000 metal objects that are mounted together as a giant collage along an outdoor gallery wall. The Metal Arts Guild of Canada asked its members from across the country to submit scrap metal objects from their work benches. The pieces of silver, bronze, brass and copper are samples and maquettes that are proof of the learning, practice, development and progression as an artist grows from novice to known.
“This installation represents our collective thought process as craftsmen. Nuit Blanche is about people experiencing art – what better way to show them our artistic process than by letting them see the pieces that we have loved or hated, and used as a means to the final product?” said Sarah Hamel, president of the Metal Arts Guild and owner of Made You Look.
The final installation will be unveiled on Saturday, October 3, the night of Toronto’s Nuit Blanche, in front of the Metal Arts Guild of Canada’s head office at 88 Elm Grove Avenue (at the rear of Made You Look Accessories, 1273 Queen Street West).
The inspiration for this Installation has come from:
Richard Sennett’s The Craftsman;
Malcolm Gladwell’s The Outliers; and
Daniel Levitin’s This Is Your Brain On Music.
Each have explored the idea of 10,000 hours and helped to solidify its significance in the way we perceive and understand fine art and craft today.
About the Metal Arts Guild of Canada:
The Metal Arts Guild of Canada is the member-based organization for silversmiths, goldsmiths, jewellers and metal artists in Canada. Since 1946, this non-profit organization has been committed to encouraging the appreciation of Metal Arts through the exchange of information and ideas. For more details, please visit www.metalartsguild.ca
About Made You Look Jewellery Studio and Gallery and Made You Look Accessories:
Representing more than 100 Toronto-area, self-employed jewellery designers, many of whom manufacture on-site in their large jewellery creation facilities, Made You Look specializes in everything jewellery related. From high-end custom, to must-have costume, alterations, repairs, corporate gifts, props for films and much, much more. Made You Look is Toronto’s hub for handmade jewellery design. Made You Look Jewellery Studio and Gallery (north side) is located at 1338 Queen Street West and Made You Look Accessories (south side) is located at 1273 Queen Street West. For more information, please visit http://www.madeyoulook.ca
Posted by Fran Zingone
Photo courtesy of Made You Look
