New craft tv video: Philip Stokes

For our next instalment in craft tv, we visit Philip Stokes' studio in Cremorne, Melbourne. Check it out here!



craft tv: Amorphous from Craft Victoria on Vimeo.

Philip Stokes has owned and run his own studio since 2002 and is currently located in the inner Melbourne suburb of Cremorne. His studio provides hot shop and cold work access and workshops and looks to support emerging and established glass artists and to provide a vibrant arena for creative exchange

"With a background in theatre I find that handling hot glass is surprisingly similar to the stage; Spontaneity, improvisation and chance are all elements that I enjoy and exploit, both in the making and in the final installation. 

Stimulated by the sculptural possibilities of human form and the organisation of musculature, I hope to create dialogue between the viscous and sinuous qualities of the glass medium. 

My latest works are playful groupings excited by fire and inspired by the dance and rhythms of life which are captured in the moment and remain in the colours and contours of the glass forever. 

Making large scale works is exactly like a choreographed dance where the ensemble of glass artists works as one to create expressive, movement suggestive sculptural works in hot glass."

Thanks to the lovely team at Bandit Films (Tom & Daniel) for their fine work. If you missed the first episode of craft tv where we visit artist Nicholas Jones, click here!

PS, like the music? It's this song by Golden Ego

*1,000th post*! and introducing... craft tv

craft tv: Nicholas Jones from Craft Victoria on Vimeo.

This post marks our 1,000th on CLOG - wow! Here's the to the next 1,000.

To celebrate this, today we're proud to debut the first instalment of craft tv. Producted in association with Bandit Films, this is the first episode in a series of short films on individual Melbourne artists and craft makers.

Nicholas Jones is a Melbourne-based sculptor who uses books and printed paper to make works which question the manner in which books are ‘read’.

Books are capsules; vessels designed to hold information, borne of investigation or of personal expression. These objects are often venerated, held aloft as are amulets, as the source of reasoned knowledge, the fecund field awaiting the harvest. Sequestered away in dusty libraries, spines anticipating the eye of the beholder, these books tactility remains at arms length.

The physical act of folding, tearing and sewing book leaves, may be considered iconoclastic (extinguishing the fire of reason, perhaps). Although sometimes iconised for their content or historical importance, more often than not, books are discarded as cultural detritus.

These transformed books aim to highlight the poetic nature of the book as form. As historical phenomena, books have reflected the evolution of mankind, and although besieged by new technologies, the book remains steadfastly both the solver of the riddle and the creator of the labyrinth.

Hope you enjoy it, and thanks for sticking around!