GALLERIES
Deutschland: www.rosemarie-jaeger.de
Luxembourg: www.galerie-orfeo.com
Nederlande: www.galerie-ra.nl
Japan: www.deuxpoissons.com
Australia: www.galleryfunaki.com.au
REVIEW OF WORK
OR
Latter link was found on Academic Search Complete. It is the same writing, yet this one includes photographs of work.
BIOGRAPHY
“Bettina Speckner doesn't like to talk about her work. When pressed, she speaks of process, or of the parts that compose the whole, in terms of universals of form, color, and structure. Not an unusual response from a jeweler, except that most of Speckner's work involves mediation of psychologically super-charged photographic images, preciously worked materials, and carefully considered comments on adornment. Photographs inevitably invite speculation and interpretation and each piece offers seductive opportunities to communicate narrative or suggest emotional content. However, in most of the work the image is her subject only as it functions related to its own disruption and abstraction.”
Wagle, Kate. "Bettina Speckner, Deliberations and Negotiations." Metalsmith 26.2
(2006): 34-41. Academic Search Complete. Web. 24 Jan. 2011.
Kate Wagle is a metalsmith and head of the Department of Art at the University of Oregon in Eugene.
QUOTES
“The photographically based work, particularly those pieces that incorporate portrait ferrotypes, reflect Speckner’s primary struggle with the inherent authority of the photograph. In The Power of Images David Freedberg speaks of the power of the “accurate image” in reference to legends surrounding portraits “unmade by the human hand.”… The existence of these images is proof of the miraculous, conferring credibility. As the direct heir to this phenomenon, the photograph allows us to believe in events, visit sites and enter spaces occupied by people we have never met. More than evidence, the photographic portrait is a document, bearing witness and demanding respect.”
“While the ferrotype was a common product of the industrial revolution, it may have accrued some of Benjamin’s famous “aura” in the last hundred years or so. The specific identity of the individual has been lost over time, becoming instead a signifier of a lost culture. Our response to these images may also reflect a conditioned nostalgia, generated by films and romantic literature and filtered through the mechanisms of popular culture. Speckner’s approach to her “loaded” materials has to contend with both implications.”
“Each piece is the record of a complex negotiation between the artist and the shifting elements of a visual conversation. Her tools are formalism, abstraction, and a strong sense of visual integrity. She is aware of the documentary authority of the photograph and works with that quality in very specific ways”
All quotes are from:
Wagle, Kate. "Bettina Speckner, Deliberations and Negotiations." Metalsmith 26.2
(2006): 34-41. Academic Search Complete. Web. 24 Jan. 2011.
There are many well known people in the photography world mentioned in Kate Wagle's writing. I find this very interesting because Speckner is in fact a metalsmith. People such as Walter Benjamin, Roland Barthes, Diane Arbus, etc, are all mentioned, and I have looked into their works, whether that may be photographs or writings. I have become very interested in the idea of mixed media and creating something that could not be created without the other medium(s). I have personally worked with photoetching, and am proposing an independent study with the metals department in order to explore other ways of combining metal and photographic processes. I think what I find most interesting about Speckner is that she works with materials that have loaded connotations. Placement, product, process, etc. is all incredibly important in her work. I became interested in photoetching because I found that solidifying an image into metal and redesigning and redefining known images to be powerful and therapeutic. I have also been considering using images that I am not connected to, such as found images at thrift stores. Speckner uses images such as these, yet usually relates it to her homeland (landscapes). The interesting difference between Speckner and myself is that she is mainly a metalsmith, and I am mainly a photographer, so I am intrigued to see what I can produce with more technical knowledge in the photography world.
Brooch 2009
Ferrotype; Silver; Diamond Beads
Brooch 2007
Ferrotype; Gold 750/000
Brooch 2007
Ferrotype; Silver; Coral;
Maple
Neclace 2007
Photo in enamel;
Silver; Lapis lazuli;
Quarz
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