We Believe... that every consumer has a right to know where a product comes from. In today’s global economy, domestic manufacturers are forced to compete in an unfair marketplace where most gifts, housewares, jewelry and accessories are marked with removable paper stickers that indicate country of origin. Many retailers and wholesalers remove these labels in an effort to raise perceived value and confuse consumers about country of origin.
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Every show we have at least a half a dozen people ask us for 'buy sell' kinds of jewelry pieces. This week my favorite question was: My mother went to Israel 30 years ago and bought me this star with the word chai (life on it). She got the large one, I got the medium one and my cousin got the small one., I lost it and I always go to these art shows hoping I will find this exact piece of jewelry. Do you have it?
Kick me before sarcasm rolls off my tongue. I politely said that the person who designed those pieces 30 years ago would not be happy to know that I, or someone else, had copied that design. So, no, we don't have that design but we have 15 other designs that you may like.
No, she said, I've looked 30 years for this design and this is the design I want.
Or, last week the lady said: My x-boyfriend gave me a star with a horseshoe on it. When I broke up 25 years ago, I gave him back the pendant. I always loved that pendant. Do you have it?
We don't have it - perhaps you might cookie horseshoe, star and pendant and find it that way. No, she said - she would keep on looking. When we got to the room that night, I googled horseshoe, star, pendant and up popped a piece. i don't know if this is 'the one' but it was easy to find.
We're not gong to have 'plain stars' that can be purchased on the internet. Pieces are designed by me. I want people to 'step out of the box' and look beyond that plain star ... alas, those who say - cute, interesting, nice, very interesting, very nice, different ... just don't get it.
On the other hand, a blog was written about a new piece - Tikva - Star of Hope..
Public Art Project on Tour in Basel, Manfred Kielnhofer
Shared by Austrian artist and designer Manfred Kielnhofer. The “Light Guards” project is further developed and become a ghost car touring in Basel art show during June 15 – 19 2011.
Eccentric art was also at Basel, if not as dominant a presence as the traditional buys. Ghost Car by Kielnhofer was a large white van with hooded figures driving outside the fair, and the Bleifrei (which translates to Lead Free in German) Art Collective told Art Info: “Art is like Jesus; it died and it’s coming again.”
Manfred Kielnhofer, Ghost Car (2011) Basel, via Kielnhofer.com
The grim seeker after truth
Anyone wondering why these grim reaper style figures were seated on this white van - look no further than the latest installation from artist Manfred Kielnhofer. He is from Haslach an der Mühl, in the district of Rohrbach in Upper Austria, Austria, and is an artist and designer whose work usually centres around the human anatomy. His recent piece of art is the Ghost Car, which is a product of the developing ‘Light Guards’ project. This project surfaced from the theory that humankind has always been able to boast having guardians in different ways, in potential danger from only themselves. This idea intrigued the artist Kielnhofer, who approached it with his artwork, intertwining the theme of longing for security harboured by all humans. The Ghost Car portrays a sizely white van driving, seating sheet-covered figures. Perhaps this reflects individuality, exploration and recognition of current events in society, as it seems to interpret the theme by suggesting the hooded figures are looking to the drapes and car for protection as they are possibly ghosts, who are afraid of the life after death, and long for safekeeping.
By Alessia De Silva
http://austriantimes.at/news/Panorama/2011-08-06/35422/The_grim_seeker_after_truth
http://kielnhofer.com
