Frigger tactics

Abstract: My work centers around the fact that I am a glassblower working with glass objects within a glasstradition. My BFA project from 2009 entitled ”the bastards have landed” was my first attempt atmapping out what that ultimately meant to me as a practitioner in a contemporary craft context. Theresult of that project was a discovery of my making as a way of using tradition to tell stories aboutitself. My conclusion was that by using the traditional objects as symbols I had a channel throughwhich I could communicate. Glass is a material who´s domains are closely connected to a domesticand consumeristic environment. It is put in a position where we react to its appearance with ourbody memory while also carries different social and material values depending on its appearance.When entering the master program at Konstfack University of Art Craft and Design, my idea wasthat over the next coming two years my focus would lie in the exploration and research of thesemechanisms as well as my own position as a maker and practitioner within these mechanisms.Craft, design and making are subjects that are constantly being talked about and analyzed from anumber of perspectives. There are philosophers, sociologists, historians and art historians constantlynegotiating what the field of craft is dealing with. This is something that I over the years have foundas something quite disturbing in some cases. This leaves me in a situation where I am no longerdefining my own practice. And when I am to define my practice I always do it through the ideas ofpeople from ”outside” my own position. There are many good writers from variousdisciplines writing about craft and making that I have had great use of and input from but I feel thatthere is a big lack of craft practitioners who are defining their discipline from their own standpoint.This situation is to me a bit outdated.So as mentioned above I have entered the master program with an idea to find out how to deal withveiled subjects such as tacit knowledge and material culture in order to try to transform them into acommunicative body of knowledge. My work during the past three semesters have been spread outover a number of different projects dealing with these subjects both based on objects as well asforming a discussion together with my master group.The main cause in this thesis is as always in my case to shed light on and to formulate questionsand hopefully answers around my own practice and its related subjects.The main reason for this is that craft and making as a tool for knowledge production is a cloudedsubject but according to me it holds a lot of potential. Not only for understanding questions outsidethe field but also to unveil and strengthen the practice itself.