Thursday, February 20, 2014

Thalen and Thalen

In an age where artists are relying more and more on new technology and computer programs to create works of art i find it very pleasing to see that some artists such as Japp and Rob Thalen, a father son duo, still use ancient methods to create their work. Thalen and Thalen are metalworkers and all of there vessels are created through raising. Raising is the method by which a flat sheet of metal is turned into a vessel thought the repetition of heating the metal up and then hammering the metal in a concentric fashion upon a rounded metal surface until a vessel is formed. The Thalen's use this method with silver. They start by casting a disk of silver and hammering it out into a usable sheet then they hammer the sheet into a vessel. They came to university of Iowa last semester and i remember them passing around one of the vessels they had made. it was a vase about a foot hight and six inches wide at its thickest point. They told us it had taken them three months of hammering day in and day out to create such a small vase. Through perseverance, their bear hands, a hammer, and without the use of new tech, they create incredible flowing textured vessels that boggle the mind. One would think that such an archaic method of creation would get lost in the hubbub of progress as new methods of creation appear in the art world every day. But it doesn't Thalen and Thalen are incredibly successful world famous artist Here are some images of their work. Looking at it becomes very apparent why they are so successful.

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