Metalsmith BenchTalk on BlogTalkRadio with James Thurman

My Guest this Thursday, January 26th at 3 p.m. PST on MetalSmith BenchTalk is James Thurman, metalsmith, artist, and Assistant Professor: College of Visual Arts & Design at the University of North Texas. We'll discuss his recent excursion to Turkey, as well as his work at UNT, and his ongoing installation project that takes form as a fictitious museum.

 

Bio: Fascinated with how the method of presentation and display affects the perception of the object, my recent work uses the format of a natural history museum as a vehicle for cultural critique.  In my “Ancient Artifacts of the 21st Century” installation, I use objects of my own creation as the subject for a fictitious future’s misinterpretation. All objects included in the exhibition are comprised of recycled materials that are based on their implied function, such as a reading chair and lamp made of books, a dining chair made of flatware, and a dining table made of dishes.  Through the humorous misinterpretation of these objects, issues of material culture hierarchies, consumerism, and environmentalism are explored in a playful and accessible manner.

 

The “McMuseum of Anthropological Archaeology” is the fictitious museum of the 24th Century that has humorously misinterpreted these “ancient artifacts of the 21st Century.”  The TransWorld Corporation has assumed control of the world and are using the discovery of these artifacts to support their consumption-based society.

 

For more about James and his work, visit http://www.jamesthurman.com/