Topic: SKLO UNION - the book

[pamela]

may be this is not the right place, moderators may move me / this - BUT
Marcus' book turns out to be really the one we all have been waiting for! I owe him a lot now as I can attribute numerous items in my museum  :hiclp:
Thank you!
BTW : where are you and how are you, Marcus?

http://www.sklounion.com/ wish you all would go there!

PS: I have some spare copies bought from Marcus for dispatch within Germany if you like

[Sklounion]

 

Thank you Pamela. I am well, and currently working my way through a mass of research materials on Czech design in the communist period. There were more than 25kgs of journals waiting for me, when I arrived in Prague, and new materials are being made available every day. Finds have also included a Jaroslav Klapste lamp-worked figures brochure from the 1930s, which has what I believe to be an original sketch for new figures by Jaroslav Brychta, tucked between the pages, and a 1940s photo catalogue of designs, some by Ludvika Smrckova, for Drustevni Prace, which were made by a Ruckl factory.

Regards,

Marcus

[krsilber]

Marcus, I don't understand the frowns.  Is it because it's a tiresome job?  I would much like to hear the details of the work you're doing now, if you care to share.  What types of materials are you going through?  What are you looking for?  Is it hard to find?  Does the material reflect the regime?  Those kinds of things, like a focussed snapshot in time of your ongoing research work.  Please.

[Sklounion]

The emoticons are for embarrassment.... the boy did nuffink

So, what I am looking for? A better understanding of what communism meant, in terms of information, education etc, artistic creation and freedom, for the people who lived under it, not a western propagandised view.

Is it hard to find?, The answers? or asking the right questions? Both are difficult, as one has to suppress all your percieved wisdom, and listen, more than one speaks. Also, one has to be extremely disciplined and not allow one's own political stance get in the way, otherwise, such research may as well be done in your own back yard, with all the clutter, making it pointless in researching in the first place.

Does the material reflect the regime? A better question is does the material reflect external ideas of the regime? I am working on that question as I write.

I'd like to expand on this, but academic confidentiality, and current co-operative curating plans mean that I am not free to do so.

Regards,

Marcus

[pamela]

sounds good  :hug:
and take care oygs please
P.

[Frank]

...one has to be extremely disciplined and not allow one's own political stance get in the way, otherwise, such research may as well be done in your own back yard...

This is the number one problem for any research as we always have both the intellectual and the emotional reaction - it is fundamentally in our nature to impose our own experience on anything we read, act or say. But it is also an important aspect as it shapes how we represent what we learn and bring it to a wider audience.

[krsilber]

Marcus, thanks for telling me what you could.  I wish you could expand on it, but oh well!

Does the material reflect the regime? A better question is does the material reflect external ideas of the regime?

I think they're both good questions.

I didn't know your research was so political.

[Sklounion]

Researching designers, and their output, who lived and worked through much of their careers under the state communist machinery, carries a strong political element. Closed economic systems, ideological changes, 5 Year Economic Plans, Stalinism, de-Stalinisation, Normalisation, all these were influences on working lives, and gauging the impact, or leaving the artists and others to give you their assessment of the degree of impact on their lives and work is a fascinating line of research.

My work, per se, is not political, and I would not use what I find out, to support a Marxist dialectic viewpoint, or a centre-right or neo-con stance.

Regards,

Marcus

[Bernard C]

Marcus — An old bird, possibly the late Jack Read, retired local headmaster, once told me never attempt to be objective.   He explained "Why attempt the impossible?   Just be honest, and ensure your reader has enough information about you, your remit, and your modus operandi to be able to come to a judgement for himself."

Unfortunately this sort of information on which the reader can make an informed judgement is unusual in our field.   Also sometimes it is not possible to include it.   A good example is Hajdamach, where he was also curator of Broadfield House Glass Museum.  Hence one of his constraints was not to upset anyone by straying too obviously into controversial subjects in his book.   He couldn't really say that, could he?

Bernard C.  

[Frank]

For those wondering, we have a review of this book in the book reviews forum here http://www.glassmessages.com/index.php/topic,23848.0.html