Slog - Comments on More on Chihuly http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/02/more_on_chihuly When you write a long article about something there's a lot of stuff that never makes it into the article, including how the writer got the story in the first place, what they think of the subject they're writing about, what hoops they had to jump through to get people to talk, etc. This week in the paper, Jen Graves has a feature about Dale Chihuly's lawsuits against glass artists he's accusing of making knockoffs of his work. It's a great story: What's bizarre about all this is that the small-time sales of a few Chihulyesque pieces in a couple... Copyright 2007 Sat, 18 Feb 2006 11:34:02 -0800 Tue, 28 Mar 2006 22:34:19 -0800 http://www.movabletype.org/?v=3.34 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Comment by Chris that article was a real wank. everybody already knows the guy doesn't blow glass. nobody cares. a lot of people think the stuff looks cool. others think it's trendy junk. not much to add to that.

]]> Chris http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/02/more_on_chihuly#c020433 http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/02/more_on_chihuly#c020433 Sat, 18 Feb 2006 12:36:14 -0800 Comment by U Smith Read the whole thing and never found the story ---- everything the guy says has been know to EVERYBODY for decades --- is the writer just putting stuff together to get a fee -- was the Stranger bilked out of true creatively?

Tiffany did not soder all his Lamps --- Stuben did not do each goblet -- Stickley did not build all the great furniture......Picaso used production line systems, is he not a genius?....etc.

I think Dale C. is a true genius. Is there a perfect box for such folk - the how to of the NW genius pockt guide - if not, maybe this guy can write it and print every copy at his own little press.

And his lawsuit will prevail. There is a lot of good law protecting the original artist-designer in such fights.

By the way, Channel does not sew each jacket.

]]> U Smith http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/02/more_on_chihuly#c020454 http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/02/more_on_chihuly#c020454 Sat, 18 Feb 2006 14:22:52 -0800 Comment by playbook Great story? Badly crafted, poorly explained and unfocused. Oh, and newswise, a stretch. Other than that, great.

]]> playbook http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/02/more_on_chihuly#c020458 http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/02/more_on_chihuly#c020458 Sat, 18 Feb 2006 14:52:15 -0800 Comment by frizzelle You guys are insane. Not everyone knows everything already, Chris, and the idea that people do is hipsterish and annoying. Chihuly Inc. filing a lawsuit that threatens Chihuly's own interests and legacy is interesting and newsworthy and worth writing about. And although Graves would tell you herself that she kept wondering why she was writing her first long piece for The Stranger about Chilhuly, I for one thought the story was fascinating. That said, if you already know everything there is to know on a subject, feel free not to read articles about it.

]]> frizzelle http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/02/more_on_chihuly#c020764 http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/02/more_on_chihuly#c020764 Sun, 19 Feb 2006 15:49:46 -0800 Comment by Geoff Nelson Interesting to read the comments in here. I just finished the article this evening (normally don't get to Thursday's Stranger before Sunday night) and it struck me to read a Stranger arts column that I actually finished. I thought it was interesting because Chihuly is a PNW institution that we rarely hear anything but glowing praise about.

As an appreciater of art who isn't immersed in the local scene because it isn't a number one priority, I thought the article was fascinating. It's also the first time an arts article came up over drinks with friends since The Stranger usually covers really great shit, but shit you probably wouldn't care about unless you were best friends with someone who answered the phone at ConWorks.

Anyway, good work. I'm surprised by the reaction.

]]> Geoff Nelson http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/02/more_on_chihuly#c020960 http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/02/more_on_chihuly#c020960 Mon, 20 Feb 2006 01:14:55 -0800 Comment by Carolyn Dearest Stranger, glad to see my favorite art writer in the region getting a meaty story and a regular job with the Stranger. Here's a lesson in smalldom: I've had an axe to grind with Chihuly since waiting on him as a waitress in my 20's- (20 years ago)...and he was not a gracious person. It's memorable in Seattle when people are substantially pompous, at least from an almost teenage perspective. Yes that has nothing to do with his art, but it stayed in my memory.
Anyway I can let bygones be bygones, and I hate to step on the "hate-the-glass-artists" bandwagon, but Jen's article was mostly delicious for many reasons- post article critique of the bridge of glass most delightful of all.

]]> Carolyn http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/02/more_on_chihuly#c022099 http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/02/more_on_chihuly#c022099 Mon, 20 Feb 2006 22:24:33 -0800 Comment by U Smith The White House had a Tiffany Wall - stunning size and beauty.

It was torn out and thrown away in a pre war remodel.

Oh, the tides of taste and experts on art who fart.

Carolyn, Einstein was know to just walk out and not pay at all. Sorry you got bruised, certainy Dale had some need to be nice. Jeez

The article was Stranger rock throwing. Pointless.

I love the Bridge. Wish it were in Seattle.

]]> U Smith http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/02/more_on_chihuly#c023052 http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/02/more_on_chihuly#c023052 Tue, 21 Feb 2006 20:08:41 -0800 Comment by chef Why does the Stranger use ill-educated hacks to write about art? Jen Graves doesn't even get the very definition of art, that while craft is about making something useful and well-made, art is about communicating ideas and emotions. Whoever comes up with the ideas is the artist, not the worker who makes the parts. This is accepted in film and fashion, why is glass different?
Ms. Graves to makes the idiotic statement that there are no modern glass masters. Did she even bother to stir her lazy butt down to the Museum of Glass for the William Morris show this fall? Hack, hack, hack, hack. Find work you're suited for.

]]> chef http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/02/more_on_chihuly#c023846 http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/02/more_on_chihuly#c023846 Wed, 22 Feb 2006 13:08:09 -0800 Comment by El Jeffe Being a glassblower working outside of the PNW, I feel fortunate to be one of the lucky ones not masticated by the Chihuly machine. Many of my friends have had the misfortune to work long hours for crappy wages, turned away from the Boathouse doors on Friday because they were not trusted to enter the compound even to pick up their own paycheck - and so many other stories it's ridiculous to try to recount them all.


Dale's personal demons and heavily-guarded artistic deceit have been legend in the glass world for years; it goes well beyond the legacies of other craftsmen who had studios producing their work, and those of us who take pride in our work (let alone skill, which is replaceable) find his tactics to be abominable. Everyone I know who read this article was absolutely tickled to see his soft, white underbelly laid out in the sun for all to poke.

I have to agree with some of the prior criticisms of this article; I felt that while exposing Chihuly is a worthy cause and he is low-hanging fruit right now, the article absolutely fizzled. It had neither an exclamation point nor a question mark, but a paltry ellipsis trailing off the bottom of my screen.

Be that as it may, I really hope Dale and his persona have run their course, and cherish the thought that this brief might put a nail in the coffin; as many times as it has been said that he should be adored as the most successful living artist in history, I've been happy to remind anyone nearby that his work will be unique for diminishing as soon as he is absent in championing its value. In that regard, he is running just ahead of Martha Stewart (although perhaps a couple of lanes to her left).

]]> El Jeffe http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/02/more_on_chihuly#c058302 http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/02/more_on_chihuly#c058302 Tue, 28 Mar 2006 22:34:19 -0800