COLLECTING THE WORK OF BLANCHE TILDEN LED SUSAN AND PETER ON THEIR JOURNEY AS COLLECTORS OF CONTEMPORARY ART AND JEWELLERY, AS REVEALED IN OUR CONVERSATION IN FEBRUARY 2021.

 

MG:   WHAT WAS THE FIRST PIECE OF BLANCHE TILDEN’S WORK THAT YOU BOUGHT?

ST:   THE VERY FIRST ONES WERE SINGLE-COMPONENT, SMALL-PRODUCTION NECKPIECES: ONE WAS A SINGLE CYLINDER AND THE OTHER A SINGLE PULLEY. I GOT THEM FROM QUADRIVIUM IN SYDNEY.1

PT:   [REFERRING TO HIS LOGBOOK 2 ]

THOSE FIRST PIECES WERE PART OF THE 1997 CONVEYOR SERIES.

ST:   I MAY WELL HAVE BOUGHT SOMETHING FROM BLANCHE’S 1995 GRADUATE SHOW IF I HAD MANAGED TO GET IN TO SEE IT. I SAW THE ARTICLE IN THE PAPER AND THOUGHT IT LOOKED AMAZING; I THOUGHT IT WAS ABSOLUTELY MY THING.3 WHEN I WENT TO SEE WE COULDN’T GET IN, THE DOORS WERE CLOSED, LOCKED. THESE DAYS I’D BE A LOT MORE PERSISTENT ABOUT GETTING IN, BUT AT THE TIME I JUST THOUGHT, ‘TOO HARD’ [LAUGHS]. IT WAS REALLY ANNOYING, BUT IT MOTIVATED ME TO CHASE UP HER WORK LATER ON. I SUPPOSE AT THE TIME I DIDN’T THINK OF MYSELF AS A ‘COLLECTOR’. I WAS JUST INTERESTED.

MG:   ONE OF THE THINGS I WAS WONDERING ABOUT WAS WHETHER YOU WERE ALREADY COLLECTING CONTEMPORARY JEWELLERY?

ST:   NO. SEEING BLANCHE’S WORK IN THE CANBERRA TIMES WAS THE IMPETUS.4 IT WAS THE FIRST TIME I’D STARTED THINKING ABOUT JEWELLERY THAT HAD MORE OF A CONCEPTUAL BASIS, SOMETHING ELSE TO SAY.

[WE LOOK AT THE ARRAY OF OVER A DOZEN NECKPIECES BY BLANCHE TILDEN THAT FORM THE CONSIDERABLE COLLECTION.]

ST:   THAT ONE (EVERYDAY (FRONT REFLECTOR), 2000 5 ) IS FROM GALLERY FUNAKI, BECAUSE IT IS IN THE OLD FUNAKI BOX.6

MG:   IT’S SURPRISINGLY LIGHT.

ST:   YES, THIS ONE IS REALLY FUN. I ALWAYS LOVE TO WEAR IT WHEN I GO THROUGH AIRPORT SECURITY BECAUSE THE GUARDS LOOK AT IT AND SAY, ‘YOU’RE GOING TO SET THAT OFF’, AND I SAY, ‘NO I’M NOT!’ [LAUGHS] — THEN INVARIABLY WANT TO HAVE A LOOK AT IT.

MG:   BEFORE WE START GETTING MORE INTO  BLANCHE’S WORK SPECIFICALLY, WHEN WE FIRST SPOKE YOU MENTIONED YOU HAD FAMILY MEMBER WHO ALSO HAD CONTEMPORARY JEWELLERY.

ST:   WELL, TWO OF MY AUNTS ON MY MOTHER’S SIDE WERE PARTICULARLY INTERESTED IN SCANDINAVIAN DESIGN, SO THEY WOULD SAVE UP THEIR MONEY AND BUY A PIECE OF DANISH JEWELLERY WHEN THEY GOT THE OPPORTUNITY.

MG:   WHERE WAS THIS?

ST:   THEY LIVED IN TUMUT, REGIONAL NEW SOUTH WALES. THEY VISITED CANBERRA IN THE SEVENTIES BECAUSE MY MUM LIVED HERE. THERE WAS A SHOP IN CIVIC CALLED CENTRO SUISSE,7 WITH REALLY NICE SCANDINAVIAN PIECES. IT WASN’T WHAT I WOULD TERM ‘ART JEWELLERY’, BUT THEY WERE REALLY NICE, SOLID PIECES OF GOOD CLEAN DESIGN. I GUESS THAT WAS WHAT INITIALLY INFORMED MY INTEREST IN JEWELLERY AND WHAT GAVE ME THE PARAMETERS OF WHAT WAS GOOD.

MG:   DO YOU STILL HAVE ANY OF THAT JEWELLERY?

ST:   YES, I DO. [SUSAN BRINGS OUT THREE RINGS THAT HAVE LARGE, DEEPLY COLOURED, SEMI-PRECIOUS STONES SET IN SILVER, IN A VERY BOLD DESIGN THAT REVEALS THE PROCESS OF SETTING.]

MG:   IT’S A NICE ORIGIN FOR WHAT STARTED YOUR INTERESTS. SO, WE ARE NOW LOOKING AT BLANCHE’S WORKS IN YOUR CANBERRA HOME. WHEN I INITIALLY LOOKED AT YOUR LIST OF WORKS, I THOUGHT THAT YOU COLLECTED THEM EVERY COUPLE OF YEARS, BUT ACTUALLY YOU’VE GONE BACK AND CREATED A GOOD REPRESENTATION OF HER DIFFERENT SERIES.

ST:   I LOVE THAT EARLY WORK, AND I ALWAYS THOUGHT IT WAS REALLY IMPORTANT. IF THEY BECOME AVAILABLE, I LOVE TO GO BACK AND COLLECT SOME OF THOSE HISTORIC PIECES. IF I FEEL REALLY STRONGLY ABOUT A DESIGNER, OR AN ARTIST, I WANT TO HAVE EXAMPLES OF THEIR WORK AT REGULAR INTERVALS AND FROM KEY SHOWS IF I POSSIBLY CAN.

MG:   SO YOU’VE GONE BACK TO FILL IN SOME GAPS AND MAINTAINED A CONTINUING INTEREST, BUT HAVE YOU EVER COMMISSIONED A WORK FROM BLANCHE?

ST:   NOT SPECIFICALLY. THOUGH I GUESS BUREAUCRACY IS AN EXAMPLE, IN SOME WAY. THE FIRST VERSION OF THAT SOLD BEFORE I GOT A CHANCE TO BUY.

PT:  WE SAW IT AT HELEN MAXWELL GALLERY, BUT IT HAD ALREADY BEEN BOUGHT.8

ST:   I ASKED WHETHER I COULD GET A VERSION OF IT THROUGH GALLERY FUNAKI, BECAUSE MARI FUNAKI WAS HER DEALER. ALTHOUGH THE PIECE WAS EXHIBITED IN 2000, IT WAS 2002 BEFORE I GOT MY VERSION OF IT.

 

“I LOVE BLANCHE’S PRECISE CRAFTING OF 
EACH ELEMENT OF HER PIECES WHICH 
IS EXEMPLIFIED IN BUREAUCRACY,  
A DENSE MECHANICAL CHAIN THAT IS 
COMPOSED OF MANY METAL PIECES CUT 
BY HAND. WHEN I LOOK AT THIS PIECE 
I THINK OF THE PAINSTAKING WORK 
OF THE MAKER THAT BROUGHT IT INTO 
BEING, AND I CAN FEEL THE TENSION 
IN ALL THE PIECES OF METAL WORKING 
WITH AND AGAINST EACH OTHER, 
JUST AS IN A REAL BUREAUCRACY.”

— SUSAN TAYLOR

 

MG: SAME COLOURS?

ST: YES, ALL THE SAME COLOURS. THE LONG WAIT DIDN’T MATTER TO ME.

PT: AN IMPORTANT POINT IN RELATION TO COMMISSIONING IS THAT ON THE ODD OCCASION WHEN WE THOUGHT ABOUT DOING IT, WE HAVE REALISED THAT THE MAKER HAS MOVED ON FROM THAT PARTICULAR PROJECT AND THEY’RE INTO THE NEXT THING. IT’S NOT SO MUCH DISRESPECTFUL, BUT WE FEEL IT’S TAKING THEM OUT OF THE PRESENT TO ASK THEM TO GO BACK AND REMAKE SOMETHING.

ST: I’VE SEEN OLDER PIECES THAT I’VE DESPERATELY WANTED. WE’VE TALKED BETWEEN OURSELVES AND TALKED WITH THE ARTISTS, AND IN THE END THE CONCLUSION HAS BEEN: YOU CAN’T GO BACK, THE MOMENT’S GONE.

MG: YET BLANCHE, FOR INSTANCE, DOES GO BACK AND REMAKE WORK, SHE HAS NO PROBLEM WITH THAT.

ST: EVEN IF SHE IS HAPPY TO DO THAT FOR ME, AS THE WEARER IT DOESN’T HAVE THE SAME RESONANCE.

MG: YOU LIKE THE MOMENT?

ST: WHAT I LIKE ABOUT THIS JEWELLERY IS THAT IT’S MADE FOR A REASON, THERE’S A CONCEPT BEHIND IT, AND IT FITS WITHIN A STORY—THE DEVELOPMENT OF A PRACTICE—AND WHEN YOU SAY, ‘I LIKE THAT, CAN YOU MAKE IT FOR ME,’ IT BECOMES JUST AN OBJECT. FOR ME AS THE BUYER IT FEELS HOLLOW.

MG: IT’S INTERESTING HEARING YOU TALK ABOUT IT LIKE THAT. WHEN WE FIRST SPOKE, I NOTICED THAT I CALLED THEM NECKLACES, BUT YOU CALLED THEM NECKPIECES. MAYBE THAT DISTINCTION IS SOMETHING TO DO WITH WHAT YOU’RE JUST DESCRIBING: THAT IT’S NOT JUST A DECORATIVE WEARABLE PIECE BUT SOMETHING WITHIN AN OEUVRE.

ST: I THINK THAT’S MY SHORTHAND WAY OF DISTINGUISHING BETWEEN SOMETHING THAT’S CONVENTIONAL AND SOMETHING I SEE AS MORE OF AN INDIVIDUAL PIECE. WHEN YOU OBSERVED THAT I COLLECT NECKPIECES, IT MADE ME THINK. I THINK IT’S BECAUSE I’M ALWAYS TRYING TO BUY A SIGNIFICANT PIECE, SO THAT’S WHY I’VE ENDED UP MOSTLY WITH NECKPIECES. NECKPIECES TO ME ARE WHERE IDEAS ARE OFTEN PLAYED OUT IN A VERY RESOLVED WAY.

MG: IF YOU WEREN’T COLLECTING JEWELLERY BEFORE YOU STARTED COLLECTING BLANCHE’S WORK, YOU’RE NOW LOOKING AT A RANGE OF OTHER MAKERS. WAS IT AN INTRODUCTION TO THAT FIELD IN AUSTRALIA?

ST: YES, IT WAS THE CRYSTALLISING MOMENT, WHEN I REALISED WHAT KIND OF JEWELLERY I REALLY WANTED TO WEAR. SO IT WAS DEFINITELY THE BEGINNING. THE NEXT MOMENT WAS SEEING SU SAN COHN’S WORK.9 IT WAS VERY CLEAR THAT THAT WAS THE KIND OF JEWELLERY WE WERE INTERESTED IN AND WE REALLY WANTED TO PURSUE THOSE KINDS OF IDEAS.

MG: AND DID YOU KNOW THERE WAS A CONNECTION?10

PT: WE FOUND OUT LATER THAT BLANCHE WORKED WITH HER FROM 1995 TO 1998, PRIOR TO THE RETROSPECTIVE IN 2000. SO, IT WAS ONE OF THOSE WEIRD COINCIDENCES.

ST: WE DIDN’T COME FROM A BACKGROUND WHERE OUR PARENTS BOUGHT ART OR ANYTHING LIKE THAT, NO BACKGROUND IN COLLECTING. I REMEMBER THAT AFTER WE WENT TO THE COHN EXHIBITION, I LOOKED UP THE BACK OF THE CATALOGUE AND COLD-CALLED HER DEALER, ANNA SCHWARTZ GALLERY.11

PT: WE WENT DOWN IN 2001 TO MEET COHN IN HER STUDIO,12 AND WHILE WE WERE WAITING …

MG: … HER STUDIO IS UNDERNEATH THE GALLERY …

PT: YES, SO WHILE WE WERE WAITING, A STEPHEN BRAM EXHIBITION WAS ON, AND WE BOUGHT OUR FIRST STEPHEN BRAM. IT WAS PROBABLY ONE OF THE FIRST PAINTINGS WE EVER BOUGHT.

MG: I CAN SEE THAT YOUR SENSIBILITY IS RESONATING WITH THE PEOPLE YOU’RE CONNECTING WITH; AND I’M NOTICING YOU’RE SAYING ‘WE’ THROUGHOUT THIS CONVERSATION AND PERHAPS IT’S AN ERROR TO SAY IT’S THE SUSAN TAYLOR COLLECTION?

ST: PETER WEARS SOME THINGS. I GUESS HISTORICALLY I USED TO TAKE THE LEAD ON THE JEWELLERY COLLECTING SIDE, BUT THESE DAYS IT’S DEFINITELY BOTH OF US.

PT: I HAVE LOTS OF RINGS AND BROOCHES.

ST: AND HE BUYS PIECES FOR ME AS GIFTS.

MG: I’M WEARING A SPECIAL RING TODAY. THIS WAS A COMMISSION, I HAD IT MADE FOR A FRIEND OF MINE WHO TURNED FIFTY AND BLANCHE PUT A LITTLE GOLD LINK INTO IT EMBOSSED WITH THE NUMBER 50. ST: THAT’S A COMMISSION THAT MAKES PERFECT SENSE.

MG: WELL, IT’S AN ADD-ON TO A PRODUCTION-LINE ITEM.

ST: WHAT I LOVE IS THAT HER PRODUCTION WORK IS SO PERFECTLY IN KEEPING WITH HER OVERALL PRACTICE AND THAT’S WHY I PULLED OUT THE CONVEYOR PIECES. THEY’RE COMPLETELY AFFORDABLE AND THERE’S NO COMPROMISE WHATSOEVER.

MG: NEITHER IN CONCEPT, NOR MATERIALS, NOR EXECUTION.

ST: EXACTLY!

MG: I’M FASCINATED TO FIND THAT BLANCHE’S WORK INFLUENCED YOUR ART COLLECTING AND THAT BOTH COLLECTIONS HAVE SINCE GROWN IN TANDEM.

ST: YES, THEY HAVE. EACH ENRICHES THE OTHER, THERE’S A REAL NARRATIVE BETWEEN BOTH COLLECTIONS.

PT: YOU JUST NATURALLY KEEP DEVELOPING YOUR IDEAS AND YOUR EYE. THINGS THAT IN THE PAST YOU MIGHT NOT HAVE GOT, YOU JUST START TO GET THEM AND THAT’S HOW THINGS DEVELOP.

ST: AND SOMETIMES THEY PUSH YOU IN NEW DIRECTIONS. FOR INSTANCE, THE FLOW 03 NECKLACE FROM 2016 IS ONE THAT I HAVEN’T GOT, BUT IT’S PROBABLY AN IMPORTANT PROGRESSION AND I PROBABLY NEED TO KEEP THINKING ABOUT IT.

PT: WE STILL LOVE BLANCHE’S AESTHETIC AND HOW SHE PRODUCES SERIAL, INDUSTRIAL-TYPE WORKS. WE’LL ALWAYS HAVE AN INTEREST IN WHAT SHE’S DOING.

MG: CAN WE TALK ABOUT JEWELLERY IN THE CONTEXT OF FASHION? [SUSAN OPERATES DEPARTMENT OF THE EXTERIOR (EST. 2004), AN INDEPENDENT FASHION BOUTIQUE THAT STOCKS INNOVATIVE AUSTRALIAN AND NEW ZEALAND LABELS.]

ST: I GUESS THERE’S A RELATIONSHIP IN THE SENSE THAT IT’S PART OF SIGNIFYING WHAT TRIBE YOU BELONG TO, WHAT KIND OF PERSON YOU ARE AND HOW YOU SEE YOURSELF. CLOTHING DOES THAT, AND JEWELLERY DOES THE SAME THING. SO, I THINK THERE’S A CONNECTION LIKE THAT AND THERE’S ALSO A CONNECTION IN TERMS OF MY OVERALL TASTE FOR WHAT IS STRIPPED BACK, AUSTERE.

PT: THERE’S A NATURAL AFFINITY BETWEEN YOUR TASTE IN CLOTHES AND YOUR TASTE IN JEWELLERY.

ST: THE THING I REALLY LIKE ABOUT BLANCHE’S WORK — AND THIS RELATES TO FASHION — IS THAT IT’S QUITE URBAN. AND QUITE ANDROGYNOUS AS WELL, WHICH ARE TWO THINGS I AM REALLY INTERESTED IN FASHION. I GUESS THESE DAYS THERE ARE PROBABLY MORE JEWELLERS WHO ARE WORKING IN THAT VEIN, BUT IN THE BEGIN-NING THAT WAS ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WAS REALLY STRONGLY SPEAKING TO ME. I MIGHT NOT HAVE KNOWN WHY, I PROBABLY COULDN’T HAVE ARTICULATED IT AT THE TIME, BUT I THINK THAT’S WHAT I REALLY LOVED ABOUT IT.

MG: IT’S FASCINATING, THAT ASPECT OF IT — THE BREAKING DOWN OF CATEGORIES.

ST: ABSOLUTELY. I DON’T THINK OF A SMALL PIECE OF JEWELLERY AS BEING SOMETHING YOU WOULD ONLY WEAR DURING THE DAY. IT REALLY DEPENDS ON WHAT MY MOOD IS ON THE DAY AND THE OVERALL LOOK I WANT AND THEN OFTEN IT’S SERENDIPITOUS. FOR EXAMPLE, THE DRESS I’M WEARING (A KIN DRESS—ONE OF MY FAVOURITE DESIGN STUDIOS) HAS A TUFTY RUFFLE THAT FITS PERFECTLY WITH A LOT OF BLANCHE’S NECKPIECES. I DIDN’T THINK ABOUT IT WHEN I PUT IT ON, BUT THEN I THOUGHT THAT’S REALLY INTERESTING, IT MIRRORS THE CURVE.

PT: I GUESS THE OTHER THING THAT ATTRACTED YOU TO BLANCHE’S EARLY WORK WAS THE BIKE CHAIN.

ST: BECAUSE I USED TO BIKE RACE …

PT: SUSAN WAS A CHAMPION BIKE RACER.

MG: THAT’S PRETTY IMPORTANT!

ST: I ALWAYS FORGET; IT’S ALWAYS TOO OBVIOUS. THE CHAIN ELEMENT WAS PART OF LOVING THAT MECHANICAL NATURE OF WHAT SHE WAS DOING. IT CAME OUT OF HOW I WAS LIVING MY LIFE.

MG: AND IT CAME OUT OF HOW SHE WAS LIVING HER LIFE. AT THE TIME SHE WORKED IN A BIKE SHOP AND SHE SAW ALL THESE AMAZING CHAINS. I THINK ALSO THE BIKE CHAIN HAS BEEN AN ENTRY-POINT FOR PEOPLE WHO MAYBE WOULD NOT HAVE THOUGHT ABOUT JEWELLERY BEFORE, BUT WHO RECOGNISE THAT IT’S A BIKE CHAIN OR A PULLEY OR A BOBBIN …

ST: BECAUSE IT’S AN EVERYDAY OBJECT THAT’S BEEN ELEVATED AND MADE BEAUTIFUL.

 

 

NOTES