Lani McGregor wrote:
In Skutt's defense, they didn't write the "Dog programmer" ad, Spectrum did. And again, Skutt conceived the whole idea of "push a button and slump a dish" in consultation with Gil Reynolds (Gil, want to defend the concept?) and (I think) Spectrum. We (at BE) argued vehemently against it, but they'd already gone so far in their product development (before they asked our opinion) that they didn't want to go back.
I appreciate your private email saying that you finally understand my plea at WGW for not "dumbing down" kilnformed glass. (I'm puzzled as to why you took this part of the dialog into a private email)
You asked: how do we stop it?
Bullseye tries to counteract it by offering high quality classes with honest technical information - not marketing hype. But how does the beginner distinguish the difference? If someone has that answer, I'd love to hear.
Lani
Lani,
I really would like to keep this thread free from taunts and accusations. I don't know what Gil Reynolds' role in the ad copy or the development of the System 96/Skutt preprogrammed kiln was, but it should be sufficient for the community to know that Spectrum is marketing this kiln for the beginner with a simple menu-driven controller that allows the user to select slump, tack-fuse and full fuse and three different firing speeds slow, medium and fast. The title of the ad copy contained a catch phrase
"The GlassMaster Controller (or Now My Dog Can Fire My Kiln....)" http://www.system96.com/temppages/skutt.html It's important to note that this ad copy was produced many months before the kiln started distribution and doesn't include the kiln or controller they are actually distributing.. The current ad copy doesn't contain that phrase and describes the kiln that they are actually distributing.
http://www.system96.com/Pages/HotStartP ... tMain.html
While the goal of creating a kiln controller that simplifies the programming is admirable, it is an unrealistic goal due to the variabilities in glass thickness, color, number of layers, complexity of design, etc (as Barbara mentioned) which all affect the temperatures and times required for the different operations. In the controller's current manifestation, the only way to adjust the temperature is to wait for that part of the firing cycle, and either "add time" or "add temperature". That makes it little better than an infinite switch if you have to hover over the kiln during the various firing cycles. Add a 4-segment, fully programmable option within the same controller, and you improve its usefulness for the beginner as well as the advanced fuser.
Next: I didn't post the comment that I made to you in a "private" email because I wasn't ready to head the thread in that direction, but since you made private into public, I think it's an important area to address.
A little background material about the "dumbing down" comment for those who may be new to the WarmGlass Board... last October there was a forum (discussion) at the WarmGlass conference in Portland where the topic was
The Future of KilnFormed Glass. I did not attend the session, but it created quite a "stir" and was a topic of conversation, in-depth discussion, and minor battles for many weeks. The message that some people (mostly novices) received from the forum was that Bullseye wasn't interested in supporting the hobbiest fuser, but was interested in promoting the elite artist. At some point in the discussion, it was made clear that Bullseye wanted to stem the "dumbing down" of fusing. Taken by themselves and out of context, these two statements led to hurt feelings and confusion among some novice fusers. Again, this was the impression that some people who attended the forum took away with them. To provide the counterpoint, many of the more experienced glass artists in the audience said that they did not get that message at all and was restated a few days later by Lani in a post on the board. Rather than interpreting the message third hand, I will quote Lani:
Lani McGregor wrote:I NEVER meant to offend beginners. I believe passionately that beginners to this medium are owed the best quality introduction, education and support that we - the commercial sector of this community - can offer.
When I said -dumbing down - I was referring specifically to the commercial sector. There is so much more money to be made at the hobby level of any art or craft than at the upper levels. But without the latter, the former has nothing to aspire to and once the craft is learned, less chance to be appreciated by the public, or taken seriously by other arts professionals.
My remarks about the -devaluation- of the medium were aimed not at the beginning user, but at the risk of over-commercialization by those of us in the manufacturing, wholesale and retail arenas.
*We* - not the beginning kilnworker - need to lead the way in re-investing in this movement. We need to take from what we earn in selling materials to support education and the promotion of this artform as a credible method that can hold its own on the highest level.
In my private email to Lani, I said:
It's clear to me now what you were referring to back in October. The preprogrammed kiln offered by Spectrum is the clearest example I've seen to date of the "dumbing down" of kiln forming. I apologize for having doubted you, but you predicted it and now it has come true.
Now that it has happened, how do we stop it?... or at least fix it so it doesn't get worse.
Tony
My concern is for the people who purchase these kilns for many $$$ who will quickly become frustrated because it's not as simple as adding glass and pressing the buttons (no Jim, I'm not trying to save souls). This was the "dumbing down" that I referred to, not the stupid dog comment.
If they changed the marketing so that the kilns were offered as part of a class, it becomes more tolerable, but still less than optimal since the controller is preprogrammed. Set up a hotline so people can get questions answered about why their glass isn't slumping, and it gets even better. But don't sell a kiln like that to a novice (who doesn't know any better) without providing them with the support they need to become successful... and I think that is where this thread is heading.
How do we insure that people who try fusing become successful and not discouraged? It is NOT a simple artform where you can paint between the lines using the paints that match the numbers. How do we maintain a high caliber of teaching without it becoming political and biased by one manufacturer, technique or method? It's clear that individual glass artists have their own preferences in materials... If the goal is to "certify" teachers, then is it unreasonable to think that someone who works in float glass should have access to the same teacher training classes as someone who works with Bullseye glass? Or that someone who uses many types of glass: Bullseye, Uroboros, Spectrum, Kugler, Fremont, float and others should be excluded because she isn't exclusively a BE customer?
I haven't seen any company with a greater investment in education and process development than Bullseye... but is being altruistic part of your charter? Is providing teacher education to glass artists regardless of their medium-of-choice important for the greater good?
Sorry, just more questions...
Tony