A Closer Look at Weather Barometer

Weather Barometer, 2012.
Neon and Vinyl.

Jasmine Targett

The IUCN Red List of endangered species uses the chart depicted in Weather Barometer to categorise the rate of a species’ decline from Least Concern to Extinct. It can be suggested that by these classifications Craft is a Critically Endangered form of arts practice in Victoria. This is the highest risk category and indicates a species’ numbers will decrease by 80% within three generations.

The closure of craft based studios from Higher Educational Intuitions across Victoria will mean that the next generation of artists working in Melbourne will no longer have the resources to learn the technical skills necessary to practice craft professionally, dramatically altering the diverse landscape of Australian visual art.

Weather Barometer charts the current state of Craft as CR, perhaps ironically CR is also the abbreviation for Craft used by state and national funding bodies. The flickering light of EW explores the sense of urgency around the future of craft. Traditionally weather barometers have been used to alert the public to extreme weather conditions or in fundraising, to chart the level of funds raised. This conceptually links the instability of the current financial to the closure of Victoria’s Craft Studios.

CR – Critically Endangered
EW – Extinct in the Wild