Is Australasia in danger of losing its number 8 wire psyche?
Hollywood discovered number 8 wire technology in Australasia around the 1980s. It was the heyday of the cheaper creative solutions to many of the big American studios’ issues, which at that time suffered from an expensive art department, both for film and commercial work at home in the US. So Australia and New Zealand became an important part of the off shore growth of the Hollywood industry.
This melting pot of creative grass roots talent in both countries, helped launch the industry in Australasia, which in turn helped some of our leading film personalities of the modern film age, into stardom on the world stage. This was the time when film props and models were all hands on; fantastic talents came to the fore. I worked with men and women who worked in mediums from cardboard to carbon steel and everything in between. A diverse group of artists and artisans from many areas, working on the same projects together, sharing their talents and teaching each other along the way. It was a real community in that time, where many new people got the chance to be involved in something they had incredible passion for, and which enabled them to grow personally in a creative sense.
Today I see the same issues Hollywood had in that time, being repeated in our backyard; fostered by our dramatic technological advancement and modern thought processes. People can still produce great outcomes in older technologies, by giving out of the vast experience gained in the previous era. The old technologies aren’t really out of date as much as they are just out of favour; often they are much better value for money, especially for smaller museums or organisations.
It is easy to be mesmerised by expensive technical presentations, or perhaps it is the format in which the new decision makers grew up, or their education was styled in, but none of these reasons justify the wholesale dismissal of the earlier skill sets, or the loss of opportunities to the smaller users that will go with them. To choose the best option for a particular display a working knowledge of the earlier skills is actually essential, or how can the decision makers come to a balanced well founded decision for the benefit of the organisation.
It is a good idea to look back from time to time and see how the skills of a bygone era can be viably used in your field today. The creators from this older era, including myself, have some amazing material knowledge and skills, learned on many projects over the years, contrary to popular belief you cannot just watch it on u tube and then be automatically proficient in the viewed process. The learning curve can be sharp and expensive.
Baby Boomers love using their hands to create beautiful and varied items, suitable for many display genres and also suitable for various display budgets, from the smallest to the largest, as our overheads are generally lower - mine are as my studio space is rural.
We all have a part to play out there in the display realm, even if it’s only to rebuild that social connectivity in the creative community, that we are in mortal danger of losing with the number 8 wire psyche.