As part of the The European Glass Context 2016 exhibition, a biennial showcase of European glass and ceramics, The Royal Danish Academy, School of Design Bornholm has selected American artist Aric Snee for a six-week artist residency at The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts program in glass at KADK Bornholm. As social media opens a window of opportunity for artists and designers to crowd-source funding, Snee is taking a novel approach, eschewing sites like Kickstarter and Indiegogo, instead reaching out to his followers on Instagram to auction a selection of his latest work “Orbit Vases.” Snee, who has extensive glass-factory experience dating from his tenure at Simon Pearce and Steuben Glass Works, transitioned into academia with an MFA from Alfred University in 2012, putting an emphasis on sculpture/dimensional studies. During his upcoming residency in Denmark, Snee plans to plot new designs to produce himself. At the same time, he wants to develop designs to be manufactured by a third party. Ultimately, he wants to continue investigating how a prototype is essentially the "embodiment of idea," dependent of the context where the work is seen. In other words, if context changes, the meaning of the work changes. Snee, currently a gaffer for The Corning Museum of Glass and a product designer for the Danish glassware brand Holmegaard, recently answered questions from the GLASS Quarterly Hot Sheet about his fundraising effort via an email exchange.
GLASS Quarterly Hot Sheet: Where did you get the idea of using instagram to raise money?
Aric Snee: I'm auctioning off my most recent design work, and also using this venue to gauge which new designs may be the most marketable. For me, that's extremely valuable information; I'm able to make design prototypes and get instant feedback via social media channels before I invest in producing inventory. While I know that instagram auctions have been happening for quite a while, I'm not sure if anyone else is using it to fund specific opportunities or as an alternative to traditional crowdfunding. The pipe-making community has been using instagram as a major commercial outlet for years. I've been interested in how this works and in seeing if it can work for other areas of design. I've also been thinking about other ways of generating income for a specific opportunity such as the residency in Denmark that are different from the now traditional crowdsourcing formats like Kickstarter.com.
GLASS Quarterly Hot Sheet: What are the advantages of doing a fundraiser on Social Media versus a crowdsourcing site like Kickstarter?
Aric: I think that this is more straightforward. Fundraising sites like kickstarter are great but that they are better suited to developing very specific projects or products, and using the money for a very clearly defined goal; publishing a book or bringing a product to market. I also don't like the idea of asking for "donations" and offering a "reward" structure, as they do in kickstarter, when it is me who was given this amazing opportunity to begin with.
GLASS Quarterly Hot Sheet: How are you planning on using the funds raised by the auction?
Aric: I'll use any funds raised from the Instagram auction leading up to the residency to purchase materials, namely color for the hot shop, and for living expenses while I am there. The residency begins September 1st and runs until October 15th, 2016, and is at the Royal Danish Academy, School of Design Bornholm.