Pygmalion 1: Provocations in Contemporary Carving: Provocations in Contemporary Carving

Pygmalion 1 is an attempt to start something essential to the future of carving. It is an attempt to start a real and meaningful debate as to the nature, purpose and future of carving in the twenty-first century. This is a time when we see not only the continuation of a long-term decline in demand for hand carving skills, but the increased replacement, including by some heritage bodies, of those skills by laser-guided cutting machines and even 3D printers. Carving in art education has been under threat for a very long time, but it is now almost non-existent outside of a very small number of highly specialist institutions.

Despite this, Pygmalion 1 does not start from the standpoint that hand carving is doomed. But it does intend to provoke the carving community to acknowledge there are potentially serious problems we must face and that we have put off the difficult act of facing them for far too long.

Intentionally challenging and provocative, we do not claim to have any answers, but we do claim the right to ask questions - what we call our provocations. Through them our aim is to provoke debate. Whether you want to join in that debate is up to you.