[Newsletter] Don’t try this at home

[Adrian Fowle]

We had an unusual presentation on Friday evening by Graham Short. It 
left me with lots of questions!

Let’s start with the medical. Botulinum toxin, often referred to by one 
of its commercial names as Botox, is used for several applications in 
medicine. One of them is indeed to stop excessive eye blinking, for 
which it has to be injected every few months into the muscles of the 
face around the eye. This is quite different from the cosmetic use to 
eradicate crow’s feet and other wrinkles.

I was less happy with the suggestion that Graham lowers his heart rate 
to 20 beats per minute using beta blockers. I have never seen a patient 
with a heart rate that low who could sit up, let alone concentrate on 
fiddly work. Beta blockers last all day, so swimming 10 km (over 6 
miles) every day would be really quite a problem, especially as they 
cause cold hands and feet. He forgot to mention that he broke the 
British and European 1500m freestyle record in 2016 in the 70-74 years 
category.

Graham showed us a photo of all his tools – most of them looked rather 
large and must have been for his work as a commercial engraver. For his 
micro-engraving he described how he anneals an ordinary needle. This 
process alters the crystal structure of metal to make it harder or 
softer depending on the rate of heating and cooling. He did not show us 
his working microscope which might have been interesting, or indeed any 
photos of him at work.

He talked a lot about his finances. He has only made 48 pieces. Not all 
sold – at least not to the original customer. Those that do seem to go 
for £50 – 60 thousand. The gallery takes 60%, his manager 20% and I 
think there was someone else who took 10%. He has to pay £1000 for the 
cabinet to display the work, so he is left with somewhere between £4,000 
and £11,000 per piece. He  has been doing this work commercially since 
2011 at least, but has been trying to create micro works for 40 years. 
It is difficult to work out whether this is a serious money making 
venture or a nice little hobby.

He mentioned a recent collaboration with a microsculptor -  you can read 
about him here https://www.willardwiganmbe.com/

That leaves two questions. Is it art, and why did he come to us? We have 
members of our society who engrave plates to print from them, so 
engraving as an end in itself to produce something beautiful should be 
seen as art. Requiring a microscope to view an art work does not sound 
more bonkers than many things in the contemporary world – and Adam 
Elsheimer’s (1578 – 1610) exhibition at Dulwich Gallery required 
magnifying glasses.

Graham and his wife travelled down from Birmingham for his talk, and 
stayed in a local hotel. He cannot have had much change from what we pay 
speakers! So what’s in it for him? If you break sports records (Faster!, 
Higher!, Stronger!) you generally get an audience and applause. Not much 
of an audience at 3 am in Birmingham’s Jewellers’ Quarter. He is clearly 
a showman. I think we were his audience for his Smaller! record and I 
was pleased to be part of it.

Let me know what you think.

-- 
Adrian Fowle
Chairman, Bromley Art Society


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