Different Tastes
After a long day of going to exhibitions, talks and looking at art, the choice is simple, walk into a bar and order a sake tasting to wash down a wonderful hectic day.
Different tastes is an opportunity for festival goers to experience the joy of sake out of handmade cups. There will be a unique set of sake cups made using traditional silvermsithing techniques and contemporary technologies. Each cup will be thoroughly tested for balance, ease of use and clarity of the sake.
As in the Japanese tradition where it is important to have specific vessels for particular drinks, these handmade cups will be matched to their sake. Up to five customers at a time will be able to enjoy this experience of tasting a selection of 3 curated sakes.
I hope you will drop in for a taste.
Different tastes is an opportunity for festival goers to experience the joy of sake out of handmade cups. There will be a unique set of sake cups made using traditional silvermsithing techniques and contemporary technologies. Each cup will be thoroughly tested for balance, ease of use and clarity of the sake.
As in the Japanese tradition where it is important to have specific vessels for particular drinks, these handmade cups will be matched to their sake. Up to five customers at a time will be able to enjoy this experience of tasting a selection of 3 curated sakes.
I hope you will drop in for a taste.
a. -b. Sam Mertens, Different Tastes, 2017, wood, metal. Dimensions variable. Photo: Sam Mertens
About the Artist
Sam Mertens is a silversmith working in Melbourne. After receiving a Silver Society Hollowware grant, he graduated with Honours in Gold and Silversmithing from ANU School of Art, Australian National University, Canberra, 2007. Mertens currently works at RMIT University as technician in Gold and Silversmithing. Since 2006, he has participated in ten group exhibitions, including the Itami International Craft exhibition Shuki-Shuhaidai Sakeware, Japan, 2014 and 2016. His most recent exhibition (with Liv Boyle) was Undertone in Melbourne, 2016. Mertens explores notions of function and dysfunction in silversmithing, testing the limits and potentials of how we may use everyday domestic objects.
Sam Mertens is a silversmith working in Melbourne. After receiving a Silver Society Hollowware grant, he graduated with Honours in Gold and Silversmithing from ANU School of Art, Australian National University, Canberra, 2007. Mertens currently works at RMIT University as technician in Gold and Silversmithing. Since 2006, he has participated in ten group exhibitions, including the Itami International Craft exhibition Shuki-Shuhaidai Sakeware, Japan, 2014 and 2016. His most recent exhibition (with Liv Boyle) was Undertone in Melbourne, 2016. Mertens explores notions of function and dysfunction in silversmithing, testing the limits and potentials of how we may use everyday domestic objects.