Our call went out in late November, 2007, asking artists to explore an uncomfortable paradox. We know by now that we have to reconsider how we use the world's resources. And although we may want to make changes in the way we live, our good intentions and "talk" are often undermined by bad habits.

We wondered what would happen if we called upon "sanctimonious sinners" (like ourselves) to repent and to reform? With the idea of an online exhibition, and its premiere showing in Savannah, Georgia, we imagined a garden of good and evil nourished by a compost pile of temptation, convenience, guilt, hope and inspiration.

We asked artists "to consider what would happen if we tossed our smug habits into a heap? What would happen if we composted our shameless sins, our saintly intentions and our fertile imaginations and pledged to use the resulting fecund glory to redesign and nurture the world?" We suggested using any of the following words as guides; reflect, reform, reconsider, resolve, relate, revise, rework, renew, repair, repurpose, reconnect, review, regret, renounce, reproach, react, rethink, reuse, reduce and recycle.

The call was posted on a number of websites and list serves, sent to metal arts guilds and schools and printed in various newsletters. We were surprised and pleased with the response. After looking at the all the work, we decided we could not  "judge" reconsiderations of bad habits. All the work submitted was evidence of thought, skill and transformation. The resulting exhibition operates as a subtly subversive and engaging visual essay about choosing change; it is insightful, humorous, startling, ironic, challenging, beautiful, puzzling, erotic, traditional, thoughtful, accomplished and "other." We thank all the artists who contributed their work and ideas to this project and for their support of Ethical Metalsmiths.

A reception and two preview "screenings" took place March 7, 2008 in Savannah, Georgia during the Society of North American GoldsmithsÕ conference. The cool and rainy evening resulted in two venues, both the promised big, bright digital billboard in front of Montgomery Hall, and on a large screen in one of Savannah College of Art and Design's classrooms in the building.

Ethical Metalsmiths was formed for the purpose of stimulating demand for responsibly sourced materials as an investment in the future, and stands for social responsibility, a healthy environment and materials that are consistent with these values.

Jennifer Horning

Susan Kingsley

Christina Miller

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