The History Channel sought out thoroughly modern metalsmiths at SIUC last spring to re-create methods common to smithies before the Industrial Revolution.

"It's not every day that you can say you really saw sparks fly at work," said Matthew Hickey, the television producer who guided the filming for an episode of the cable channel's popular program "Modern Marvels."

"There were sparks everywhere, fires flaring and lots of hammering. That kind of visual excitement makes for very interesting material to work with when you're putting a show together," said Hickey, who flew in from the Los Angeles office of Actuality Productions for the two-day shoot last May.

Actuality Productions created the TV series and produces the vast majority of documentaries aired under the "Modern Marvels" banner. According to promotional materials, the program delves into the ingenuity, inventions, and creations that show us "where we've been, how we got there and where we are going."

Concrete, silver mines, and casino technology have all taken center stage in earlier shows.

This time, Hickey asked artists at SIUC to re-create authentic, early metalworking techniques that followed the Stone Age and significantly advanced our ability to make weapons, tools, and serving ware. From that foundation, the program goes on to trace the evolution of other metals used today, such as aluminum, "futuristic" alloys such as Liquidmetal (twice the strength of titanium), and shape-memory metals.

The setup at SIUC--which boasts the only full-scale metalsmithing/blacksmithing program at any U.S. college or university--turned out to be picture-perfect, Hickey said.

Faculty members and graduate students in the School of Art and Design fired their forges to 3,000 degrees and simulated metalsmithing methods used from 7000 B.C. through the 1700s.

"We're the historical background in the show, so we did metalsmithing the way it's been practiced since its discovery," says art professor Richard Mawdsley, senior faculty member in the metals program.

Mawdsley's own intricate jewelry and other works in precious metals, which were featured in the Spring 1994 issue of Perspectives, are held by the Smithsonian Institution and other museums and are exhibited around the world.

Besides Mawdsley, participants in the filming included assistant professor Rick Smith and eight students in the metals program. An Iron Age axe, a stunning raised-copper vessel, and purified iron suitable for spear tips, swords, and knives were among the works they created for the cameras.

"We pride ourselves on the diversity of our [metals] program," Mawdsley said. "Our facilities allow us to work on everything from fine jewelry to functional pieces and all the way to monumental sculptures."

--by Paula Davenport, Media & Communication Resources

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