Liesbeth den Besten

Liesbeth den Besten

Contemporary and Art Jewellery

As previously mentioned in my blog post about Bruce Metcalf, I have been exploring the question, ‘what is contemporary jewellery?’ and to answer this question, I look at other perspectives regarding this question. Liesbeth den Besten’s paper, On Jewellery, gives her definition on various types of jewellery, including contemporary and art jewellery. Her answer to this question leaves one with an even bigger can of worms. “Contemporary jewellery indicates that it is made in the now and that it is ‘of our time’ whereas it actually covers a period of time that spans at least forty-five years’

Liesbeth goes on explaining the definition of the phrase ‘art jewellery’ where some argue that jewellery should be considered a fine art as opposed to an applied art. Some say that jewellery cannot be considered art because an art piece is made to have no practical function other than its artistic expression. Yes, jewellery can be used as a medium to express an artistic concept, but in the world of art, the subject of jewellery has its limitations, jewellery has a vast number of functions and it cannot exist outside the realm of the human body. A jewel is made to be worn on the body or has the potential to be worn, giving it a function.