Thursday 7 March 2019

The Nature of Jewellery and Jewellery of Nature

Below is a snippet of Bruce Metcalf's aricle 'The Nature of Jewellery' that appeals to my work.


"The sensuousness of jewelry brings up another constant that seems to permeate the history of the field. I believe jewelry is generally visual and ornamental, rather than conceptual. Let me show you two works done within five years of each other. The first is a piece of body- jewelry by Arline Fisch from 1969. It is very much a decoration placed on the body, the detail and structure of which was intended to create a rich and rewarding visual experience. As the model moved, the piece moved as well, making a second contour that echoed the human form. It probably made a subtle noise, too. It is first and foremost an object, and the experience of it is primarily sensuous."

In the above snippet, Bruce Metcalf states his opinion that jewellery is "generally visual and ornamental, rather than Conceptual" my opinion of this concurs with the above statement. Jewellery is primarily visually stimulating but what makes a jewellery piece exceptional is if it teases any of the four other senses. this can be done through non mechanical movement. Movement will stimulate the visual sense intensly and will also bring about a tactile element, creating the urge to touch and feel the piece. I have noticed the power that movement can bring to a piece, the floral movement prototypes that I have created in the past had some sort of magic to them that encouraged people to engage with them using three of the five senses

I feel that experiencing a sensual stimulating piece is much more effective and rewarding than experiencing something that is conceptual. The five senses were created to help humans observe their environment more effectively. When a sense is provoked, immidiately a trigger in the body occurs, almost like a subconcious reaction or instinct and this experience can either be positive or negative. Think about when you accidentaly touch something hot, your body immidiately reacts to the situation without even thinking about it, or when someone plays with your hair, your body immediately reacts with goosebumps in pleasure. 




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