broesvitrine

Finding Home

2011-11-25T10:51:00.005+01:00

Oh, I am smiling right now :). Have a look, you will smile too!

I even watched the product-line up at the end. LOVE!

This video came from MUUTO.

Hitte

2011-11-09T23:39:00.006+01:00

When I wrote about ceramic beauty I sort of promised to follow up on the process-photographs of work by Hilde De Decker. Last Sunday was the opening of the group exhibition ‘Hitte’ (Heat in Dutch). Intrigued by the pictures I posted on the blog, I went to have a look. When I walked in, I got a warm and homely feeling, nothing like the regular exhibition space. The- very kitcheny- cupboards, displaying the work, contained lifelike, ceramic, food items. One cupboard was filled with stacks of ceramic waffles (yes, obviously from Belgium :) that looked like they had stayed in the waffle-iron for to long and got scorched black. The next one showed a full string of garlic in the shape of a neckpiece, made out of very thin ceramic, and some ceramic cake tins, dripping with rich, vanilla colored, glaze. These pieces were alternated by saddle-shaped shields; built out of thin layers of clay. To me, they embodied the human presence in this domestic setting, almost as if aprons had been taken off and left there. One of the shields even had straps with a buckle attached to it,suggesting wearability. The fact that Hilde De Decker is a jewelry artist shows through, even when she uses ceramic sculptures as a medium. In her works, the suggestion of the human body plays an important role, although not necessarily as a wearer. I was really drawn to all of the objects, because of their homey suggestion, but after a while they started to push me away. The delicious waffles: completely burnt! The cake tins, even with glaze on, were only molds and not actual cakes. The huge string of garlic looked too fragile to touch, and would smell enormously if real, not to mention the symbolism of garlic. The shields became defensive instead of protective. Like most things in life, these works surely had two sides to them!

The exhibition is also worth a visit for the quirky shape of the building, which had been restored and made into exhibition-space by Frank Steyaert. And for the works by the other participating artists of course, such as the wonderful sculptures by AnneMarie Laureys with amazing texture and color inside and out. And the work ‘Fever’ by Hanneke van Hage out of Persian tapestry and porcelain shoes, laid out in a certain pattern.
This exhibition runs until December 4th, at gallery and private museum Frank Steyaert, Tinnenpotstraat 16, Gent, Belgium.

Happy Halloween!

2011-10-30T20:36:00.004+01:00

Everybody at our house is getting really excited for Halloween tomorrow.

We have been decorating and fantasizing all day!
There´s lots of inspiration to be found online, so here is a little summary for you...

Food is a great way to celebrate Halloween, so get your house filled with the scent of this delicious pumpkin bread and maple butter. Or have your party eat bats! (for the people that understand Dutch only, sorry)

Of course drinks cannot stay behind, here is a fun way to get those in style.

Our boys love to craft and there is loads to choose from at this wonderful boys-blog. Or even a simple coloring page can really help with the decorating.

Let´s not forget about the costume, this one is super easy and will scare for sure!

And since Halloween is also about goodies, here you can enter to win some. They will make you look BOOtiful…

Happy Halloween!!

Klimt02 Gallery newsletter #35

2011-10-22T09:01:00.005+02:00

Last night I found a wonderful thing in my email! This great picture is what I saw first when I opened Klimt02 Gallery newsletter #35. The rough brick wall had me intrigued, and I wondered about the lamp. When scrolling down I found a perfect outline of the United Kingdom, made from plaster left on the wall. WOW! A red-ish dot and a 'g' marked the spot where the event would take place. This U.K. has a g-spot; and a sniggering smile appeared across my face.

The g stands for gallery of course. Gallery S O in London is hosting the touring exhibition ‘Collect rocks, plant flag’ curated by Klimt02 (Leo Caballero and Amador Bertomeu) with the support of Benjamin Lignel. It takes place from November 4th until November 27th and shows work by David Bielander, Alexander Blank, Gemma Draper, Manon van Kouswijk, Benjamin Lignel, Sari Liimatta and Marc Monzó, a promising combination.
I am still smiling over the great picture though, and wondering about the lamp…

Happy World Animal-day!

2011-10-03T23:48:00.001+02:00

Today, on October 4th, we celebrate animal-rights! As an animal lover, I know our pets are getting spoiled today…
These lovely animals are our sweeties; they each have their fun quirks.

Hally: this love-cat comes in every morning for a big hug, and a bite to eat, after which she tries to sneak off to sleep on our bed (still warm). May be around during the day, but always shows up in the evening for more cuddling. Needs to be out at night to catch bugs and allsorts. The cat acts as a lucky charm.

Koninja: our cute bunny loves to cuddle, hear his name, and be near to us. Given a chance, he hops off into the shrubbery to roam free for as long as it lasts… The rabbit is a symbol of love and fertility, guards fortune.

‘The black one’: is always happily waiting for any left-over food to be gobbled up quickly, produces a small but delicious egg on a daily base, companion of ‘The brown one’. The chicken is a symbol of motherhood and security.

Fishies: These two seem to be super hungry all the time! They love to look at us doing our thing. They have taken turns in near death experiences, but have pulled trough fortunately! Goldfish stand for perseverance and successful living (as they have proven already).

The salamanders: our unexpected pets! After they were discovered in spring, they have been a source of fun for the boys. Specially when they started to have babies, their gills are so beautiful! The salamander stands for purification and renewal.

Mouse: another unintentional pet for only a short time, brought to us by our cat Hally. A good example of the enormous array of animals wandering in our garden. The mouse is a symbol of innocence and faith, eye for detail.

As a special World Animal day treat, you will get a 5 Euro discount on every broesvi-animal-jewel ordered through the broesvi website today!

Apple mania

2011-09-28T22:54:00.005+02:00

At our house we have had grape mania for the past few weeks. Our one grapevine seemed to really explode with large blueberry sized, delicious, grapes! (edible grapes, homegrown in Belgium, it’s a rarity) Us grape-lovers, ate such a lot of them, we went into overkill… This weekend, we happily received an enormous mountain of homegrown apples, but I am not willing to let us get apple-overkill. Opposed to grapes-recipes, I know lots of apple-recipes, as apples are very common (but lots of love left here, though). When considering which ones to use for this autumns’ apple mountain, Mrs. Ans’ apple raisin muffins stood out big time. Apart from the fact that these muffins are so incredibly soft and delicious, they are also healthy (no butter!), quick and easy to put together, using unpeeled apples. The recipe makes a huge quantity, so loads to go round, whilst left over ones can be frozen. Mrs. An was a warm and loving person, and a great chef. We had many memorable dinners at her house, or An’s café as she liked to call it. The apple raisin muffin recipe comes from her ‘International Cookbook’, put together before she passed away, by her, and her English as a Second Language- students. Needless to say I am extremely happy that I have been given a copy, a real treasure!

APPLE RAISIN MUFFINS –about 30 (OR 2 BREADS)

Ingredients:
3 cups apples (unpeeled, chopped) –approx. 3 medium apples
3 cups flour
2 ½ cups sugar
1 ¼ oil –sunflower
4 eggs (beaten)
1 tbsp + 1tsp vanilla extract
2 tsp cinnamon
1 ½ tsp salt
1 ½ tsp baking soda
1 tsp ground cloves
½ tsp baking powder
2/3 cup raisins –or cranberries
2/3 cup walnuts –or flaked almonds
Directions:
• Put all the ingredients into a large mixing bowl.
• Beat all ingredients on low for a minute. Then, beat on medium for another minute.
• Pour into muffin baking mold lined with muffin paper cups or 2 bread pans that have been greased on the bottom only.
• Bake at 325°F (170°C) for about 20 minutes (muffins) or, 1 hour and 10 minutes (breads) or longer, check with toothpick.
• Cool in the pan for 10 minutes before taking out. Finish cooling on rack.
• Enjoy!!

PS I did try to replace the apple in this muffin recipe with our own grapes (whole as they were not very big), it just was not anywhere near as good. But in case you get as desperate as I was, increase the cooking time to about 25 min. until a skewer comes out clean.

Ceramic beauty

2011-09-14T23:17:00.017+02:00

I promised you beauty on this blog, and here it is in the shape of ceramics and glass!

photos by mark eden schooley through Trend Tablet
A talented craftsman or artisan has blown these glass bottles on special request by Nelson Sepulveda. As they did not speak the same language, the shape of the bottles is based on the shape of pieces of fruit. I love the thickness of the glass, enclosing air bubbles and giving them their lovely color. Nelson Sepulveda explains how he wishes to bring the beauty of these artisan products in our lives in this video by Trend Tablet.

The gorgeous blue/grey color of the glaze on these bowls is what you might get if that glass color is translated into ceramic. I love the combination with the green and off-white, as if it was always meant to be like that, totally natural. Designed and hand-made by Julie Bonde Bülck.

I wonder what the finished pieces made from this work will look like… Nature captured in ceramic, I’m totally intrigued by the process-photographs. And confident it will be something good, because it is work by Hilde De Decker (sounds like I should follow up on it, right☺? Photographs by AnneMarie Laureys.

And from real nature into designed nature, the vase ‘Ashiato’ (footprints in English) where the animal walks on a seed, pushing it into the ground , so a flower can bloom after the animal walks away. A beautiful example of ecological footprint to me!
Trough Barefoot Dynasty

Bearina IUD

2011-09-07T11:28:00.003+02:00

This design freaked me out when it crossed my path. It is an intra uterine device-concept by Ronen Kadushin. The image of his real “Bearina’ IUD is what is shown first. It is an open design, available for downloading. It is even possible to order the real thing for 1,25€! It made me question the functionality of the design straightaway. For an IUD it is huge! Imagine pushing a 1 cent coin through a hole, with the diameter similar to the diameter of a matchstick? This is why IUD’s are T-shaped and fold out once inserted. And how about the sterilization of the coin? It is common sense that coins are amongst the dirtiest things to touch. I concluded that the designer must have crossed over the fine line of art with this product.
Ronen Kadushin wants to act against pharmaceutical companies charging exuberant amounts of money, for things that are low-cost in production. He states: ”The Bearina IUD is a political product. It demonstrates the disruptive potential of 3D printed Open Designs to give free and global access to essential products, and circumvent industries (such as the Pharma industry) that aggressively defend their intellectual property to control the price and availability of their products.”
Furtheron he seems serious about the production of the IUD, (“in partnership with a forward-looking pharma company”) once improved and experimented on. For now, the purpose of the ‘Bearina’ -design is to be visually friendly, in order to appeal to younger women. -I am wondering what age these younger women are supposed to be?- And should absolutely not be used as an IUD or for any internal use. With a very clear disclaimer following. Hm, maybe more of a social-project then an art-project, but certainly not a new kind of real IUD -design. I’m so relieved! There’s definitely some love in this....

Found through DEZEEN, with an interesting array of comments on their article.

Summer love- part two

2011-08-23T10:02:00.003+02:00

I feel extremely lucky. We have been on a wonderful trip with the right mix of adventure, sun, relaxing, friendship, action and plenty of paradise. And back home, there is quite a lot of greatness to catch up on, total summer bliss on the double!

Summer love

2011-07-27T11:03:00.006+02:00

Although the weather has not been very summer-like in the northern part of Europe, we have still managed to sneek in some of our beautiful seasonal traditions. We love picking the fruit and vegetables growning at my parents place, and eating them! Of course the boys went hunting for bugs and took a shower in the wild at those precious sunny moments, total summer bliss!

Supabold: Fluidvase

2011-07-23T15:55:00.005+02:00

Some actions can easily be associated with an object. Like pouring water into a vase. This action is shaped into a real object by Supabold. The best part is you get to decide which part of the pouring action you love most! On their website you can set your own parameters, all you have to do is choose. This is what I would pour:

Or shall I do this?:

Pocket Change

2011-07-16T12:50:00.005+02:00

Another proud moment for me; broesvitrine was featured in the lifestyle blog Pocket Change:Be in Style in their weekly review of the most unique, informative and intriguing sites on the web called Best of the Web!! Yeah!

Mom Story

2011-07-11T23:50:00.008+02:00

A long time love of mine is Bloesem, an interior design blog by a wonderful Dutch lady, Irene.

A few years ago she also started Bloesem kids, a great resource for anything related to kids, focusing on beauty of course! One of the features of the blog I like to read is Mom Story, where moms or dads get to share their take on life with kids. And * drumroll * today it was my turn! It is so much fun to see us online, what do you think?

plint tapestry

2011-07-08T22:10:00.002+02:00

Nobody likes waiting. You may want human interaction, or something to do.This beauty makes it all better.

Plint Typestry from MotionTales on Vimeo.

PLINT typestry is a wall carpet by Sinja Bloeme. It is her graduation project and she graduated cum laude, rightfully so.
Found through April and May.

Change

2011-07-06T12:27:00.014+02:00

Okay, it is time for a change. I love jewelry and I love to blog, but there is more! I love art, design, food, nature, cities, civilization, technology, imperfection and simple things, although not necessarily in that order. I love people big and small, accidental encounters, profound conversations and even the occasional gossip. I love the internet and reality. I find wonderful things everywhere in my life and would love to share it with you through this blog. There will still be plenty of jewelry, that won’t change. There will just be more to be excited about, a broader perspective. It is still my broesvitrine blog, but all about beauty that lies in the eyes of the beholder.

A little taste of the magic:

SHOWY SEAL Simple ribbons magically shaped into animals by Ribbonesia, also in the form of brooches at gallery Deux Poissons

Make sure you watch the stunning video of this recipe by tiger in a jar.

Our son Raffie also made the delicious cake, with help from our electrical appliances while I was looking over his shoulder, Sunday-morning love!

Anything by Rhett dashwood , especially heavy backpack

Our own pond full of salamander surprise, we love to watch our miniature dinosaurs.

Beautiful (name) stamps by Muswerk.

Untitled ring

2011-03-02T23:16:00.004+01:00

I visited a solo exhibition by an established jewelry-artist, who has been working in the field for over 50 years, showing 70 rings from the last decade. Although the artist insists they are all untitled, some rings have a story or characteristic to name them by. That name may refer to their shape (the Padua-ring has the shape of a building in Padua, the Aquarius-ring is partly blue and has the shape of a fin), or their material (the Edinburgh-ring is made from a very special stone bought from a museum in Edinburgh!), and they are all made with an obvious dedication to perfection. But what is most striking about the rings: they all show a great playfulness and joy of working! All 70 of them! This made me excited to be there, and it also made it very hard to choose one to show you.

This ring was a favorite from the start. It is made from red corian (a hard to get color) making it stand out. The upright-rectangular shape fits with the other 70 rings. It has been cut around the edges to give it a sculptural feel. It has different size holes in it showing off the playfulness. One of the holes is used to perfectly combine the two pieces of the ring. This allows the wearer to fully extend the playfulness it already expresses! What more could you possibly want? (I know what I want and my birthday is coming up…)

The exhibition ‘Fritz Maierhofer (yes, that is the established jewelry-artist): 70 rings’ at Caroline Van Hoek Gallery runs until the 24th of April in Brussels, Belgium.

Both Fritz Maierhofer and Caroline Van Hoek Gallery are members of Klimt02.

…to pull a rabbit out of a hat… 2011

2011-02-19T21:48:00.007+01:00

The rabbits depicted in this neckpiece look so peaceful, that I almost want to pet them. The things that are stopping me are the surrounding flowers, with their bright red enamel centers and square-edged leaves. They seem to protect the rabbits. The animals look like they might be wild, situated in a field, but the title ‘…to pull a rabbit out of a hat…’ gives away their captivity. They have come out of the hat and are now free to roam. One bunny is on the look out, turning its’ ears, while the other rabbit is relaxing- such a cozy sight!

Lately I have learned that rabbits like to be petted a lot (my son was very determent to have one for his birthday) and rabbits seem to follow me ever since. But probably not as much as German artist Tabea Reulecke, the majority of her work revolves around rabbits. It is amazing how much expression she puts in her bunnies! Her pieces come in various forms, often including beautiful enamel drawings like this one.

To celebrate the year of the rabbit, Tabea Reulecke has a solo exhibition at ATTA Gallery, in Bankok, Thailand from Februari 19th (tonight!) until March 15th 2011.

The exhibition is also displayed on Klimt02.

Our own sweet little bunny :):

The last post of 2010.

2010-12-23T22:14:00.036+01:00

It has been really quiet on this blog, because it has been very busy for me. To let you know what has caught my eye lately, here are, in random order, some images and a few words for this last post of 2010.

David Huycke has crowned his research on ‘The Metamorphic Ornament: Re-Thinking Granulation‘ with a PHD. Congratulations, very well done!

Wouldn’t it be great to try on the work of Benjamin Lignel? It was possible at his exhibition ‘Essayage/ fitting room’ in Luxemburg. I found out about this via the Klimt02 website.

A call for submissions for a new book entitled ‘Humor in Craft’ put together by Brigitte Martin, creator and Chief Editor of crafthaus. Deadline: March 1st 2011.

The wonderful ‘Opale Fatale’- collection by Joke Quick, fatal to me!

The LICHTEST exhibition, a special mix of Belgian and Estonian jewelry, curated by Aline Vandeplas. You can still go and see for yourself, it is on until December 30th 2010 in Bruges, Belgium!

Transgression, a brooch by Angela Tölken one of many at her exhibition in the Stellenbosch University Art Gallery, in Stellenbosch, South Africa.

Silke&thegallery has celebrated it’s 5th birthday with a happening: Every artist that once exhibited, showed work that had already been in the gallery, AND a recent piece!

At Confrontations 17-11-2010 organized by St. Lucas Antwerp Jewelry department I met the three busy ladies that form ‘Kasboek collectief’. They are a jewelry, graphic and fine artist and to do projects together, inspiring.

And last but not least, Friday the 24th of December is the last day of broesvi FOR LIFE! Order a children’s jewel at broesvi.com and all profit will help orphans in southern Africa built a better life. It makes children from everywhere happy!

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Materiamorfosi: shopping bags

2010-08-18T10:53:00.004+02:00

It has been summer holiday, a time to travel, go sightseeing, and RELAX. We went on a familytrip to Italy, and started in Rome. The boys really wanted to see the ancient Colosseum in the south (it spoke to their imagination) but were also happy to visit the contemporary Maxxi-museum in the north (they thought the banister was designed as a marble-track ☺). In between I wanted to make a stop, not to go shopping, but to visit the Alternatives Gallery! In the old centre, the small gallery is almost hidden in one of the tiny streets. Inside, there is a great collection of wonderful works though! I did not know where to look first…

Alternatives has artist from all over the world, but also some that are very close to home, like Margherita Marchioni. Her neckpiece ‘Materiamorfosi:shopping bags’ stood out to me. It attracted my attention because of its’ colorfulness, which felt refreshing after the ancient buildings we visited. I wondered if the neckpiece was made out of sweets, and was surprised to find it was made from shopping bags! In all her work, Margherita Marchioni recycles everyday objects, without actually changing the material. The shopping bags have been cut into strips, rolled and bundled together with differently colored ones to start a new life. It is still basically the same thin plastic, once used to carry shopping with, only worn in a wonderful altered way. For me, it was great to see some ‘local’ work, and what makes it even better, is that its’ made out of local products! I always cherish the shopping bags brought back from a trip as a kind of souvenir…. (for a while)

Aesthetic Nutrition

2010-07-15T22:25:00.006+02:00

How does nutrition, on a socio-economic level and in its’ most basic form, relate to the aesthetic values of today’s society? This question can only come from Ana Cardim, who has a passion to make interactive, sociable jewelry-art. This takes shape in her recent project “Aesthetic Nutrition”.

The project consists of a video, projected on a wall, three heaps of rice, chopsticks and three bowls containing one, two and three hand-made rice grains. Each grain is made from pure gold, weighs half a gram, and has the economic value of about 15 kilos of eatable dry rice. (How many grains would that be?) In total, the project exists of three grams of gold, enough for a beautiful gold ring, and 90 kilo’s of rice, which can provide a meal for 1800 people! In the video you’ll see a girl trying to eat it all… Everyone that visited ‘Aesthetic Nutrition’ was given a cup filled with delicious rice-pudding.

With her project ‘Aesthetic Nutrition’, Ana Cardim seeks attention for the idea of the difference in quantity, and levels of value, between the esthetic value of gold and the value given to the basic human need for food.
I am glad this project touches the subject of discrepancy in value and quantity from an aesthetic point of view. The rice-colored, ceramic bowls that contain the golden grains, are shaped like up-side-down rice heaps and make a good visual contrast with the actual heaps of rice. The chopsticks both separate and connect the two, underlining the visual link. The video shown on the wall, completes the display. The action of handing out cups of rice-pudding causes the viewer to connect to the exhibit. How can you resist thinking about the subject, when looking at the serene beauty of the whole set-up, whilst eating yummie pudding!

The launch of the ‘Aesthetic Nutrition’ project happened on the 6th of July, and was commissioned by Bypass, an art magazine that invites artists to write about their work. The second magazine is due to be released in October 2010 and will contain an extensive article by Ana Cardim.

‘Aesthetic Nutrition’ was held in Appleton Square, which is a multivalent space geared towards diverse artistic manifestations and towards the sharing of multidisciplinary experiences. It was the first time that they had work on display by a jewelry designer!

Panic

2010-05-31T21:42:00.004+02:00

Every once in a while something crosses my path that is interesting, but not strictly jewelry. That‘s the case with this piece ‘Panic’ by Sweden’s Anders Ljungberg. He is a silversmith who is interested is the relationship between a functional object and its’ user and their environment. His motto is: “We are defining objects, objects are defining us.” His particular interest is in handles, as they often are the link between object and user. Their position on the object dictates the way it is used.

Handles play a very important role in the work ‘Panic’ too. It exists of a silver jug and a table that have started living their own lives. This jug did not have handles, so it decided to cut off the legs of the table it is standing on and use them as a handle and a leg for itself. The jug has a solid base and a good chance of being held by its’ handle. But now, it has left the table leaning over to one side, causing danger of the jug sliding off!
I guess this is where Anders Ljungberg pictures the user coming to the rescue. Instead of the jug being there for the use of its’ owner, the owner/user has to be there to save the jug! I really like the way the piece demands interaction. The jug is clearly the starting point of this work, and mixes with the table in a funny way. Quite urgently, the potential user has to become part of the work. Panic all round!

This piece was one of many discussed in a talk held by Anders Ljungberg, which part of the symposium ‘Fine Silver: Lectures on Contemporary Metal’ at the PHL- University College in Hasselt, Belgium on the 29th of May. The lectures were held in context of the honorary doctorate that was awarded to Michael Rowe the day before!

(For the die-hard fans of this blog: What do you get when you have Alert and an Apocalyse: Panic! ☺)

Alert 2010

2010-05-17T11:49:00.008+02:00

This neckpiece sends out a warning, so we should have seen this before the previous post ‘What after the apocalypse?’ Its’ title ‘Alert 2010’ kind of gives it away, and the alarming orange color was probably the reason for that title. A great way of getting attention!

Although the individual pendants of the neckpiece may or may not be a recognizable object, it is the combination that bonds them. That is how artist Robin Quigley intended her piece to work. She carefully selected objects that work well together, despite their difference in value, shape or material. By lining them up, she gives them a solid structure. Some pendants got a coat of pigment to match the color, unifying even more. That way it is hard for me to imagine that they were once separate objects.

‘Alert 2010’ has ten pendants, which to me is a very special number right now. My eldest just turned ten, which means we have been a family for ONE whole beautiful decade!

The exhibition ‘Remains’ opens on the 20th of May at Gallery Loupe in Montclair, New Jersey, U.S.A.

What after the apocalypse?

2010-04-30T12:32:00.004+02:00

For this post I am staying in Belgium, where artist Willy Van De Velde has been around for quite a while. And, more impressively, without any formal training in the broad artistic field he is working in. His jewellery ranges from big helmets and large neckpieces, to the more recent, smaller sized, rings and bracelets.

Besides the size, there has been no change in the material use, though. As shown in the bracelet above, he is still working with plexiglas (acrylic sheet). Although he has been using this material since the eighties, it still gives the jewel a sense of futurism. Funny how a futuristic looking piece can have a retro feel to it.

The title of the work, “What after the apocalypse?” can be taken quite literally, if you see the round, clear bracelet as a symbol of the world and the descending fire as its’ ending. Your arm can save the world by never taking the bracelet off. The piece has been meticulously made, every scratch is sanded and polished to a smooth, shiny surface. The bracelet has been assembled with neat little screws instead of more messy glue. In this way parts can also be replaced in case of breakage. The result is a graphically strong piece and an apocalypse to my liking, a very clean one!

The exhibition ‘What after the apocalypse?’ is held until the 28th of May at Silke&the Gallery, in Antwerp.

Our vulnerable position

2010-04-25T10:11:00.004+02:00

From student work in the last post, to a post about work from someone who has recently graduated. Showing the work from her Masters graduation from Konstfack in Stockholm, Belgian Hannah Joris created an installation with 99 brooches. They are all made from the same material, dried potato and iron! She carved the potatoes and hung them to dry, pierced by the iron brooch-pin. That way the potato shrinks around the iron, and becomes a compact, strong mass. To her, every potato represents a person, which is why she carved them into body-like shapes. Similar to what happens when people age, the shapes shriveled up, looking like they suffered while doing so. This is what Hannah Joris wants to show, although not the actual suffering, aging, shrinking and shriveling. But the vulnerable expression the shapes obtain, and beauty that results from it.

About half of the 99 brooches are on display, enough to come across as one group. Which is the way I saw the work. As I got closer I could separate the individual brooches, their similarities and differences. The different colors came from the different kinds of potato, vaguely resembling wood. The different shapes came from the way they were carved and dried. I could recognize their expressions. I could see the suffering, aging, wrinkling and vulnerability, and, with some, even the beauty of that. Some were quite touching, others daunting, and some possibly cute! The material used looked right, the shapes looked very natural, (because of their color?) I had the feeling I was looking at something very special, not at something as ordinary as a potato. Not one second it crossed my mind that I was looking at food. The familiarity of the shapes to the human shape was well done, and eating them would feel like cannibalism!

The brooches are exhibited specially for the ‘Art Brussels’ fair, at Caroline Van Hoek Gallery, in Brussels, Belgium.

Books & Jewels

2010-03-27T20:47:00.008+01:00

For this post I’ve chosen another piece of work from an exhibition that I visited, but one of a totally different scale. This work is one of the seven installations of the exhibit Books&Jewels! The work is created by students, the Bachelor students of Sint Lucas in Antwerp.

The object of the students’ assignment was to show how books support a work of art. Of course, books can support art as a source of inspiration, stimulation for the mind, and base for research.
In this case, support was taken quite literally by Octave Vandeweghe who created the work above! It has a big pile of books as a support! The artwork on top consists of a piece of bronze piping used for water supply, and a porcelain spout of a teapot. The artist has a love for collecting things, as some of the books show. Is this how the piece came to life? Out of someone’s personal collection?

Both the books and the work have made my mind wonder. I love the way the object has a special stand made for it, showing how much it is cared for, as the top book “objets affectifs” gives away. Fun how there is a book called “trans plant”, as if the plumming is transplanted onto the spout, making it a ‘surreal thing’, the title of another book. They fit together perfectly to form what looks like a pipe, hence the big fat Magritte-book. “Filosofie van het kijken” (Philosophy of looking) is what I am doing right now! Especially since I’m thinking the ‘pipe’ can actually be used to drink water from. It has that piece of plumming, and spout of a teapot, both closely connected to water. Another book catches my eye, not for its’ title (Conversion to modernism) but by the authors’ name, Naumann. I know Francis M. Naumann is not the same as the, also modernist, artist Bruce Nauman, but he is the one who made the stunning work ‘Self portrait as a fountain’. It all comes down to water, let’s hope these books don’t get wet wet wet!

The exhibition Books&Jewels is running until the 2nd of April at Silke&the gallery in Antwerp, Belgium.

Four of the Masters students of Sint Lucas have started a blog, it is called the power of jewellery.

Golden Fleece ring- update

2010-03-16T22:17:00.004+01:00

Today I was really impressed. I saw so much art, of so many disciplines, represented by just about every period in art history! I was not walking around in a museum, these pieces were for sale. Of course my interest was mainly in jewelry, but everywhere I looked there was something worthwhile. To give you an idea of what I found particularly impressive, from last (and this) century art, there were pieces of vintage furniture (Le Corbusier chair with leopard print). And pop-art (felt work by Roy Lichtenstein, wonderful world time watch by Andy Warhol). And plenty of other artworks by Yves Klein, Sol Lewitt, On Kawara, Wim Delvoye, Niki de Saint Phalle.…
Jewelry had lots of faces. Of course diamonds were largely represented, but I also stumbled upon the most amazing collection of historical jewelry, from jewelry of the Roman Empire to the Vikings. For example, did you know the Vikings braided their golden rings?. This went on to vintage Van Cleef & Arpels jewelry, that Hollywood stars are now wearing, to great jewels designed by Paloma Picasso for Tiffany & Co, and even work by Giampaolo Babetto!
Most of the time, I did not know where to look. The constant, irresistible distraction meant that I kept getting lost! And when I finally controlled my urge to drool, I could see the groups of galleries that were formed by the people organising TEFAF. That is short for ‘the European fine art fair’, and this was the 2010 edition, in Maastricht, The Netherlands. Until the 21 of March you can let yourself get impressed, distracted, lost, drooling and more of the above.

There was another reason why I was impressed today. About a year ago I wrote about Giovanni Corvaja’s Golden Fleece Collection, and this beautiful morning I saw it live! From behind their glass door, I first looked at the bracelet paired with the pendant. They seemed so soft! The color of the golden fur surprised me a bit, it had a dark note to it. As a jeweler, it reminded me of golden sawdust, which made the pieces more real to me. The next cabinet contained the brooch, which attracted my attention because of the circular way the golden fur was arranged, ending in a cute little bump. And the ring, with its’ meaning of everything enduring love; was displayed hanging, so none of the tiny golden hairs would get crushed. Like with all the other pieces, they had a direction, copying real fur. I could see the solid ring on the inside, perforated with tiny holes to hold the golden fur threads. It looked flawless to me, perfect on the inside, with a ‘wild’ soft furry coat on the outside. And then, having the aesthetic part covered, I was allowed to touch it! And YES it was soft! Very, very soft! Stroking in the direction of the furry hairs, there was no way to tell where one started or ended. I loved how you could feel that it was still gold, a metal, so a little cold. And also with a slight ‘toughness' that is hard to describe, because it was so extremely soft! With the tactile mystery resolved, there is only one more thing for me to do: wear it!

At Tefaf the work of Giovanni Corvaja is represented by Adrian Sassoon Gallery at exhibitors number 264.

Growing Jewelry

2010-03-11T22:38:00.005+01:00

A monstrous headache while being busy with other things on the computer kept me from blogging. The last few weeks it must have seemed like I vanished of the earth… So I decided to write about a jewel that keeps the earth close and, even better, growing. Specially designed for people in metropolitan cities to be in contact with nature.

Basically, product designer Hafsteinn Juliusson enables us to walk around with a beautiful miniature garden. You won’t need a lawn mower for this one, but it does need some basic care. I see it as a great way for the wearer to get in touch with the elements, by making it rain on their hands. The smell coming off the jewel will most likely remind you of long walks in the forest. Those lovely soft mosses sure look inviting to me!

Erupt 2010

2010-02-23T20:42:00.003+01:00

Another neckpiece, and this time from, what I assume are, all new materials: silicon rubber, glass beads and linen thread. The combination of those three things does not look like what you might expect from them. The beads don’t seem to be threaded. The linen thread is wrapped around the silicon rubber instead of being covered by it! The result is a solid, organic piece with attention to detail.

An eruption seems to have happened, several craters can be be found on the surface. This is where the bare silicon is visible. The pinkish holes are surrounded by lots of tiny, bright yellow glass beads, packed together very tightly. Where the spread of yellow stops, the soft linen starts, calming the piece down and making it look more friendly. It ends with a loop on one side, and on the other side, a rounded and dented form in a brighter pink color, as if it could be the source, or start of something similar but new…. No matter what else my imagination can come up with, this beautiful neckpiece has clearly grown. It makes me think of internal body-parts, or something from the bottom of the sea, and somehow I even get weird flash-backs from the Avatar movie!

Emily Hunt included this work in her exhibition ‘Appendage*’, which I think is a great title since it refers to biology, a starting point for her pieces, as well as language. Appendage could also apply to jewelry on the body, although all the precious jewels, like the ones showcased in my vitrine, would be missed enormously!
The Appendage exhibition can be visit in gallery Metalab near Sydney in Australia, but hurry it is on until the 25th of February.

Exhibition is also showcased on Klimt02.

*Wikipedia: An appendage in the broadest sense is an additional or subsidiary part existing on, or added to, something which can generally still function if the appendage has never existed or is later provided or grown, or will still perform a primary function if the appendage is removed.

Tante Rosanne

2010-02-12T19:15:00.002+01:00

(photograph by Johan Hespeel)

After all the male input from the Lingam exhibition in the previous post, this blog needed a female boost. And, since Tine Vindevogel has won the first prize in the 2009 four-yearly prize for arts and crafts (congratulations), an initiative of the province of West-Flanders, Belgium, her work was brought to my attention.

The title ‘Tante Rosanne’ (aunt Rosanne in Dutch) implies plenty of femininity. The fine crocodile strap used for the neckpiece, could refer to upper class ladies. The fact that is made from a vintage crocodile belt, with signs of wear and tear clearly visible, to me, refers to the ‘aunt’ part of the title.

This work is one of her ‘Migration in Jewelry’ –series, because all the works are made from old shoes, that used to migrate through the world. The wearers’ input has made the shoe more interesting to Tine Vindevogel. She has taken it even further, by migrating the material on the body as well.

The old soles in this neckpiece are carefully selected to combine their rounded shape with the rectangular shape of the belt. The tension and balance between these contradicting forms is what Tine Vindevogel is after in all her work. The result is incredibly beautiful!

I love the delicacy she puts in her work, the roughness that normally comes with soles of shoes has totally disappeared. Instead, there is a perfection that can only exist because of imperfection.

Last week, I went to the prizedraw to support my friend Aline Vandeplas, who came in second, with her ‘Gold-up’ work. Read my earlier post about her ‘Golden fruit’ here. The exhibition of the 2009 four-yearly prize for arts and crafts, is on until March 14th in Bruges, Belgium.

What are you looking for?

2010-02-02T22:39:00.005+01:00

© Photography by Rob Versluys

After long deliberation (see previous post), I chose the work ‘What are you looking’ for by Swedish Sofia Björkman. It shows a still-frame of an ultrasound, a western proof of fertility, a symbol of our focus on facts. This is countered by the questions on the bottom. “What are you looking for? What do you hope to see? Will you keep it? Who is responsible for your decision?” They are not the kind of questions asked when someone has an ultrasound. They make it a personal issue, a personal insecurity that comes with every pregnancy.

It is clear that it is a boy, because of his golden phallus protruding out of the picture, a beautiful way of dealing with the lingam. In Hinduism the lingam is an explosive energy, surrounded by the ongoing energy of its’ female equivalent. A clear plastic shape covers the picture, it suggests a uterus, a way of showing the female energy. But it goes further than that; the little thing in the ultrasound is her son, making it very precious, a result of love to be loved. To me, that is the true meaning of lingam.

Lingam exhibition

2010-02-02T22:24:00.010+01:00

When I first heard about the lingam- exhibition, I thought it seemed purposely provocative. Maybe I was biased because of the provocative exhibition-mascot and by the fact that it was a Dutch exhibit. Then, Caroline Van Hoek invited me for her three-year- celebration dinner, with Ruudt Peters as a special guest. He is a renowned Dutch jewelry artist and teacher, and curator of the lingam- exhibition. Caroline sent this you tube film around and seeing it changed my mind.

In his speech, and in the film, Ruudt Peters explained how he got to make lingams himself. How they intrigued him, when he found lots in an eastern market. How big the cultural differences between east and west are; concerning the depiction of these fertility symbols, a common thing in the east, and practically non-existing in the west. He took them to the west and then was curious about other peoples’ points of view. So, he invited 122 artists to come up with a western answer to the eastern lingam, a way of showing a deeper spiritual meaning and symbolism. But when the boxes with the lingam- works arrived, he felt like he could not go through with the exhibition, the work felt out of place, almost vulgar, in our western culture. In the end, with all 122 works there, in a museum dedicated to religion (Christian art) he felt it was a true display of western society, in all it shapes and forms, through lingams.

When I was there, it was busier then I expected. It was nice to hear people comment to each other about the works. (Some were trying to see the deeper meaning and unhappy that there was not enough explanation. Some were laughing at the funny work, some were discussing the material use and some were getting excited to go and make their own lingam, great!) All the works, combined with real eastern lingams, were scattered on three big tables in one room. The walls and ceiling were painted orange except the yellowy lights directed at the work. The color reminded me of the red-lights, apparently I still could not get passed my western background. Or being inside a huge body, it was the same color as you get when you put a flashlight through the tip of your finger. Not the usual setting for contemporary jewelry exhibits. Because of this lighting, you had to get really close to get a decent look at any of the work. With 122 incredibly diverse works to choose from it was very hard for me to select one. I think Ruudt Peters was right when he said it turned out to be an example of what western culture can do with the lingam theme. Continued in the next post..

Blooms, Efflorescence, and Other Dermatological Embellishments (Cystic Acne, Back) 2009

2010-01-26T20:41:00.006+01:00

Jewelry is a personal business. That is one of the things that I like so much about it. It is meant to be worn, so you need to get close to it, so close it touches you. And sometimes you have to be brave for that.

That is the case with this body piece by Lauren Kalman. She is brave. She is interested in the imaged body, consumer culture, body aesthetics, and illness. She uses the personal closeness of the body for her work.

In this piece, she has replaced cystic acne with traditional jewelry. From a distance it still looks like a severe case of acne and I am quite repelled by that. From up close it shows that it is not acne, but jewelry and I feel relieved. Even closer, it becomes clear that the jewels are pierced trough the skin with acupuncture needles. That makes me feel uneasy at the least, but I also want to touch them. I am not sure if I want take them all out, or if I want to make sure they stay in place; this is what makes this work so intriguing. The fact that I can relate to the person wearing the, surely painful, body piece is exactly the point Lauren Kalman wants to make.

This artist is a member of apparat and Klimt02.

‘Schnee von gestern’ ‘single lift’ — brooch 3

2010-01-14T11:07:00.005+01:00

All the snow we have had lately is making me think of one thing: Ski! But since I live in one of the flattest parts of the world, I’ll have to indulge in my craving in a different way. Jantje Fleischuts’ work ‘schnee von gestern’
‘single lift’ — brooch 3 will do perfectly.

The brooch is shaped like a ski lift, the one thing that gives me the ‘I am about to ski’- feeling. After all the dressing up, getting everybody ready, passing the ticket control, hoisting ski’s and poles into the lift, the lift steadily rises, sometimes with a bit of a dangle, to the top of the mountain where slopes are waiting for us. I can imagine how the brooch, when worn, would dangle on the pin as if on a cable, a fun detail to me.

The work is made from a real ski, satisfying me in a sensatory way. Putting on the brooch would make the ski- material close enough to almost feel a drip from the melting of yesterdays’ snow (schnee von gestern in English).
Finally, the lively, 80’s, duck-egg- blue color of the brooch reminds me of skiing. On the slopes you see people wearing the brightest colors, ones they would not wear anywhere else. And that big white ‘S’ just says it all.

This work comes from the Online- collection on Jantje Fleischuts’ website. More from the ‘Schnee von gestern’- series can be seen there. She also has a section called Gallery-collections, where she displays work from her current solo exhibition: ‘Lost in translation and back to moon’ at gallery Rob Koudijs in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Untill the 16th of January so hurry!
And also found on Klimt02, of course.

Cufflinks 2009

2009-12-13T09:45:00.009+01:00

Finally a post to help y’all with your Christmas shopping for MEN! I think they deserve some jewelry-attention. Caroline van Hoek Gallery is currently hosting an exhibition devoted to cufflinks, traditionally worn by men. Again, I’ve chosen two works, this time by two different artists.

The first cufflinks are by Lisa Walker, and linked with nostalgia, since she has used ‘vintage’ playmobil parts for her contribution to the exhibit. I still remember from my own childhood, that all the boys in my class played with playmobil. Those boys have now grown up, and are probably the men that could use some cufflinks. By wearing these, they can keep their inner child alive.

A whole different kind of historical connection is found in the second pair of cufflinks of Willemijn de Greef. She has worked with the shape of ‘Zeeuwse’ buttons, a traditional kind of button from the South-West of the Netherlands. The buttons were used for all kinds of adornment, and were also worn by men as a sort of belt-buckle. This explains their size, the biggest half of the cufflink is as big as a medium sized adult hand. The form is hollow, so not as heavy as it looks. It is an invitation for men to wear a part of Dutch history in the shape of contemporary jewelry.

This exhibition is showcased on Klimt02.

Than oars divide the ocean, too silver for a seam

2009-12-07T21:18:00.005+01:00

Not one but two pieces this week, because they are so wonderfully done.
When Leslie Matthews stumbled upon a beautiful collection of 19th century Dutch clay pipe bowls, she was drawn to their small, delicate shape. Keeping them in mind, she created a whole series of silver forms. Their surface is embossed with Japanese rice paper to give them their fragile impression. Each form is inspired to complement the following one, as the two above show so well.
The title is a line from a poem by Emily Dickinson, who is a favorite of Leslie Matthews. She lives in Australia, so the sea is never far. I love how the forms are elongated by the waves of the silver necklace. And also how the color of the silver, reflects the different colors of the ocean, white for the foam of the waves, and black for its’ endless depth. On all these different levels,they really interact with each other! So for me, the work triggers an emotional response, which what Leslie Matthews is interested in.

Bull ! 2008

2009-11-26T23:26:00.008+01:00

I have been admiring Felieke van der Leest’s work for quite some time now. When I saw her upcoming exhibition on Klimt02, it was just what I need as an excuse to write about it. The exhibition “F.I.B.S. (Festival International de Bêtes Sportives”) starts on the 27th of November until the 13th of December at gallery Deux Poissons in Tokyo.
The title of the exhibition is French for ‘international festival of sporty animals’. It refers to the Olympic games that were held in China in 2008.
This brooch is called Bull ! 2008, and refers to the Olympic sport of Archery. Here, the bull, is the ruby nose of a tiger. The perfect golden arrows, all the neatly sewn green sequins and the beautiful crochet work show that the brooch has been very well made. If the tiger doesn’t attract people’s attention then its sparkle will.
Tigers, are a protected and endangered species. In China, they are a symbol of power, energy and bravery, as well as good luck. Their skin is a status symbol and their bones are said to have medicinal power. Unfortunately many of them are shot for these reasons and not much is done by Chinese officials to stop the killing. The very surprised looking tiger in the brooch has just been hit by six arrows!
It is hard not to take the message seriously.

Biopsy II

2009-11-18T23:13:00.008+01:00

In a lot of cases a biopsy is done with a hollow needle. This means that the sampled tissue that comes out, is round on the outside. What the sample looks like under the microscope, depends on lots of things. I could not have imagined it looking like this brooch ‘Biopsy II’, by Islay Taylor.

One of the most striking things about this brooch is the reflective property of some of it. All the rougher parts, and the wires sticking out, reflect light. This is shown in the top photograph. It must have been something very dangerous coming out of that body! No matter what the medical reasons are, I love the way it looks. The rest of the brooch is white, still, not a color you’d expect of a piece of tissue. But I don’t mind, it works really well in combination with the reflective bits. So beautiful, to see the color white used as the darker part of the piece.

Another interesting thing about this work is the suggestion that something has been taken from inside the body, and then it is worn outside of the body. It is all about the luminescence of inner beauty!

Chestnut animal

2009-10-31T12:18:00.007+01:00

There is some thing about fall that seems to cross the border of countries, languages and traditions. Children everywhere love the magic of chestnuts. My sons have come home with so many this fall, they could hardly carry the load. I also remember collecting them as a child, taking them everywhere, comparing mine to the ones my friends had collected and, of course, making little animals out of them.
Now I have found proof of it happening in places far away from Antwerp and the tiny Dutch village I grew up in. It has come in the shape of this very cute pin ‘Chestnut animal’ by Estonian jeweler Ketli Titsar. Her fond childhood memories of the things she did with chestnuts have led to her creating this jewel. It is part of the collection ‘Homesickness’, but with so many chestnuts around, the lucky girl doesn’t have to be homesick anywhere!

Ketli Titsar is one of the European jewelry artists selected for ‘Walking the gray area’, an international jewelry project. For this project, 20 European and 20 Latin American jewelry artists have been coupled, to work on a collective exhibition. In order to bring everybody together, the ‘Walking the gray area’ blog has started. It is an interesting way for the artists to communicate, and, at the same time, share their story with the rest of the world. The exhibition will be presented at the Gray Area symposium, taking place in Mexico City in April 2010. To be continued……..

Walking the gray area’ is also featured on Klimt02.

08Brooch 2009

2009-10-12T23:42:00.006+02:00

I was really surprised how attracted I was to the work of Austrian jeweler Petra Zimmermann. The brooch is made of sparkles and gold embedded in a handmade plastic background. The image gives you a good idea of what her work is like, but although it is a great photograph, the brooch is not nearly as attractive as it is in reality. The shape of the brooch has a sensuality that very much comes to life ‘for real’. Also, all the crushed pearls, rhinestones, amethysts, gold leaf and fine gold catch light. This makes the whole brooch shine at you, following you, from every side you look at it. It is a good sort of shine, not a blinding one, but a multi-colored attracting one. It was evening-time when I saw the piece, so spotlights were directed at it, possibly partly responsible for the magic. The bright colors of the plastic, ties the piece together. Another background for all the glitter may have been plain kitsch, but the use of these colors takes it to a new level.

This brooch was one of the pieces displayed in Petra Zimmermann’s exhibition, ‘New Work’ at Gallery Caroline Van Hoek. All the pieces were nicely spaced out, and the gallery was well lit. Looking around felt like being in a candy shop. For a day-time impression, click here, and just wait until you get to the fourth to seventh photo.

Gallery Caroline Van Hoek is a member of Klimt02.

Coffee & jewels

2009-10-05T22:29:00.005+02:00

Another great project by Ana Cardim, who I have previously blogged about. This time, her social concept is on a very intimate scale, the artist and a stranger having coffee. Right now Ana is therefore looking for 15 strangers to have coffee with. Her goal is to meet with a cross-cut of people in society, and a jewel will be made following each individual meeting. This will result in an exhibition of 15 pieces, together with the documentation of the “coffee” they were based on.

The fantastic video above, made by Beatriz Cisneros, is showing the first coffee of the series. Watching this meeting makes me curious for the jewel to be. I also wonder who else is going to have a coffee with Ana. If you are going to Barcelona, you can contact her, and maybe she will design a jewel based on your conversation. If you do, it would be great to hear about your experience, so please leave a comment on this blog.

Coffee & jewels was first presented at Ana Cardims’ exhibition: “Device jewels”, which opened on September 17.
Its opening was simultaneous with JOYA-Barcelona Contemporary Jewelry Week, that consisted of several exhibitions, a small fair, awards handed out, and the start of a jewelry walk in Barcelona. I was very happy to be in the right place at the right time, and see it live! There was a very interesting jewelry-mix going on, all in one beautiful building.

The JOYA-Barcelona Contemporary Jewelry Week was largely organised by Klimt02, congratulations to you two!

Tools for beating

2009-09-15T22:12:00.011+02:00

A ‘parure’ is a set of various items of matching jewelry. It is modular and can be disassembled into different parts. ‘Tools for beating’ is such a parure, made by American Seth Papac. It consists of 5 individual pieces that can be worn separately or all together in their tool bracket around the waist:

‘White knuckle’, a necklace, to me refers to boxing, a western fight sport. At the two ends of the necklace hang oval silver strips, possibly meant to harden the contestants’ hands.
‘Strike’, also a necklace, looks like a pair of nunchaku’s, used in eastern fighting. To stay true to the tools theme, they are made out of steel and wood.
The brooch ‘Club’, a very long, stiff square tube, when worn, starts beating by itself. This is also the case when is attached to the tool bracket.
‘Clench’, a ring, has to be clenched to be worn on the fingers, so the hand forms a fist (for beating).
The last part of this parure is the ‘Empty tool bracket’, which is not actually empty. The leather belt holds a very well made, smooth, spatula- like, wooden shape. Just like the brooch club, it starts beating when worn, but ‘gives’ a totally different, more gentle, kind of beating.

To have a jewel committed to beating is one thing, but 5, even though they can be assembled into one, is a bit much. But the way these pieces are made, with carefully chosen materials and incredible skill, pushes the violent nature of the work to the background. For example, the necklace ‘White knuckle’, consists of white tape, used to tie tight around the contestants’ hands, but it is tied together and carelessly draped around one’s neck. And the material of the top plate of the ring ‘Clench’, steel, could refer to real knuckledusters, or to actual tools. On top of that, its’ shape does not remind of fighting at all. This is obviously also the case with ‘Club’, the brooch.

On top of this, the artist states that this toolset is meant for beating, a fictitious job or ritual to deal with the metaphorical cleansing of his body and not someone else’s! So a very personal piece this week.

Lucky me got to experience this work in reality at Gallery Caroline Van Hoek (member of Klimt02). It is exhibited there, with 2 more parures, until October 24th.

Camée de lait

2009-09-07T22:10:00.006+02:00

The most bizarre jewel for this post, in material and in concept.

One of the very first plastics were made out of cow’s milk, so when in 2008 the design team of Duende collective, led by Anthony van den Bossche, were asked to create something around ‘eating together’ by “La Cuisine”, they knew what to do. The plastic pendant ‘Camée de lait’ in this picture is made out of maternel milk. This is what Cécile Fricker came up with: a pendant with your own baby’s face made out of your maternel milk plastic.

Normally you would consider plastic as one of the most ordinary, unnatural materials. Plastic is often associated with cheap, single–use items (i.e. crap), Dropping off a bottle of breast milk, to be made into plastic seems unreal. Casting the plastic-milk in a 3 dimensional mold, the same shape of the baby’s head that the milk was meant for, makes it priceless. Not only is this ‘Camée de lait’ turning the natural into unnatural, it is also turning the ordinary into something luxurious.

To me, this is the ultimate jewel to keep the memory of breastfeeding your baby alive; it is made out of breast milk and has the shape of your own child. Finally, when you wear it, judging from this photograph, it dangles happily where it came from, your breasts!

How to become an elephant

2009-09-01T21:44:00.005+02:00

Sometimes a jewel can make you curious for its’ story, and sometimes a story can seduce you to love a jewel even more. The last is the case for me with this jewel ‘How to become an elephant’ by Portugese Manuel Vilhena. Of course now I’ll let you in on the story he wrote with the jewel:

And which flower is the most delicious? - asked the man. The one on the left, of course replied the elephant. How do you know that? First, you grow a long trunk. Then, you grow large ears like mine and a, hum, quite short tail. Ah!, and you forget nothing. Is that how one becomes an elephant? The elephant looked the man in the eye, then looked down, gently picked up the flower and said - You need patience...
in „How to become an Elephant“, M.V. 2009

A very sweet story, about how to become a jewel, by Manuel Vilhena. Starting by slowly growing all the trivial bits, without losing sensitivity towards certain areas, and not forgetting anything, to make a fully finished piece.

I can totally see the elephant in this brooch look people in the eye, while it is telling the most wonderful stories. It gets my fantasy going about great, story-telling jewels to keep you company.

Luckily there is more in the exhibition ‘How to become an elephant and other fabulous and curious stories’. Opening on the 5th of September until the 27th at galerie S O, in Solothurn, Switserland. More about the exhibit on Klimt02.

Summer has been great and now I am very happy to be blogging again!

Bright red cluster 2009

2009-07-10T20:14:00.005+02:00

There is lots of ‘recycled’ jewelry around, and to continue with the previous garbage-theme, here is one piece that really stands out for me.

Bright red cluster 2009, a brooch by New Zealand/Australian jeweler Roseanne Bartley, incorporates some of our typical bits of waste in a great way.
The red plastic bottle caps are still very recognizable, even though they have been made to look worn. Keeping their round shape, they have been cut into pieces, to become something completely different, almost floral (which is good since garbage usually is not one of the nicest smelling things;). Also, a cluster of caps is used like the way we collect our waste, before it is discarded permanently. Silver settings have been made for the invaluable bottle caps, so they are treated as semi-precious stones. The silver has been patinated black, to really set off the bright red color of the plastic. It all has been incredibly well done and thought out!

Since blogging has been hard for me these last few weeks, you now have to hurry to catch a glimpse of this wonderful piece since it is part of the exhibition ‘Winter brooches’ at Studio 20/17 in Sidney, Australia until July 11th! There is more to read about the exhibition on Klimt02.

With summer holidays fully kicking in I won’t be posting for a while. But I will be totally refreshed and ready to blog beginning of September!

The garbage pin project

2009-06-11T20:49:00.010+02:00

The wonderful Garbage pin project has made it to my hometown Antwerp! All the 90 jewelry-artists who contributed to the project, have their 5 tiny bags of waste on display. This means that a whole Silke&the Gallery-gallery-wall is covered with 450 little garbage bags. It looks beautiful and I never thought I would say that of so much rubbish, but I guess that is part of the plan. Ana Cardim did a great job there, not only on the display of the bags, but the entire project. It really raises awareness of what we do with our waste. By putting it on display it does not just show what waste means to those 90 people, it teaches you something about everyone, it feels like you get to know them a little. To illustrate this I have chosen to display the “garbage” of the two artists, Anna Fornari and Mari Ishikawa, that have been in former broesvitrine-posts, as I am happy to see them included in this exhibit as well. The statement that goes with their work can be found on Ana Cardims’ website under artists.

Ana Cardim does not just stick to adult gallery visitors, but also invites children to come to the exhibition. To get them to really take a good look at the project, she has made assignments appropriate for their age. Wow, not only has she managed to turn an important environmental issue into a large scaled jewelry project, she is attracting kids to a gallery with it!

The gabage pin project will stay in Antwerp, Belgium at Silke&the Gallery at least until the beginning of August. After that it travels to L.A., an update of where the project goes is shown on the website under news and on the klimt02 website.

Ivory pets

2009-05-31T21:41:00.009+02:00

In a flash these beauties may look like they were mass-produced, but they are most certainly not! Made from quality materials such as mammoth ivory and red laquer, the brooches were carefully designed by German Christoph Straube. They look very sleek, with their 'faces' in off-white and an alarmingly bright red colour used for their eyes. Every pet has its own unique expression, some more obvious animal-like, some almost human, and all incredibly cute.

Straube himself states on Klimt02: there is no object that exists purely on its own, it is always a part of a complex system. He regards aesthetics as a product of convention and evolution - the meaning of every object we look at is processed by our culture and perception.
I surely agree with him, and it is the reason why I am not the only one who thinks that they are cute.

The Ivory pets are part of the exhibition “Rare animals are the missing link” to be seen at ‘Galery Metal’ in Copenhagen, Denmark until the 4th of July.

Waiter, there's a fly in my soup!

2009-05-13T22:26:00.003+02:00

When I first saw this brooch, it made me smile. ‘Waiter, there’s a fly in my soup’ is the start of so many jokes. At the moment my boys love to tell jokes, to anyone who’d like to hear them, over and over again. Then I started thinking: is this a really a soup spoon? No, it must be smaller, more like a teaspoon. And is that really a fly? Well…..Yes, it is!
The Finnish jeweller Eero Lintusaari cast a dead fly into acrylic to be on display in this brooch. In real life, the fly, along with the rest of the soup, would be discarded very quickly, but Eero Lintusaari became intrigued by it. He loves the delicacy and fragility of the fly, which normally would hardly tolerate to be touched without decomposing. The fly gets magnified by the acrylic and at the same time the artist uses a smaller spoon, so the proportions are a bit off and the fly gets even more emphasized. This way, the wearer is drawn to the fly to get a better look at it’s delicate beauty. It looks like a gigantic fly in a little bit of soup.
I love a joke, but I would have reservations to wearing this one, since there is still a dead fly in there!

Waiter, there’s a fly in my soup!
Yes sir, this fly really knows good soup.

Eero Lintusaari is a member of Klimt02.

Sonya's scar jewel

2009-05-05T22:20:00.005+02:00

A special jewel this week. Maybe a bit strange, but also very meaningful. When people experience something traumatic, the physical signs may show on their, or their loved-ones body. These scars are all different and very personal, just like the stories they tell. Even though they are not always visible, scars become part of them. It is their personal adornment, and it is now possible to transfer it into a golden jewel.

Artists Rachel Murawski and Liz Lessner got together with their friend Francesca who had overcome thyroid cancer, bearing the scar on her neck as a result. She was proud of the scar, a reminder of the positive outcome, but it started to fade. The creative artists decided to do something, not only to make their friend feel better, but also to help her deal with it. So, together they made the first scar-jewel.

Another example of such a scar-jewel is Sonya’s. Her personal story involves her brother who had surgery as a two-week-old baby. She says: “This scar represents pain and hope for my family and me. I wear it with pride.”
As you can see, the enormous scar across her brothers’ body was transferred into an elegant, almost botanical, but definitely recognizable, golden pendant.

The scarring experience can be hard to talk about, but when wearing a jewel like this, it becomes a lot easier. It gracefully stands out from other gold jewelry, evoking conversation. And unlike with the real scar, it is now the owners’ choice to wear it or not.

Let's melt together/ Lass uns verschmeltzen

2009-04-25T22:35:00.009+02:00

Recently I was asked to make weddingrings. While this was on my mind, the exhibition shown on the Klimt02 website, “Yes, I do! –partnerrings” (originally in German: “Ja, ich will! –partnerringe”), caught my eye. The idea behind the work ‘Let’s melt together/ Lass uns verschmelzen’ by the Swiss Claudia Stebler, really appealed to me.
At their engagement, the happy couple is given a wooden container with 2 solid gold little boxes. The boxes contain 2 solid silver rings, one for each partner, and a solid copper plate with the promise ‘LET’S MELT TOGETHER’ engraved on it. The gold, silver and copper, add up to form 18 karat gold (750 parts gold, 125 parts silver and 125 parts copper).
Both partners get to literally ‘wear’ the solid silver ring during their engagement period, marking it with their personality. Every scratch on the silver will be proof of their daily activities. Close to the actual wedding the silver rings, golden boxes and copper plates are returned to Claudia Stebler, who melts everything into 18 karat gold. I assume both rings are then made from one piece of gold based on the worn silver rings. The engagement period is therefore melted into the final wedding rings. I really like the way the original promise on the copper plate melts together with the couples’ actual life, symbolized by the worn silver rings. The two metals melt together with the beautiful 24 karat gold boxes, like the silver engagement gets melted together into a golden future.

The exhibition "Ja, ich wil -partnerringe" is on until the 4th of May at the Beatrice Lang galerie für Schmuck in Bern, Switzerland.

Golden Fruit

2009-04-04T20:39:00.006+02:00

Raisins, named the golden fruit by their sellers, are a sweet, fast and healthy snack. The box shows a cowboy-like figure, and jeweler Aline Vandeplas associates him with a gold-digger looking for a quick buck. He is someone relying on fast nutrition for survival, therefore the snack has to be easy to carry around, and always ready for consumption. This makes the snack as valuable as the gold he is after. To Aline Vandeplas there is no such thing as easy money and a penny saved is a penny earned. Most of the time it wasn’t the gold-digger who struck gold, but their wily suppliers. This is why she exhibits the Golden Fruit boxes in the same way gold bars normally are stacked.
Aline’s fascination with the word gold on the package, and the story behind it, does not stop there. She transformed the ‘golden fruit’ into jewelry, a necklace with a cast silver raisin as a pendant. The choice of silver, as material to work with, fits well with the raisins. Looking at its market value, silver is the snack version of metals traditionally used in jewelry. The golden fruit is taken out of its box and made into something easy to carry around and always ready to wear.

For several years Belgium’s’ Aline Vandeplas has been collecting everything on her path referring to the word ‘gold’. She created stories around her finds and like the work described above, she managed to turn it into something completely new. This resulted into the exhibition 'Gold-up'.
The exhibition lasts until April 25th at Silke&theGallery, in Antwerp, Belgium, which is also featured at Klimt02.

Pendant moonlight shadow 2008

2009-03-25T22:36:00.008+01:00

This week I’d like to continue with botanical inspired jewelry, the ‘pendant moonlight shadow 2008’.
“Under the moon light there is very profound various grays world. It is silent. I am one who is attracted by the color tone of grey, which is found in the shadows.” These are the words of Japanese-born Mari Ishikawa as published on the Klimt02 website.
Mari Ishikawa is inspired by the botanical and vanishing color pale green, which shows in photographs of plants taken under the moonlight. She is also surprised and attracted by the shapes and perfection of flowers and weeds in a field.
In the ‘pendant moonlight shadow 2008’, the color of the pendant is unmistakably connected with its shape. The fine, moss-like, grey silver creates a 3-dimensional structure with incredible depth. This structure casts shadows on itself, creating multiple shades of grey, I suppose similar to the ones seen under the moonlight. Like the green plant it is based on, the pendant looks alive. Its form grows into an elongated ball, while coiling the necklace it hangs from. Will it take over the whole necklace?

This work is part of the exhibition ‘Mari Ishikawa: Moonlight shadow’ at Villa Bengel in Idar-Oberstein, Germany. But hurry, it runs until the 31st of March!

Steel grey brooch

2009-03-17T10:55:00.005+01:00

Finally, the first post about an Australian piece, by the very talented Julie Blyfield! Botanical influences have always played a big role in her work, and in her most recent pieces that influence has become more relevant due to the changing climate. In Australia, and South Australia in particular, there has been a drought for the last couple of years, which is taking its toll on trees and other plants. Julie Blyfield took a trip into the desert and noticed the adaptations to drought and bush fires of the desert plants. Their forms and colors were an inspiration for her new collection and this Steel grey brooch. I can imagine how drought makes natural materials curve like the bend in this brooch. Also, bush fires would blacken everything on its path.

In addition to observing environmental changes, Julie Blyfield also studied the body ornaments made by Aboriginal people. They use natural materials with great care leading to exquisite designs which are striking in the repetition of pattern, shape and form. In her new designs she started experimenting with a variety of materials instead of using mainly metal. This resulted in the beautiful red string used in this brooch. The contrast with the steel grey and black makes the red more vibrant. On one hand that alarming red color seems like a warning sign. On the other hand the botanical feel of the brooch makes the string look like flower buds protruding on their branch, as if spring has arrived and things are looking up.

Julie Blyfiled made this amazing ‘Steel grey brooch’ in 2009 as part of the collection Natural Selection, currently exhibited (until April 4th) at Gallery Funaki in Melbourne, Australia.

Photograph by Grant Hancock.

Fidelity, The Golden Fleece ring

2009-03-10T10:52:00.007+01:00

Because I really like this piece, an update on the previous Furry ring-post, since The Golden Fleece ring will be exhibited from tomorrow! It al started when Giovanni Corvaja went on a journey to make the mythological Golden Fleece, instead of searching for it. A journey which required kilometers of hand-made gold wire, took 12 years of precise labour and resulted in great jewelry along the way (as to be seen in the Furry ring). Not an easy task as you can imagine. The Golden Fleece is sought after because it is said to bring good luck to kings and guarantees that their kingdom will endure forever.
This Ring was made in 2008 and consists of 104,272 single wires (2.085 km of wire in total). The tiny wires must be almost microscopicaly thin to create such length and still fit around a finger! This means the gold fur is super soft to touch. The ring symbolizes fidelity, something a lot of rings do, but the combination with the Golden Fleece makes this ring the symbol of a lucky, everything enduring love. This ring combines the aesthetic with the tactile and the conceptual, which I love.

Giovanni Corvaja has made a whole Golden Fleece collection and the jewelry pieces have all been chosen to represent eternal symbols: first there is fecundity (the egg pendant), then prosperity (the round brooch),fidelity (the ring) is the third piece of this collection, commitment (the bracelet) the fourth and finally strength and perpetuity of power (the headpiece). All of these have many other meanings as well. Of course these amazing pieces will be exhibited tomorrow as well.

The exhibition is part of the International Trade Fair,in Munich, Germany, in the frame of a special exhibition “Modern Masters”, Hall 1A, 11-17.03.2009. (Exhibiting the new collection in Munich is very meaningful for the artist, who celebrates 20 years since his first exhibition in the same place, in 1989.)

An extensive explanation of the whole Golden Fleece collection is to be found on Gionvanni Corvaja's website.

Glow in the dark Hand Necklace

2009-03-04T22:13:00.004+01:00

When design agency Mo Ka decided to turn some of their new white virtual world into reality by means of jewelry, they contacted my former classmates over at Atelier 11. This resulted in an incredible Glow in the dark collection! Every jewel has the Mo Ka logo, 2 purple pyramids, near the lock. That is also where the glow in the dark octahedron-shaped pendant comes from, a three-dimensional expression of that pyramid. The glowing part of the jewel is not made of plastic, but of a glow in the dark powder coated metal. This is why it has a nice weight when hanging on a silver chain. All the symbols used in the jewelry are inspired by the creativity displayed by Mo Ka. Like the hand in the Hand Necklace, since designing is still eventually realized by hands. Atelier 11 always makes fashionable and up-to-date jewelry and this is no exception. I particularly like the idea of having an extra hand on stand by, especially one that’s easy to find, even in the dark.

Until March 12th the jewelry is sold at a special pop-up store that Mo Ka has opened in Brussels, 124 Rue de Flandre. It is also available trough their webshop.

Skeletal metal ring

2009-02-24T20:44:00.008+01:00

We are only one day away from the biggest American orthopaedic convention (AAOS), which is held in Las Vegas this year. Also from Las Vegas is Skeletal Metal, a jewelry company that uses stainless steel reconstruction plates normally used in orthopaedic surgery. What a coincidence! It all started when orthopaedic surgeon dr Mike Crovetti bent a stainless steel reconstruction ("ReCon") plate into a ring and started wearing it. Many people who saw the ring were intrigued by the use of a surgical steel plate in jewelry. So he teamed up with Marty Cordova and Anthony Bonifazio to form 'Skeletal Metal'.

The surgical metal is simply bent into shape to make the ring. It is often also necessary to bend the plate to fit the plate to the bone in surgery, so it is exactly the same when worn outside the body, as it is when surgically placed inside the body! In surgery this type of plate is commonly used to fix the broken bones of the forearm, elbow, pelvis and collarbone. The holes are filled by surgical screws to piece the broken bone together.

To me, it seems like a fun way for people that had surgery to display what is inside their body on the outside!
It didn't stay with just rings, now a whole series of jewelry is available with or without screw holes.

Many thanks to The Carrotbox Jewelry Blog - rings, rings, rings!

Boules

2009-02-14T22:49:00.008+01:00

The other day I went to a restaurant that served two gold-covered hazelnuts on top of the chocolate dessert. We laughed! I kind of forgot about gold being used with chocolates and it got me thinking about choclate being used in jewelry. So after a bit of web-surfing, these 'Boules' by Barbara Uderzo are what caught my eye! In 2004, she made a few different kinds of chocolate jewels, but the Boules stand out. Not just because they are covered with goldleaf, which makes a beautiful color combination with the dark, earthy chocolate and shiny bright gold, but also by their design. The balls of choc look like enormous wearable pralines but the gold might make you think more of jewelry. I'm sure once the chocolate starts to melt on your skin and you can really smell it, the only thing you'll be thinking is: get in my tummy!

The chocolate jewels are meant to be enjoyed by couples together, so let's hope both partners are able to hold the urge to start eating, untill they can do this together!

Chest of drawers in A room for shadows

2009-02-06T21:39:00.009+01:00

Last Thursday I saw the installation 'Chest of drawers' at the opening of the exhibition: 'A room for shadows'. The Finnish Anna Rikkinen has built this beautiful serene installation, a 3 drawer cardboard cupboard, that holds a neckpiece. A grey ribbon is used to function as a necklace, and is combined with a pendant made from white-gray silver and light gray cardboard. The different shades of grey are echoed inside the bottom drawer, where the shape of the pendant is seen as if it has been lying in the drawer for a long period of time and dust has formed an outline. It is a clever reference to the baroque shape, inspired by jewelry and ornaments from the past.

That historical background is what makes Anna Rikkinen come to a new purified, contemporary and minimalistic piece with only the outlines giving away the luxury that they are based on. The layer of dust also means that the jewel of the installation has not been worn for a very long time. Even though it is perfectly wearable, demonstrated by the fact that it is sold separately, it is not Anna's main concern. Here, the human body has been replaced by a 'Chest of drawers' and the neckpiece has left its' mark. Would it leave a mark if it had not been replaced?

The exhibition 'A room for shadows' can be seen at gallery Caroline Van Hoek in Brussels, Belgium, untill the 28th of February.

Photo's taken by Jaan Seitsara.

Face Masks

2009-01-30T22:02:00.009+01:00

A different outlook onto the world, in this weeks post, through these Facemasks made by Canadian jeweler Arielle de Pinto. In 2007, she made 2 masks, a male and a female one. In her 2009, ‘lookbook’ she included a unisex mask.
Arielle de Pinto looks at facial expressions in fashion magazines for inspiration and with the last one it has resulted in a more aggressive, less symmetrical and prim mask. With its enlarged and simplified eyes, nose and mouth (facial features) the mask reminds me of a wooden African tribal mask. The big difference between the two is that Arielle de Pinto’s Facemasks are very flexible and therefore wearable. So instead of wearing a rigid mask it feels like wearing a veil, as the masks follow the shape of the wearer’s head perfectly. It is the only clue of what the wearer’s face may look like, since it is fully covered by the mask.
Her amazing masks have been crocheted using different colors of metal threads, which give them their features. The male mask (2nd photograph) has a beard and is balding, while the female mask is less distinct, so it could have been unisex as well.
The oversized masks don’t really fit the human head properly, but stay on because of their incredible weight of 2 kilograms. Even though the “eyes” of the mask tend to hang on the side of the wearer’s head, it is still possible to look through it, because of the loosely made metalwork.

The male and female masks are part of the exhibit 'Equilibrium: Body as Site' held in Rubin and L Galleries at the University of Texas Dept. of Art in El Paso, Texas, USA. It focuses on art that engages the body as a site. What is so refreshing about this exhibit is that it will privilege the sensorial over the intellectual. I would sure like to know what it feels like to wear the Facemasks!

Found thanks to Metalcyberspace blog!

Garbage Pin

2009-01-22T14:22:00.024+01:00

Yeah, I'm blogging again! This time about the versatile garbage pin. It's a pin with a silver structure that can hold a tiny, transparent plastic bag (the garbage bag). Once full, this bag can be removed, closed with a wire and kept as a memory of the experience. The pin questions the value of the waste and the memories attached to it, as they get combined with a precious metal! Throwing things away can be great relief, a way of cleansing your space. This garbage pin can be a call to reflect what we do with our waste. By wearing your own ‘experiences’ in a clear plastic garbage bag on your body, the piece becomes very personal. It has both an exhibitionistic and a voyeuristic side to it, because it could show what the wearer has been up to.
The contents of the bag go beyond their material properties, and may represent happiness, hope, fears or even secrets and guilt. The contents of the bag do not have to be random waste, but it can consciously be filled with symbols for contaminants of our society like war, pollution and global warming to challenge the voyeur.
Ana Cardim is the wonderful Portuguese designer of this manufactured pin. She mass-produced her pin so that many wearers could 'finish' the piece by filling the garbage bags. The piece is a kit that includes 5 spare plastic bags and wires. It even became a project called the garbage pin project (sponsored with a grant by the Portuguese ministry of culture). 100 artists teamed up to each do their own version of the Garbage Pin, by filling 5 garbage bags accompanied by photographs and a little written synopsis. This means 500 little garbage bags! Hopefully a schedule of the exhibitions will be published soon.

FINGERFOOD

2008-12-12T22:42:00.008+01:00

Looking for some new jewelry to wear is part of getting ready for the holiday season. So is planning what to eat. With these FINGERFOOD-rings your problems are easily solved! The ultimate party multi-tasking solution is sold by FRED and designed by Ken Goldman (what's in a name!). I love the serene white plastic plate with a little curly rim for extra glamour. No Christmas dinner is complete without using these funny rings first! They are a new design, but FRED sells lots more jewelry like these COOL JEWELS, 2-CARAT CUP and KEY RING. All of FRED's stuff is so much fun, I know my Christmas wish-list just got lots bigger!

The Furry ring

2008-12-03T22:09:00.016+01:00

An amazing piece of jewelry this week! It is this stunning Furry ring, a simple shape with a soft furry center completely out of gold. It has been created by Giovanni Corvaja in 2001. The ring is an impressive piece and it is an important step towards a his new series named the Golden Fleece collection.

Giovanni Corvaja started this new collection to satisfy his need to search for the mythological Golden Fleece. Instead of keeping to look for it, he decided to actually make it himself. After working very hard at his life's philosophy for 12 years, he has now succeeded.
He regards his success to have made the Golden Fleece as a journey, not as a destination. He managed to make great pieces of jewelry on that journey, like the Furry ring. I am quite anxious to touch it, since the gold really looks like fur! I am so glad he kept on doing research to get to a totally new level of golden fur. The pieces of the Golden Fleece collection are said to be strikingly soft to touch. Caressing one would give you the amazing sensation of touching a kitten. The Golden Fleece itself also looks much finer. These are unexpected, unbelievable differences between the Furry ring and the pieces of the new collection.

Until the 27th of December the Furry ring can be seen at Galerie Bijouterie Jungblut in Luxemburg (city), Luxemburg; as a part of the exhibition Jacqueline Ryan and Giovanni Corvaja.

In the spring of 2009 the preliminary collection of 5 pieces, also containing a ring; will be presented to the public for the first time in Munich, Germany at a special exhibition of Modern Masters. So in three months you can expect an update of this collection (with photographs) on this blog!

Much much more about this incredible Golden Fleece and its Italian creator can be read here.

ear positioners

2008-11-28T09:02:00.008+01:00

This weeks’ piece is a jewel made for rabbits and not humans. These Ear Positioners are part of a series of 'animal accessories' and show a human’s interpretation of what an animal might need or want.

At first, I was attracted by the way this work looks, it is incredibly well-made. Then I was repelled by its function, why would you force a bunny's ear into a certain position? They made me wonder in which situation a rabbit could possibly need or want to wear them. It might be fashionable for rabbits to keep their ears stuck in that position at all times, or it can be used as a helmet that goes with a suit of armor. So a way a bunny could benefit from wearing the “Ear Positioners” is, when people(!) made it go to war, and it had to fight opponents armed with swords (yes, having two boys really influences my thoughts!). In both ways, humans take control of a fictional rabbits’ life!

This interpretation of the way humans manipulate the world around us to suit our needs, is the work of Miel-Margarita Paredes, from Portland OR, USA. She uses the animal form in a humoristic way to engage the viewer and point out the sheer absurdity of our interactions with the world around us. Whether these serve the greater good of humanity or are done out of mere entertainment.

Storica

2008-11-21T08:42:00.011+01:00

For this weeks post I have found a beautiful contemporary piece of history (Storica is Italian and means historical in English) in this neckpiece, by Anna Fornari. It is made out of 18 karat gold and sealing wax. It touches subjects like identity and identification and made me think of soldiers wearing their name-tags around their neck.

Identification-symbols have been worn by men since ancient history. Signet rings are a good example of that. They have been used troughout history to make waxed seals and are a representative of historical-symbolical evolution. Anna Fornari, has been researching and working with seals and their traditions. In this piece, the Italian artist has translated history in a contemporary way, the history of mankind resting on the shoulders of today's people.

Unfortunately I won't be able to see this well-designed neckpiece for real, but it is presented at the Alternatives Gallery in Rome, Italy, as part of the exhibit 'I segni dell’identità' starting on the 22nd of November 2008!
Found thanks to Klimt02.

Where's my gum

2008-11-13T22:45:00.010+01:00

What if you're happily chewing on a piece of gum and all of a sudden it drops out of your mouth? You might think, whaa, where did it go?! But not Jiska Hartog and Michiel Henneman or the jewellery design duo 'Wanted Jewellery'; they consider it as a new piece of jewellery! They even like the idea so much that they reproduced the gum in a nice bubblegummie-pink color of plastic and turned it into a brooch. To a lot of people it might be a bit over the top, and that is exactly what they are interested in. They like to play with the expectations of the whole society of what jewellery really is. To them, not only can jewellery be an expression of wealth, it can also show your taste, and that is taken very literally in this case! Personally, I love the idea and the way it looks. Although as a hard core minty fresh gum-addict it also feels like a bit of a waste, I think I'd rather keep it where it belongs, in my mouth!

Michiel Henneman and Jiska Hartog have started 'Wanted Jewellery' in March 2007 and are based in The Netherlands.

Super Karin alert ring

2008-10-31T21:11:00.008+01:00

Super Karin saves the world and still manages to look fabulous!

Yippee, I'm on a family trip to Minnesota, USA. An ultimate chance to take a look at local jewelry! Karin Jacobson is a jewelry designer from Minneapolis, who uses sterling silver and lab-grown (less expensive) gems to be able to focus on form and make her designs affordable, this in combination with beauty, craftmanship and great design which is what fine jewellery has always been about. As also with this ring, play is a central theme in her work. Her inspiration comes from science fiction, comic books, mechanical toys and Japanese animation. This ring is called Bubbler and is part of a series named 'Cocktail Rings'. On the first page of her comic book- catalog, she (as a comic figure called Super Karin) uses it as an alert ring! I thought it was so much fun, I had to share it with you! This comic book is what makes her jewelry stand out.

PS this blog seems to be all about rings, but that is not my intention! There will be other pieces, who knows maybe next time??

Crystal ice ring

2008-10-23T11:42:00.008+02:00

mold

crystal ice ring

this was 1 ring, the water left-over from one ring

A beautiful reaction to our mass consumer society is made by Carolien Van Den Hole in the shape of crystal ice rings. She an textile- and productdesigner from Belgium, who searches for authenticity, uniqueness, experience and emotional satisfaction that lasts in her work. So instead of selling rings, she sells the mold for you to make your own crystal ice ring. Wear it straight out of the freezer for only about one minute until it melts. The sensation would be a cherishable moment on a hot summers day. Her design also makes a great gift. That way you have the choice of giving the mold so the receiver can make as many rings as she/he likes or giving your own homemade crystal ice ring to be worn by the receiver for just that special moment.

Last week I went to the opening of Carolien Van Den Hole's exhibition E.erste H.ulp B.ij O.ntwerpen (First Aid With Design) at the Beyond Fashion Gallery in Antwerp, Belgium. The rings and their molds are on display in a stylish little white freezer with a glass door.

Vote for this ring

2008-10-18T14:22:00.003+02:00

This is the wonderful The love inside #5 ring by Colleen Baran. She is a multidisciplinary artist (working in jewellery, photography and book-work) from Canada. She exhibits her work internationally and has been published in North America. Her work is based on a love of language pattern and form, as show well in in her The love story #5 ring. The ring is individually handmade of sterling silver and mylar paper that can be cut but not torn. It has bold, subtle and brave declarations of love hidden within. You can write your own little secret notes for your sweetheart to carry with them. Just slide the little story inside the ring..... It is one of a series of rings that in some way or another carry a love story and it is my personal favorite! The love inside #5 is a simple and sleek structure that has a hidden romantic side to it. This makes wearing (and giving) the ring incredibly personal without showing it off in the design.

The love inside #5 ring is currently nominated in the Cooper-Hewitt Peoples Design Award! Go and click to vote for The love inside #5 at: http://peoplesdesignaward.cooper-hewitt.org/2008/nominee/1592

You can vote until tuesday October 21st, so hurry!

Have a great weekend!