Sieraad Art Fair, Booth 65

Westergasfabriek Amsterdam

November 3rd to 6th 2011

Broches para las Chicas is the third edition of an academic project by the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp. Students of the 2nd and 3rd bachelor courses at the jewellery department were asked to design and produce ornaments for a specific person. Past [...]]]>  

Sieraad Art Fair, Booth 65

Westergasfabriek Amsterdam

November 3rd to 6th 2011

Broches para las Chicas is the third edition of an academic project by the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp. Students of the 2^nd and 3^rd bachelor courses at the jewellery department were asked to design and produce ornaments for a specific person. Past editions of the project have seen Walter Van Beirendock, Marnic Smessaert, Anita Evenepoel and Marjan Unger portraying rings and necklaces produced by the Academy’s students.

This year the academy invited Surinam-born designer and jewellery artist Chequita Nahar and myself to commission the students to create a type of ornament that we both have found alluring and, at the same time, foreign to our habitual choice of jewellery: brooches.  Brooches are one the oldest type of jewellery and they are among the most frequently produced ornaments by contemporary jewelers:  their possibilities are almost endless and its prominent area of display makes the brooch a remarkable media for communication.

The students were challenged to produce brooches that would help us commissioners to become acquainted with the use of these ornaments and that could establish a relation with the geocultural area we come from, Latin America, and the place where we live now: Europe.

Designing for another person starts at the Academy as an exercise that students will have to master through their entire careers as professional jewellery makers. Their ideas, experience and talents are faced with the tastes, dislikes and demands of someone they come to know through a few working sessions. This results in a great opportunity for the students to acquire real-life experience and for the audience to be treated with the promise of surprising young talents.

El valor de la palabra

Since 2007, I’ve been committed to expand the scene of art [...]]]> If in Amsterdam Art Jewelry is taught at an Art School such as Gerrit Rietveld and in Munich it is also taught at the Kunst Akademie, in Brazil we have jewelry classes squeezed among fashion or design courses with a very commercial and industrial orientation.

Since 2007, I’ve been committed to expand the scene of art jewelry in Brazil through the NOVAJOIA project.  As I said here before, one of the main concerns is related to education. The year 2010 has proved to be an important one, once we are getting closer to the art colleges.

The first step happened in August with the ‘Nova Joalheria’ (New Jewellery) inside the Core of Culture Department of Fundação Armando Alvares Penteado (FAAP) one of the best art colleges in São Paulo where I am teaching practical and theoretical classes.

The second one was given by Ana Paula de Campos, a brazilian jewelry artist, a teacher with more than 15 years of experience and a very active collaborator of NOVAJOIA.

After going to Gray Area Symposium to talk about education in Brazil, she has invited Cristina Filipe (that also coordinates the jewelry department at Ar.Co, Lisbon) to come to give a workshop as part of the post-graduation program in Arts of UNICAMP (University of Campinas, São Paulo).

So now, in September, Filipe has been in São Paulo for a complete program. She has given a lecture and participated in a round table along side with teachers and coordinators of UNICAMP: Prof. Dra. Anna Paula Gouveia, Prof. Dr. Edson  Pfutzenreuter  and Prof. Dra. Maria de Fátima Morethy Couto.

With a very conceptual work that goes beyond traditional jewelry ways of expression, going further on using medias such as photography and video, the quality of Filipe’s works and words were crucial to the positive reception of Art Jewelry in this academic environment.

After the round-table, Filipe has given workshop and once the University belongs to the government, the course was free of charge. I had the opportunity to be one of the assistants during these days and it was great to see 18 students of different backgrounds getting in touch for the first time with art jewelry practices and thinking.As a result of this meeting, we had an open door to the art-jewelry in the Art Department of one of the most important universities in the country.

After all, what does it mean? Getting closer to the institutions may provide more opportunities for international guest artists to come.  This means different ways of thinking, the enhancement of the dialogue between art jewelry creators globally, what can be productive for all sides.

The Art Jewelry world is small and Latin Americans have a certain feeling of isolation of the scene. These efforts of interchange are slowly growing allowing to reach broader audiences. One step at a time, let’s hope for the best in the future.

To see pictures of the workshop, click on the following link:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mirlaf/sets/72157624819856783/

Think Twice, curated by the Netherlands-based, Mexican-born architect and historian Valeria Vallarta Siemelink, is the largest exhibition [...]]]> The Otro Diseño Foundation Foundation is proud to announce the opening of Think Twice: New Latin American Jewellery, to take place at the Museum of Art and Design (MAD) in New York from October 12, 2010 through January 8, 2011.

Think Twice, curated by the Netherlands-based, Mexican-born architect and historian Valeria Vallarta Siemelink, is the largest exhibition of contemporary jewellery from Latin America ever organized and it will tour around the Americas and Europe during the next few years.

This exhibition, featuring over 125 pieces, aims to offer the audience a glimpse of the history of contemporary jewellery in Latin America (through a small collection that contain pieces from the 1940′s and to the 1990′s)  and comprehensive view of its development in the last 10 years, by showing the way in which visual artists and jewellery makers born or living in Latin America view and relate, through jewellery, to the continent.  The exhibition has been organized in three idle groups (History, memory and Tradition, A Flair for Invention and Latin America as a Source of Inspiration) which, rather than imposing a rigorous system of classification, they attempt to give sense to a broad and diverse selection. So, many of the works that compose this collection could easily fit into more that one of these groups. The collection as a whole reflects the continent’s historical development, dynamic mix of cultures and its socio-political realities, all of which are constantly transforming themselves.

The Ca. 85 artists that take part of this exhibition show that Latin American jewellery today is tremendously varied in its scope: figurative or abstract, conceptual or symbolic, traditional or experimental. It intersects between the conventionally distinct categories of craft, visual art, and design and fusses seemingly diverse references, concepts and materials. Able to generate both national and transnational communication, it all has been made by committed jewellery makers, heirs to a millenary tradition and part of a culture in which jewellery is a common language.

Think Again, developed by the Otro Diseño Foundation, is born out of a passion for jewellery as a medium of personal and cultural expression and of the conviction that the fresh, intense and highly creative work of Latin American jewellery makers outstandingly represents and nurtures the culture they live in and therefore greatly enriches and diversifies the international landscape of contemporary jewellery.

As commented by Urusula Newman, Jewellery Curator at the MAD “This is a very special show. This jewellery is virtually unknown in the United States. The artists’ realize their sophisticated concepts through intriguing choices of materials and techniques, creating unique works that present a fascinating amalgam of indigenous cultural elements and the latest trends in international contemporary jewellery design”.

This exhibition represent a tremendous achievement in the promotion of contemporary jewellery for Latin America and a huge effort by the Otro Diseño Foundation, the participant artists and all the museums that have generously decided to host the exhibition.

We hope that many of you will have the chance to visit the exhibition at the MAD or at any other of its future venues.

Hena Lee, Brazil

Jorge Manilla, Mexico-Belgica

Jimena Rios, Argentina

Claudia Cucchi, Brazil-Italia

Martha Camargo, Colombia

Ximena Briceno, Peru-Australia

Nilton Cunha, Brazil

Carlos Martiel, Cuba

Carlos Castanon, Argentina

Linda Sanchez, Colombia

Dani Soter, Brazil

Art Smith, Cuba/Jamaica-USA

Beat Eissmann, Germany-Mexico

Carolina Hornauer, Chile

Reny Golcman, Brazil

Helena Biermann, Colombia-Alemania

Leda Daverio, Argentina

Celio Braga, Brazil

Chequita Nahar, Surinam

Teresa Margolles, Mexico

]]> http://www.grayareasymposium.org/blog/6379/feed 2 http://www.grayareasymposium.org/blog/6355 http://www.grayareasymposium.org/blog/6355#comments Thu, 02 Sep 2010 09:37:14 +0000 Valeria Vallarta Siemelink http://www.grayareasymposium.org/blog/?p=6355 Every year, thousands of six-pack rings threaten the lives of shore birds and marine animals harming our environment.

Greencard Creative, a multidisciplinary agency that creates, transforms and promotes brands, movements and initiatives from and to the American Latino audience in the US and in Latin America and often focused in environmental and social matters, has developed [...]]]> Every year, thousands of six-pack rings threaten the lives of shore birds and marine animals harming our environment.

Greencard Creative, a multidisciplinary agency that creates, transforms and promotes brands, movements and initiatives from and to the American Latino audience in the US and in Latin America and often focused in environmental and social matters, has developed Origomu, a project that promotes to promote environmental awareness through design. Origomu is a technique that uses the plastic six-pack rings used to hold together six-packs of beer and soda cans to create jewellery.

Greencard Creative has created a contest to select and award the best three pieces:

1st Prize $5,000
2nd Prize $2,000
3rd Prize $1,000

And to feature the best 500 pieces in a book published by Taschen Books.

Although the contest was originally targeted to the general public (so visitors of this blog are kindly invited to participate), Otro Diseno believes that Jewellery has a tremendous power to communicate and its portability makes it an ideal media to promote awareness on matters as important as this one. We are convinced that the limitless talent and ability to transform, create and communicate though ornaments that you jewellery-makers have, would make a remarkable contribution to the Origomu initiative.  Therefore, we would like to invite you all to take part of this project which we hope you will find challenging, encouraging and important enough.

The only premise is to use plastic six-pack rings as part of your piece. You can either learn the Origomu technique explained at the Origomu site of the create your own. The rings can be manipulated any way you can think of and can be combined with all kinds of materials. The format is free and you can present up to five pieces (or a series of five).

To enter the contest, all entry forms and photos of your finished work must be submitted before November 30th, no later than 11:59PM US East Time.

Please, vist the Origomu webpage to learn more about the project.

http://www.origomu.com/participate.php

We are sure that many of you will be able to make a good statement about this important matter. We hope thatyou will be challenged by smart initiative and that the Taschen book will feature the work of many of you.

Todo empezó a partir de varios cuestionamientos sobre mi trabajo, [...]]]> It all started from several questions about what I do: what is my work as a jeweler, and that’s how I began to do some research on open pit mines, established in breathtaking, secluded locations, hidden from the view and knowledge of people.

Todo empezó a partir de varios cuestionamientos sobre mi trabajo, y fue así que empecé a investigar sobre las minas a cielo abierto,  ubicadas en espectaculares parajes inaccesibles, escondidas a los ojos y al conocimiento de los pueblos.

…”The 100 brooches-medals, filled with waste from the matter that is left after creating the pieces of jewelry, make a transgressive statement. Their serial reproduction deactivates the concept of uniqueness and, therefore, questions the social role of pieces of jewelry as amplifiers of identities. Dust becomes an image of fragmentation, dissolution and homogenization of shared identities in crisis, in a world which is on the verge of self-destruction. Their appearance of brooches-lockets re-connects us to a dark, shared origin within the womb of the earth, which may help us redeem and protect ourselves, as the ancient charms of primitive men when they believed in the need to restore the balance with their environment, broken by their hunting and food collection activities.”

Ramon Puig Cuyàs, May 2010.

…”Los 100 broches-medalla, rellenos de los residuos que quedan de de las materias expresivas después de hacer sus joyas, se manifiestan con voluntad transgresora. Su multiplicación seriada provoca la desactivación de lo singular, y por lo tanto el cuestionamiento de la función social de la joya como amplificadora de identidades. El polvo se convierte en imagen de la fragmentación, la disolución y la homogenización de identidades compartidas en un mundo en crisis, en un mundo asomado al abismo de la autodestrucción. Pero además su aspecto de broches-relicario les confiere la capacidad de re-ligarnos a un oscuro origen compartido, que se hallaba en las entrañas de la tierra, y que pueden ayudar a redimirnos y a protegernos, como lo hacían los antiguos amuletos del hombre primitivo cuando creía en la necesidad de restablecer la armonía con su entorno, rota por sus actividades de caza y recolección.”

Ramon Puig Cuyàs , Mayo 2010

Brooch: Fragment of the  picture of the open pit mine Veladero in San Juan, Argentina, and silver sweeps-filings from my workbench.

Broche:  Fragmento de foto de la mina a cielo abierto de Veladero, en San Juan, Argentina,  y mi  polvo-basura de plata  (de mesa mi de joyería).

Thus was edited these 100 books, containing 100 pins.

Y… así fué como se editaron estos 100 libros que contienen los 100 broches.

When I meet an artist that is somehow working on the [...]]]> I have a tendency to make connections with other disciplines when I am looking at an Art-Jewelry piece. The points of connections with drawing and jewellery are particularly interesting for me. I’ve been researching this dialogue for a long time .

When I meet an artist that is somehow working on the same subject, at least in my point of view, I find it stimulating. I see other solutions for the inner questions I ask myself all the time: the crossing over the two dimensions world into the three-dimensional one.

Many of us are familiar with Doris Betz pieces, where she reveals her concern with lines , transforming the graphite of a pencil into silver lines looking for spontainity.

Doris Betz

There is also the coloful work of Liana Pattihis recently published at Dreaming Jewelry from Monsa Publishers showing not only her peculiar enamel procedings, but at least for me, a profusion of lines that are vigorous in its intense red tones.

Liana Patthis

Last week I saw some of the works of Hena Lee that can be seen as working somehow in this direction.

With a background in architecture,  the brazilian artist  has participated in NOVAJOIA’s workshops with  Ela Bauer (october 2009) and Karin Seufert & Tore Svensson (november 2009). Since then she started to develop a jewellery work that, to me, dialogues with drawing.

The change started from questioning  herself about her own identity. The chosen materials revealed her korean inheritance: sesame, pepper powder and chopsticks.

The chopsticks were initialy used in its natural colors. Once painted in black ,they started to bring a very strong graphic quality to the work.

The developments of the most recent pieces are showing an increase of its graphic qualities. The thick and hard line of the choptsticks are giving space to the flexible and light cotton thread. The line that was holding the pieces together now is also working as a plastic element.

When there is color, it is punctual.

The domain of the black, as FRUTIGER explains, works removing the light, emphasizing the space around, activating it. We see in these pieces drawings that go further in the three-dimensional space.

Hena Lee is one of the brazilian artists in Think Again, opening next october 12th (MAD/NY).

about : FRUTIGER, Adrian. Sinais & Símbolos. São Paulo: Ed. Martins Fontes, 2001.

I also would like to take this opportunity to thank Iaspis who supported me and made my travel to Mexico possible.

Thank you!

It doesn’t seem so long ago at all – the symposium event and exhibitions, the noise, chaos, and excitement of being [...]]]>

It doesn’t seem so long ago at all – the symposium event and exhibitions, the noise, chaos, and excitement of being in Mexico, and the volcanic ash cloud that tried to keep most of us there…

It was good that so many of you and more were able to be there, and I extremely enjoyed meeting you!

This Sunday our exhibition will have come to an end and will be dismounted.

Valeria is preparing a report including information to those artists who had work sold, but I wanted to finally post a few images to give some impressions. The exhibition looked amazing, and got extremely good reactions. We had ‘floating’ showcases suspended from the ceiling, one for the work of each couple.

That’s it for today, hopefully more soon!

Andrea

The mirror – as a metaphor of this encounter – displays my body in the foreign land, confirming [...]]]> To arrive at a new place and to set up a mirror in order to reflect oneself is an egocentric attitude, a sense of our own identity and a certain way of feeling protected, of feeling at home…

The mirror – as a metaphor of this encounter – displays my body in the foreign land, confirming that I am there.

What more than a mirror can impose on us our very own presence?

But, behind that mirror, the other’s space is represented: the point of arrival!… and even if it is hidden – we can feel it, or know it, through the sound, which reminds us of the culture and the existence of another…

The pair of head-phones which comes from the space behind the mirror – the colonized space – allows each “colonizer” to see himself or herself and to listen to a “warlike” sound (10’:04’’) which translates the tension of the moment of the encounter between the “colonizers” and the “colonized”.

Just as Narcissus who found his own reflection in a lake, fell in love with it and followed it. Here we too as colonizers feel safer with the presence of our own image in an unknown place.

Is our presence and the way in which we impose ourselves in a new territory enough to say that that place belongs to us? Or is our existence as ephemeral as Narcissus’s in the water of a lake?

A mirage that merely attempts to erase the roots of a place?

This ambiguity of seeing ourselves, and of hearing within us, the voice of another – translates the underlying idea of the theme of our work in this Ultrabarroco project.

I see me and I feel you, your world… your deep and profound roots coming into my soul… I am not only me anymore. I cannot be only me from the moment I touch your ground…

I can hear the sound of your finger writing on the sand… the silence of your movement echoes in my head. I hear the sound of your presence… that’s all I can hear for now.

I can hear You. Can you see Me? Can you see my reflection behind that mirror? Listening to the sound of your presence?

10´04´´

How can I be Me being You?

the opening of the main exhibition. (lots of claps).