Welcome, Maria Constanza!

…and happy pregnancy!

I must agree with something that Helena Biermann once told me: one of the things that fascinate me of living in Europe, in a country farther from the Equator line than mine, is the change of seasons!… In Mexico we only have one season through the whole year (well, and the rainy season… which is just rain, but no real change of anything). Spring and Autumn are still a wonder to me. The fits little spring of green among the snow; the first yellowing leave abandoning its three; the firs minuscule flake of snow landing in the car’s windshield… those are all such joyful moments.

The Autumn has started in Holland. It is still not cold; it is still not gray (he,he) but the leaves have started their silent, almost imperceptible change. Look what I found:

It seems like the seasons collided in this tiny, little leaf…  like all of us colliding to make this a rather colorful Gray Area…

Happy change of seasons to all!

When I was in Art school and I got to know Ligia Clark’s work, I was also working in a silver jewellery workshop. I was concerned both with my art production and “design” one. Knowing her work gave me the first glimpse of a way of producing jewellery that could have an extra meaning, combining things, going to the gray area.

Here I post some images of a collection of 2004/2005 I presented at Galerie Biro. The title is the same of one of her works “Nostalgia do Corpo” in portuguese, “Longing for the body” in english. I think that’s what a piece of jewellery longs for: a body to give it a broader meaning.

The interesting thing about Clark is that the research of the participation of the viewer, turning him/her into an active part of the work, drove her towards art therapy in the end of her life

This is a blog was originally created as a forum for a group of Latin American and European artists and jewellery-makers who, for a period of six months, exchanged thoughts, experiences, ideas, and images on three main topics: jewellery, global mobility and identity. And for viewers from all over the world to witness how an exhibition developed from scratch.

To learn more on this project, read the introductory essay Take a Walk on the Gray Area. To see the interaction between the various couples, click on the couple’s names at the right column of the blog.

The processes and results of the blog were as varied as the artists themselves and the way their own lives have evolved in the past six months. Some of the collaborations were rich and successful. Some others not so much. Some questions that gave birth to this project were answered to a more or lesser degree.  But it has all resulted in an extraordinary collection of ornaments that undoubtedly talks about the will and desire to communicate, to learn from each other and to make of contemporary jewellery a more culturally diverse scenario.

This project has been plagued with all the eventualities of life:  encounters, death, loss, births, communication, miscommunication, new migrations, change of paths, construction, destruction, abandonment and among this, an exceptional exhibition evolved. Walking the Gray Area premiered at Galeria Emilia Cohen in Mexico City in April 2010, featuring over 60 jewellery pieces, produced by 40 artists from an uncertain total number of  involved countries.

The exhibition has come to an end. But not the contact between artists from utterly divergent backgrounds and cultural systems or the growing interest of a recurring audience of over 12 thousand visitors about contemporary jewellery and its great ability to communicate, provoke, critique, record, transmit, and generate meanings, qualities, and ideas.

Walking the Gray Area remains now as a place where artists, designers and an audience interested in learning about this fascinating discipline can meet, discuss and share with others those ideas, images and projects that motivate and inspire them. A place to celebrates jewellery and cultural diversity.

Enjoy this blog and make it grow!

Lygia Clark Sensorial Mask Watch video!

Ligya Clark Hello Everybody

I thought it would take some time before everybody kicked in and post something the first weeks after launching Walking the gray line blog. But no, you really surprised us with your comments and pictures.

I have seen many postings related to travel experiences. It looks like a lot of you have had opportunities to live and travel abroad. Having been raised in one country and then moving to another and yet another to develop personally and professionally has been a trend in artists lives even before passports were invented, some time in the 19th century.

Artists have always been at the antipodes of change. If we think what makes artists look for new horizons we will probably discover what art can do for society.

I like art because of its ability to give one a constant change in references. Creativity leads us into searching for possibilities, waiting for someone to explore them. But, the majority of the people believe that creativity is something only artists and writers are endowed with. Artists will do better bearing in mind that the role of creation is to give people the sense of empowerment, a feeling of being able to renew their lives and themselves.

When thinking creativity in jewelry I am reminded about the importance of the body as language. We move around the world carrying our bodies, clothing and ornaments with us. They tell the world where we are coming from and what we are. Our non-verbal communication establishes our position before the others.

Helio Oiticica and Lygia Clark were two Brazilian artists active in the 60´s and 70´s whose works were inspired by the body. The believed that we are what we wear. They made sculptures that moved around with us. Inspired by the Samba schools Oiticica created a type of clothing he called Parangoles, a wearable object that allows the person to move and dance with the artwork. Lygia Clark also created works from scrap materials, like plastic bags, pantyhose, polyurethane that were meant to be used and played with by the people. One of her works is the Sensorial Mask, with small containers on the nose area where she put clove, garlic or cumin, to stimulate the sense of smell; in the ears she used rattles made of sand and pebbles, and around the eyes she used glass beads and plastic grids to alter the view of the world outside. This, I believe, was a blurring of the limits between concrete art and wearable jewelry. Since then art object were no longer seen exclusively assomething external alienated from the body of the viewer.

Jewelry is a hybrid that takes us further into the realm of creativity. It travels with us and is interchangeable, playful, and significant. It becomes part of our own body and language.

So, look into your travel experiences and tell us what sort of things and experiences you have encountered that made you incorporate them into your creations. Post pictures and tell us where the objects came from. Do they come from home or are they traces of your journeys?

Jose Springer

Hello José Manuel!

I really enjoyed the challenge that you have proposed, especially after having spoken of Helio Oiticica and Lygia Clark…

I am posting these pictures because they speak about my daily life and my inner journey (in general is that it takes me away). These objects were my “work in progress”during a workshop with Christophe Zellweger here in Lisbon.
Through them I wanted to talk about “breath” and gradually I realized that the point was “communication.”
We can speak the same “língua” but not have the same ”linguagem”*. The lack of communication makes me breathless. And that can happen when I’m away from “home “(well, the notion of ” home “is very relative!). In certain places and for a certain period I am like a fish out of water. I feel foreign.
Therefore I seek perform pieces that encourage interaction, curiosity. Just like a kid who wants to make friend and he lends his superhero’s cape (a children’s Parangolé…).

*in Portuguese there are two terms for “language” to express a language spoken in one country and another term that refers more to the expression of this language.

(the hairy arms belong to Segio Clark)

While I’m waiting the return of  Sebastian, I came here to talk  about doors … Doors that sometimes we need to open , without knowing exactly what to expect on the other side…

The door symbolizes the passage between the known and unknown. An invitation.

The other side is a kind of mirror that does not reflect my own image.

( à suivre…)

As written by Aurelio Asiain, poet, essayist and critic, author of this photo:

I met this guy last year, parking just in front of Kansai Gaidai main entrance. He does not know a word of Spanish, and just the basics on Mexico — the wrong ones. But he had been in L. A. and had fallen in love with the flag — oh, that Eagle, man!

On the Mexican Influence in Hirakata

Originally uploaded by ionushi

I have found, at the Dutch Design Week in Eindhoven, the wonderful, latest work of Forma Fantsma, a design collective fomed by Andrea Trimarchi (Sicilia) and Simone Farresin (Veneto). Moulding Traditions is a collection integrated by one bowl, a vase, a wine bottle and a flask. Reviving the fading traditional Sicilian ceramics, Forma Fantasma’s collection reflects the state of non-European immigration to Italy. From Moor invasions to present-day clandestine arrivals by boat, elements of Italian history and reality serve to embellish the majolica pieces. The themes in this project are plenty: craft’s role in keeping the past alive, attitudes towards immigration, the effects of allowing history to repeat itself.*

Beautiful, provocative and inspiring!

http://www.formafantasma.com

* Quoted from Mocoloco

I invite you to visit the blog of Andrée-Anne Dupuis-Bourret.  It’s wonderful and an excellent working tool.

Um abraço para todos!

http://territoiredessens.blogspot.com

Dani