With the fast developing society, jewellery has been endowed a distinct value in modern society. Jewellery had been seen as gems in traditionally, the precious value determined to become a representation of identity that able to decide a person’s position in social hierarchy. The jewellery status in modern times extend as an association between itself and people, it will not just an object when someone wearing it. Contemporary jewellery started as a movement among makers seeking to record what jewellery is and how it can express value. [1] Makers desire for exploring jewellery as an experience and a performance making visible its vital relationship to the body, the notion of them is jewellery could reachable by anyone. [2]
Susan Cohn is a jeweller and designer based in Melbourne, she is captivated by the interaction between design and jewellery and attempting to find out how to help people define their place in the world in terms of using jewellery that have an association with them.
“The Security Pass” (figure. 1) is one of Cohn’s works which exhibited in the Design Women exhibition at the National Gallery of Vitoria, this exhibition is about showing some outstanding works made by female designers. “The Security Pass” is not like traditional jewellery which has well-made metal card appearance. The front red piece has a few hollow spaces on in terms of allowing people to see the text on the back piece, it said: “access all areas”. Two pieces are connected by a rubber strip with a metal clip. In this work, Cohn explored the social meaning of the everyday object in people’s daily life without its functionality, the ID tag is often worn by people as a part of their job, however, considering its worn as jewellery on the body, apparently could be a personal ornament then it is able to speak to people, every mark on it tells the story of wearer, and there is a relationship has been built up between the security pass and wearer. The security pass design usually with a simple design which makes the wearer have an official and professional look.
Similar to Cohn’s work, “ MEGA, ring” (figure. 2) is another unconventional jewellery made by Camilla Prasch, the high-tech ruffles of the Mega ring is made of red-dyed snap fasteners, nylon thread and silicone discs. This bracelet was shown an exploration of the theme in contemporary jewellery that the use of logic for a system of components.[3] Prasch turns some subtle object in common life into a piece of large jewellery in terms of highlighting the meaning behind them as jewellery. In this work, the association between jewellery and human body also has been shown, the wearer will get aware of the existence of these subtle kinds of stuff in the life, they may not have any functional purpose, but they start to get meaning when they have been worn. People are surrounded by these sorts of subtle pieces of stuff all the time, but they have never noticed them. Prasch made them have the ability to be worn as well as putting fashion value on them. In Cohn’s work, the security pass is intended to be worn, not only as a functional card but also as a piece of jewellery, however, Prasch’s bracelet is not intended to be worn before made, the meaning and wearability will take place when they have been put together.
Another important meaning of contemporary jewellery is to send the wearer’s signal to the world; this is similar to jewellery’s traditional function, which is to demonstrate the wearer’s experiences and social status. For instance, Madeleine Albright who was well-known as the first female United States Secretary of State in U.S history, was a jewellery collector as well. She would wear a particular brooch from her collection of brooches to send a message or show her attitude to other people on diplomatic occasions. “The Security Pass” and “MEGA ring” pieces of jewellery are both intended to send a signal to exhibition visitors, the ID tag sends a piece of information about authority and the ring is about uniqueness. In the design aspect, they both are a good design with good taste, the high-quality design outcomes show two artists’ craftsman-skill and competence. The meaning and exploration behind these two works demonstrate they have good taste. Plato’s thesis about good taste was that the ideas are more important than actions, the design must have content instead of just a gorgeous appearance, and the thought behind the design is more important than its actual creation. [4] The artists are making a significant impact on the development of contemporary jewellery, not just showing the basic theory, but expressing an innovation which clarifies the reason of why they should be defined as a good design with good taste.
In conclusion, “The Security Pass” and “MEGA ring” both demonstrate using innovative materials and design technique as a part of jewellery that explores the definition of jewellery further and shows a good design practice in the development of contemporary jewellery, these two artists fusing unusual materials with definition of traditional jewellery to deliver a brand new concept to the world and enhancing people’s understanding of jewellery.
[1] Cohn, Susan, Sudjic, Deyan, National Gallery of Victoria, and Design Museum. 2012. Unexpected Pleasures : The Art and Design of Contemporary Jewellery. New York: Rizzoli International.
[2] Ibid.
[3] Ibid.
[4] Christoforidou, Despina, Elin Olander, Anders Warell, and Lisbeth Svengren Holm. 2012. Good Taste vs. Good Design: A Tug of War in the Light of Bling. The Design Journal 15, no. 2: 188.
Design Ideas 