words from a friend

I had this email from my girlfriend about our project, and just wanted to share it.

"Was reading about a cafe in Berlin called cafe Kauf Dich Gluecklich, buy to make yourself happy, where you can buy the furniture, the pictures and even the waitresses earrings, while eating wafers and ice cream. Perhaps you could do something similar with your consumer jewellery project. As one of your exhibitions you could have a cafe for a few days and wear all your jewellery. Combine some kind of thought salon with market and trading, creating desire and repulsion with your bejewelled ness.

I like how in consumer thinking the lines get blurred between people and objects. I also think its slightly creepy too! Its funny how recycling seems to have become the flip side of the coin to the consumer market and how there is so much morality and value judgements inherent in the terms themselves.

I loved the melted plastic and the blurred posters.

It is also so sexual , consume, consummate, consume her
gobble gobble greedy gob

Its a great idea that you are working this way. Look forward to seeing lots more images liked your sauce bottles. Made me think how an element of the consumer society is to sauce it up, make it less bland.

Also thought about the concerns over whether something is useful may be useful or useless . All very utilitarian thinking.

loved Ruudt(red?) Peters website and the phrase
if you grasp at things desirously
beauty retreats
that is somehow the essence of it all

Thank you for sharing all this with me. its lovely to have these things to go and think about and these images to enjoy."

The on-line jewellery project

I’m working and working, just for the moment more in my brain that in real life, if you understand what I mean?!

I started with avocado shells – glass beads and images…
Later on me collected different plastic cans form my home and the everyday living…
Then I run up to this amazing graffiti pieces…
I bought a warm heat air gun so I can melt down things in my home, things that I have and have found at flea markets… Inspirited by Marta and Anni.
The last things I have done is this deodorant can with the little porcelain bear in it and a “Bliw” soap that I have saw and put glass beads in. ( this haven’t I show you jet…)
And this is the closer I have come, to mix plastic cans, things from the flea market and to melt things… I like the idea to mix things and put it in some other context.

Now I wonder if you can tell me who is most interesting, because I’m a little bite stuck in this, what should I chose???

I like every part of my work, but I seems it a little bite to sprawling for the moment.

I have also some thoughts about this to making jewellery…
Is it necessary to use metal in jewellery pieces, so people understand that it’s for “real” and “serious”?!

I know when I see your things that it’s not necessary, BUT?! Are you also struggle with this kind of question? When is it a jewellery piece and how far can you go?

Now when I’m working with this kind of material it feels like I’m walking on the edge, it’s so easy that it ends up as a child has done it into kindergarten… It takes a lot of thinking, consideration and working/seeing to do things with these materials.
Just for the moment I think that I have loosing the control over the clear seeing, how to work with this, how I can do it well?!

I have a lot of new energy and also new culture seeing of this, after my trip to South Africa and the Cape Town area. You take what you have and then you create something “new” and in my case some kind of jewellery… But will people understand this in the West? And is it necessary that they do it, understand?
As long as you are true by your self and that you know why you are doing these things…

(I hope you all understand my English???)

Happy New Year

I am still working with my child-woman-man consumer, trying to creat images of different needs that are related to consuming.... ? I think these hankies have potential for the woman, together with some pearls from the fifties.

I don't know if I will manage to make pieces for all 3 groups, and my main focus is still on the child (my first model is the yellow 'padding')


I have found some items that I want to use for my child piece. Teddy bears, gloves and watch straps. I would like my piece to be made up of these things into many little paddings, but in such a way that they can also be spilt up and placed all over the body, or trail along after you on a long chain

Gloves found round about remind me of the way we all need company, to be close, to be touched - and I replace presens with teddy bears to hug for when I am not there.

Here they are nesting together, waiting for more friends.

beer cans as toys

Here is some images from my trip to South Africa/Cape Town. 7 nov- 7 dec. 2005.
It´s recycling things from beer cans, toys for children.

My trip to South Africa was a really good source of inspiration!

I saw a lots of interesting things and I meet a lots of interesting and friendly people, most craftsman.

(This is also a test to see if I could put in some images by my self, Anni has been to my apartment this evening and show me how to do it. Thanks!!!)

The on-line jewellery project

Dear Jewellery Friends.

I hope your New Year has started well?!

I have set up a deadline date at the 9th of January, BUT I have to change it.
I put the next deadline to the end of February 2006.

I and we started this on-project in February 2005 and I think it’s nice to show each other what we have coming up with under this year…
- In text and images, jewelleries that we have done about this subject; the consumer society and the consumer culture.
After that everyone who is in this on-line project has show the idea, the things and so on, we can started to take contact with gallery’s, magazines, people who may be can response at our work.
I have some ideas about to take this further, but I’m waiting for your things, the text and the images…
The blog is an art piece init self, but the final is to show our things at places in the hometown of every participant.

I’m have to tell you all, that I’m a little disappointed about this on-line project and it have take a lots of my energy to push this further on.
But I will end it! Absolutely...
I think that if you have said YES to this, that you want to be a part of this on –line project, you also have to act. Some of you haven’t been “so” in… When I’m written this I still don’t know who is in or who is out, and I think that’s a little bite sad for the people who is really in and take this project serious, even if I and some others are doing other things on the same time… We are still in this project and communicate with each other over the blog.


Please, you who know that you don’t have use the blog or communicate, can you for the last time tell me and the others if you are in or out!
I have says NO to someone, and I think you have to answer once for all.

I have also invited two jewellery artist from South Africa and the Cape Town area; Verna Jooste and Karen Jay.
They are both working with recycling jewelleries and they are really good!
I hope they will replay as soon as possible, but I know that they have summer holiday just now and Verna Jooste work on the Cape Peninsula University of Technology in Cape Town, and I have only here work mail.

So, keep on working and if you don’t want to be in this project, please tell me and the others as fast that you can! So Anni can do the final set up for this blog.

All the best
Paula

streets surround my studio

New jewellery (Martina)

Hi everyone,

I have something new to show you!! At last.. It's been very *quiet* on this blog for some time now. You have not given up on this project, have you? My energy is very low this time of year and my working process is slower than ever. It's not going fast but at least it's going forward. I have continued with my woodwork. Take a look at the images I posted in october and then compare them with these..




brooch seen from front, side and back

I think I might have some kind of hoarding tendency when it comes to making jewellery: )

Title: fantasy no.1 (Paula)

Idea: To use everday things mixed with flea market stuff and do things thatpeople can recognize... May be not for the first time they are looking onit, but when they have look at it for awile...

Material: Deocan, porcelainbear, plasticbeads, mold plastic, agate. (deoflaska, porslinsbjörn, plastpärlor, formbar plast, agat)

//Paula

This is an project in constant movement…

This is an project in constant movement…

The on-line jewellery project; consumer society started in February 2005.
It started with an idea and question to jewellery artist around the world.

The idea was that jewellery artist/designers could sit in there own hometown, studios and workshops, and be in a (internet) relation to other as well… That everyone is working with there own things, against the same subject; flee market stuff, garbage, recycling materials etc.
That everyone is doing the own interpretation of the consumer society/culture.
The project was built up with the idea that we all could communicate at the internet with eight other… That we could use the internet, to show what we were doing and hear what other think about our work, thoughts etc.

This was not an easy part!
When I started this project I thought that everyone has the same energy as I against this…
I have one idea that this project was a way to do what I want (and what other wants to do to…). Do my own things against some kind of subject, together with others, but still alone…
The jewellery world is built up with a lot of different competitions; you have to compete with other colleges.
I don’t like the idea that “every time” you want to show what you have done, you have to get the luck to “win” some competition… You need the galleries and other people’s thoughts about things… (this is my generalize).
This project has no censure; we can show our things at other places than galleries if we want, we can do it our own way… (I hope).

We started to communicate at our e-mail addresses, that was not an easy way…It takes time with sending images and so on to everyone.

BUT, then in September Anni, one of the members started the blog!
A new start on this project!!! An easy way to communicate, to see and take part!

The blog has got to be an art piece in it self. It’s a good way to see the process, the way everyone thinks about the consumer society, the consumer culture. What’s we all are inspiration in, in the way to work as jewellery artist/designers against this subject.

It ´s a nice way to get a general view over what everyone is doing, thinking etc.


At first we were 12 jewellery artist/designers in this project.
But now has 4 left the project, of different reasons…

For the moment we are 8 persons who are active in this project.
8 jewellery artist/designers who want to do this, which got the time and energy and in the end want to show our things on some place in every town, city, country we live in.

So keep on communicate, show inspiration images, things you are doing and come up with.
Send the blog further to other people, jewellery artist/ designers etc.

The next deadline is 9th January 2006.
Everyone should been ready physical, everyone should have done 3-5 pieces about the subject, some text about what you have donned, who you are… Or what ever?!

One of the ideas in this concept was that we would do some kind of paper for this project, some kind of info who we could give to galleries etc.
Now we got the blog, and that a nice way to show what we are doing and what the physical resulted is.

After the deadline we all take contact with different places, to find places to show our project.

Keep on communicate with eight other during the time…

fascinating stories..

Some weeks ago I passed a shop with the text "shopping therapy" on the window. Shopping as therapy seems to be both common and accepted as well as encouraged. Wich surprises me. Looking into the world of "consumerism" there are a lot of things to be surprised about and fascinated by. Stories about hoarding for instance. I'm sure you've all heard one before. If not;

"The San Diego Humane Society reported that last year there were five major cases of animal hoarding. These five cases involved a total of more than 245 animals. These hoarders became so focused on acquiring animals, and had so many, that eventually they were not able to properly provide for these animals, or for themselves. And they failed to recognize this as a problem." Read more at http://eldercare.uniontrib.com/news/denise/hoarding.cfm


The picture tells the story?
"Basically, 2,000 kilos of rubbish were removed in late August from the apartment, at no. 13 where I once lived"...
I found this at www.puertadelsolblog.com

paula

Hi.
I have been in contact with Nääs konsthantverk. Just a short visit…
I will contact them again when everyone has something to show on the blog.
I have left our address to the blog and hope they will look at it.
You can look at the website: www.naaskonsthantverk.se

This is an interesting project in two ways... First we got the blog as a communicating area, that’s for it self an art piece... Then we have the last and final thing; to show what’s coming out from this on-line project.

So keep on working and use the blog for communicating!
Now it is people out of the project who taking part, and look, thinking about what we are doing and how we are thinking about the consumer society in some kind of jewellery world.

gila sayes hallo

hi everybody! better late than never! I think a lot about desires for material things. Nothing matches real powershopping, a nice kick, mabye the old hunters and collector instinct drives me and makes the blod run faster.
There is also another side of the collecter storie, how I/we store all the old things. The attig is a good place, you get the things out of side, you can get it back when you need it (instead of giving it up, you never know if it suddently could be usefull.. in a possible project ?)....the problem is unfortunatly that you gather so much that it makes it allmost impossible to find anything when you do need it again!
I saw this programe on the tv, about a woman in a former east european country. She had made a fortune in selling junk/scrap...the junkqueen she was called. I vondered ..how does a junkqueens crown look like? i think i try to answer that in my project!
Glad to see all the good things going on !

Bst rgds
Gila

more information from the wall

A soft broche inspirated from this photo taked it from the wall near my studio
I want to explain that the wall has been painted in pink colour and now Is impossible to put on advertisement

Inspiration images (Paula)

Some more inspiration images…For the moment I have a lot of ideas about what I want to do… (Or may be some kind of idea anyway…)I have collected pieces of graffiti paintings in a legal graffiti area hearin Gothenburg. (Röda Sten). I think this is interesting pieces, because it’s both nature and culture init, and its many peoples work in one small piece. The graffiti is also somekind of comments to the society we live in, there the public room is filledup with commercial adverting posters etc. everything in the public room whotell us how we gone live, what we need to buy etc. I think that graffiti is a good comment of the society, I don’t know if Ialways like it, but it’s still some kind of reflection of who is running thepublic room and why…Also that people who painting graffiti want to bee seeing… To be a part ofthe society, in some how…I have also try to melting down my hair shampoo caps, just to see what’shappened…I like to melt it down, but I don’t want to melt it so you can’t see what itis, that’s not my point of view. I want that people and my self couldrecognize what it is in the beginning…I will work further with this to things, the graffiti and the hair shampoocaps. I will put these things into the jewellery world.I have collected hair shampoo caps and other plastic caps to, because Ithink the have interesting shapes, and they have been used to somethingbefore I clean them up…Every product in our society is selling a lifestyle more than it’s a goodproduct that you actually needs. That’s an interesting point of view Ithink… Everything is about life styles, who you want to be???After my trip to South Africa and the Cape Town I will finish my jewelleriesfor this project, now I’m just collecting interesting things, ideas,thoughts etc.

About my first pictures (Martina)

Hej everyone.

I were in a hurry when I posted my pictures. That's why I left out all information about them. I'll give you some now. The images in my previous post shows what I've been working on lately. Image no. 1 is an inspiration-picture, a detail of an old redpainted candelholder. The others show my own woodwork. I have mostly reused old un-painted wood that I've painted, then made the paint come off, painted again and so on.. The worn out look of my work is mainly fake. For the moment this consumer project is all about finding out more about my own relations to objects like some specific belongings of mine (the few ones I would hate to lose). But also objects in general. I chose to work with wood because I wanted a material where age/time/handling clearly can be seen and felt. I imitated (sort of) the "used look" simply to compare it with something authentic and to find out more about my attitude towards them. What I might do next is to take a closer look at old things vs. new things.

My first pictures (Martina)

My first thoughts (Mar)

The first time I heard the name of this project, "Consumer society project", the idea of this concept that came to my mind automatically was not a positive one.
This project could simply be a criticism of our society, but on the other hand, we could treat it as a reflection or solution for consumerism.

What it is to consume:
1. to finish with something
2. to eat or drink something
3 to acquire

The action of consuming is an ambiguous one. People consume in order to acquire, but at the same time they empty something (like the supermarket’s shelf or the forest). This is a circle without shape, isn’t it?

Many sociologist have said that consumerism is the sickness of our day.
What are people fooling themselves into thinking they are buying, only necessities?
The accumulation of unnecessary objects is something without sense.
Although the best solution to solve this problem would be to understand or think about what we really need, recycling being a good example of how to go against it.
Recycling does not mean only to transform the rubbish, it also means to reproduce something that is just as useless. Or there is another current verb more appropriate for our work: customise. To customise is what we can do with our old stuff; change their image or their function.

So, dear jewellers, why are we looking for new materials to work with? Perhaps our grandmother’s, our neighbour’s, or our friend’s jewels can be materials themselves waiting for a transformation.
MAR

sas

another image

this is piece of burned pine wood with melted plastic.

First visit... (Sarah)

Hi all...
I haven't forgotten you or this project and now finally I am here.

Like many of you, I am looking at the evidence of consumer culture.
Let me say, that although I know it can be sinister, I love consumer culture. Sometimes.

But I do love stuff and accumulation (to look at, not to live with).

For now I am starting locally, at the local dump. So many discarded things, and yet so much possibility. Potential. That is what intersts me.

Sarah T.