Week Six
The only aim is to fathom out the everything of this nothingness.―Iris EichenbergWe Had Nothing in Common
Week Six of the Reliquary Engine has been about completing series mode, conceptual work across a range of pieces in relationship with one another.
The Collision
Week Six InquiryCan the various ways in which memory fails us be conveyed across a series of brooches?
And, where do the various parts of this story belong in the work?
Narrative is a dirty word in this biz. The conceptual jewelers I most admire view the term and the work in this vein as quaint, nostalgic, whimsical, or worse. And I tend to agree.
But with this series, I have a story to tell, and try as I might not to, I’m going to just go ahead and tell it.
In considering the presentation of this series, I have been thinking a lot about what to communicate, what to withold, and what to invite. I wrote a number of elements which all work together to relay my experience and my thoughts about it. And when I use them all, there’s absolutely no room left for the viewer to draw their own conclusions or project their own experiences or sentiments onto the work.
So, I’ve removed one part. It may not be the right part. Or enough? But its omission certainly leaves a bit of mystery, and perhaps, a small opening for the viewer to relate my experience to one of their own. Removing more felt like I was robbing the project of an important component.
Note to self: Make the next project a lot less narrative, and much more inviting.
Second note: Maybe next time put more into the objectcs themselves, and less into their presentation .
A series of five brooches, made from copper and brass, each designed to clip onto a lapel. The organic metal shapes are layered with vertically aligned textured strips of varying lengths and widths, some with slight, undulating protrusions.The brooches are displayed in a wooden shadowbox, pinned to a linen backdrop, and surrounded by also pinned labels identifying each brooch with both its common and Latin names. A legend is displayed alongside it, detailing more about each piece, and a story.
- The five brooches
- A framing device: an actual shadowbox frame.
- A title
- A literal description identifying the items as a set of brooches, their maker, and the year.
- Labels on the pieces themselves, in a language and style meant to reference a set of scientific specimens.
- A legend, to connect each brooch to the failure of memory it’s intended to embody, including the heart of the story: three bits of dialog.
An intro which sets the scene and asks a central question about my own memory.
I have yet to fully assemble the parts, and will photograph the series once I’ve done so.
N
Lacunaris incompleta
What’s that? she asked. Did the loose piece of bark fall of in my hand, or did I pull it from the tree?
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N TH NG
Memoria fugitiva
TRANSIENCE
It’s nothing, I answered. I can’t recall when I finally lost track of the little souvenir.
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NOTHING WITH SOMETHING
Receptiva impressa
SUGGESTIBILITY
Well now we can tell people, we have nothing in common, she offered. (We may have also seen a dragonfly.)
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SOMETHING
Confidens errata
MISATTRIBUTION
It was a deciduous tree. It was an evergreen tree.
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SOMETHING ELSE!
Gloria accumulata
BIAS
The tree was rich with fresh scened sap made fragrant by the warm sun.