Circles - Round Squares

http://www.adagiodesigns.com/fashion-gallery/pre_image20.jpg

http://designcrack.com/v2/wp-content/uploads/2006/12/circle-square.jpg

http://www.metalab.com.au/images/portfolio/Cl_Rings.jpg

These are not all from the same collection, but I wanted to post a couple of examples of the kind of work that is inspiring my current line. The form of my line is focused on the simplicity of the shape of the square and how it relates and interacts with the circle. These are some really great examples of where my head is when I'm working on designing new elements of the line.

A long long time ago I wrote (an otherwise terrible) poem with the line "circles round squares" which meant to invoke both the image of squares imbedded in circles as well as the concept of how we think of shapes. How did the idea of distinct shapes like circles and squares develop? Why did math geeks bother to devise formulas to map and create these shapes? Why do we like them?

Still working through these questions as the line moves forward...

Scattered points make a pattern.

Happy Monday Everybody,
I thought I'd use this weeks blog to work out an idea I have for some future work. Bear with me as I give the background information - it's all a part of the process.

Currently, I am starting on a line of rings, bracelets and necklaces made from square brass tubing. I'm having fun exploring the concept, materials, and processes involved, but I would have to admit that this line is what it is because it fits the perimeters of the assignment. I'm happy enough with the designs, but... I am really starting to feel like this line just isn't very me yet - even though the concept is. In it's simplest form - the line is about the link and comparable sameness of male and female. It's about how only the tiniest of differences really show - and that we are all really barely gendered beings. Sometimes it takes embellishments (jewelry, for instance) to advertise how we would like our gender to be perceived. It is also about this presentation of gender through appearance and behaviors. Boys do this and look like this, girls do that and look like that... the concept I am trying to portray is the blending of gender through appearance and behavior. Not girl or boy, but both and neither.

I have also recently begun work on our Bespoke object. I am building a jewelry sander, and in the process, learning quite a bit about mechanics. It was exceptionally exciting for me to discover how gears work, and how different shapes and mechanical configurations can create different forms of movement. Slight adjustments in shape or connection can dramatically alter the feel of a movement.

Through working in through both assignments, I have stumbled across the barest seedling of an idea for future work. I would like to incorporate mechanics into jewelry that is ultimately read as feminine. I would also like to make this work in a way that the wearer would learn something about the mechanics being worn. My first explorations will be with simple machines (lever, pully, etc..) and move through more complex movements (combinations of simple machines and the principals behind them).

This idea currently leans more towards exploring blurring feminine gender roles than blending female and male, but I'm sure I can find a way to pull it back over to the middle.

Body Modification – Implantation (AKA art or designed object that inspires me)

Image taken from: http://www.canadianmedicinenews.com/2007/07/q-why-tech-journalist-just-had-to-try.html

As a body modification enthusiast I have continually researched new and exciting trends in the bod-mod community. Something that caught my attention years ago, implantation, has more recently evolved to envelop something called transhumanists. People are getting devices implanted into their body’s that do some function or cause some ability in the implantie. I’ll get back to that in just a minute…

Body Modification has quite a mixed reputation depending on who you might ask to define it. Some see it as self-mutilation, others see it as cosmetic or spiritual enhancement, and there is a gamut of personal emotional feelings between.

I find body modification fascinating in all of it’s quirky realms. The desire to change the body seems innate to me in a world where not only is our environment squared off by cookie cutter design, but our bodies are never quite different enough either. With so many bodies in the world, the average difference isn’t enough to tell ten people of the same gender apart from each other at a distance of ten feet. Just today, I saw somebody I know, but didn’t recognize until she was very close. She was wearing the average popular clothing. Her hair is long and brown. She is of no distinctive height or shape, yet she recognized me in an instant – most likely because my hairstyle is fairly unique.

I think we all feel this to some degree, if not consciously, and we either enjoy and embellish our differences or hide them and blend in.

Body Modification enthusiasts fall into both categories.  Elective cosmetic surgery, done by medical professionals, tends to lean towards appearance conformity. The extreme ‘other’ end of this spectrum is home surgery or professional body modification. As I mentioned before, the newest trend in enhancing the body is to add abilities to the physical body.

Quinn Norton, a reporter for wired magazine has on ongoing research project involving this trend called transhumanism. She even went as far as having a magnet implanted in her finger to research and demonstrate how this works. For her, the magnet not only allowed her to pick up small metallic items without a grasp – it also allowed her an awareness of electromagnetic fields from some distance.

The predecessor of this trend was to simply implant some classic bod-mod jewelry shape under the skin rather than through it. Now, tech geeks are implanting computer chips.

I love the idea of jewelry interacting with the body in this hyper-cosmetic way. I’m not particularly interested in becoming a cyborg, but I am interested in seeing what kind of developments I might be able to provide for this field. Jewelry has always interacted with and enhanced the body; without overlooking ethical concerns, it will be interesting to see how far we can push that interaction.

Link to interview with Quinn Norton:

http://www.canadianmedicinenews.com/2007/07/q-why-tech-journalist-just-had-to-try.html

Link to info on transhumanism:

http://www.transhumanists.org/