POMP AND CEREMONY Part 1

I thought to talk along the lines of Adornment of the body, especially when it comes to occasions of Ceremony. Stepping back to take a look at the astounding lengths people go to, to decorate their bodies one is taken on an adventure from the sublime to the ridiculous or sublimely ridiculous. I am certainly a fan of the bazaar of the bizarre, however, ‘ridiculousness’ begins to feature when the game of fashion and ceremony looses its humor and takes itself far too seriously.

 

 As a social species we are subjected to all kinds of trauma and pressure to conform (or not conform) to social codes of behavior and dress. This is done very subtly or sometimes overtly by the particular culture, sub-culture or group we belong to and whose values we attempt to adhere to either consciously or unconsciously. Although this pressure seems to come from the society we live it is ultimately self-inflicted. The pressure gets turned up if you happen to be a celebrity or in the public eye for whatever reason although the same scenarios get carried out amongst the serfs and plebeians, the media vultures are just not that interested in the Jo Soaps of the world unless antics are performed to attract their attention.

 

I chose pictures that express a certain social behavioral psychology that is fascinating, and made some correlations that might not be entirely logical or factually correct but throw a surreal light on the dress up party at play. Of the images I chose, Lady Gaga in her meat and diamond getup, which she wore to the MTV Video Music Awards was the most demanding of my attention (probably because I am vegetarian). From a purely visual aspect the outfit is fascinating, even if in a kind of nightmarish way, I think it would have certainly met with Salvador Dali’s approval, visually. It is interesting to observe that her dress got as much attention as it did (in my opinion) because of the context within which she chose to express herself- The MTV Music Awards. If she had worn the meat dress in one of her music videos it would not have had the same impact I believe and at a carnival it would have attracted a few stares. The context of an “Award Ceremony” created the stage, literally and figuratively. Secular Ceremonies in society are treated with the same fervor and reverence as Catholic Mass. Certainly for an age that worships Materialism what better ‘church’ than the MTV Music Awards or the Film Oscars.

 

Apart from attracting attention Lady Gaga was apparently also making a statement, which is: Equality is the prime rib of America-, which implies that we shouldn’t be treated like meat. (I’d like to add… well maybe if we started by not treating animals like meat). Lets make it not so much about hierarchy in the food chain but adding the ingredient of humaneness back into humanity never mind adding a new dimension to ‘Blood Diamonds’.

The other image I found which I thought a fitting match for Lady Gaga and her meat dress was a photograph of a Papua New Guinea warrior in full ceremonial regalia but in place of a nose ring a CD disk with “INCREASE VOLUME” inscribed on it. Make of it what you will.

I gave gold for iron

By Frieda Lühl


Iron is the most common element (by mass) forming much of Earth's outer and inner core. About 1000 BC iron became accessible to men and was used in many different ways ever since.  Because of its inflexible, rigid, strong, robust characteristics it was used for objects like locks & keys, spears, knifes, fittings etc to this day.  

Over many centuries iron was developed with different metallurgical properties showing different characteristics. Some alloys are very hard, others suitable for casting or forging and many more.

One way to harden iron/steel in the early ages was Damaszener steel. It is more a technique then an alloy where steel and iron are layered, welded together and then forged together. This process is repeated many times till the piece is made up of very thin layers.  

The result it a beautiful layered texture of very high flexibility and hardness used for swards and knifes but also in jewellery. 

The first iron became fashionable as jewellery was in the early 1800 as the Berlin Iron Jewellery.

The then Prussian royal family lead by Fredrick William III urged their citizens to hand in their gold and precious metal jewellery to help fund the uprising against Napoleon.   In return for their gold, the citizens received iron jewellery inscribed with Gold gab ich für Eisen (I gave gold for iron). This continued for a couple of years, but alongside this patriotic endeavour another trend grew for commissioned iron jewellery and these pieces were as you might imagine quite a bit more intricate.  Beautiful – and of course now, quite rightly, collectors items.

Iron still inspires many goldsmiths, including myself, to create new ways of using this grey/blue metal. For me this is just the beginning of the experiment “IRON” and it appears there is so much more to discover.  

Tore Svenson

Brooch: Steel, Silver

Isabell Schaupp
Brooch: Iron wire, aluminium, silver, laquer

 

Taisuke Nakada

Brooches:Iron, Gold & Silver leaf

Frieda Lühl

Necklace: Iron, Silver, Glass 

Frieda Lühl

Necklace: Iron, Silver, Sponge Coral

The year of the dragon



Dragons and pearl. Mother-of-pearl inlay on furniture, Vietnam, 18th -19th century

 According to the Chinese astrological cycle, this year is the year of the dragon. Each year is also assigned an element; this year water, which is associated with the colour black.

Part 4 of Nine Dragon Scroll by Ch'en Jung. Sung dynasty, mid 13th century. Courtesy of Museum of Fine Arts, Boston



Fine ounce will be participating in an exhibition themed around the year of the dragon, so I have been thinking about dragons.

dragon aquamanile, north German, ca 1200

Although the instantaneous association in the Western mind is most likely the scaly, fire-breathing monster of medieval legend, fairy-tale and fantasy, this seems to be quite a superficial understanding.

They appeared on early European maps to warn mariners of parts of the world (not yet the globe) unexplored (by them, anyway), where they might encounter unimaginable terrors, or even fall off the edge and into the unknowable.

In China the dragon is usually quite elongated and serpentine, and often has the claws of a phoenix, and many decorative rippling fin- or tendril-like appendages. They live in rivers and seas.

In Chinese astrology dragons are associated with prosperity, power and fertility, and are seen as a benevolent and protective force, but mythology indicates that they may also sometimes be feared.

Dragon from Sufi Book of Constellations, 12th century

A more thorough exploration of the subject suggests that dragons are an ancient and almost universal idea, and do not have a single form, but may be almost any combination of real and imagined creatures, sometimes even including plants, though aspects of snakes recur  frequently .

They feature in the creation mythology of ancient Greece and India. They may also be celestial, living in the Milky Way which is often likened to a river, and are found in constellations of stars.



Rendering by Felipe Davalos of a painting in Oxtotitlan Cave. From David C. Grove. The Olmec paintings of Oxtitlan Cave, Guerrero, Mexico



They seem to be the physical manifestation of a spiritual concept comprising the forces of nature, creation, knowledge and the unknown, and as such are regarded with justifiable awe.



A section of Hell, from the funeral payrus of Dirpu. Cairo Museum



Apart from Egypt, I have not found any reference to dragons in Africa, but feel we have ample resources for the imagining of one.

I am thinking of our wealth of biological diversity, our magnificent flora, fauna and wild places, all of which are increasingly threatened by development, exploitation and cruel, criminal plunder. While some development is necessary, we must take care; if we don't protect it our magnificent wild will join dragons in the realm of legends, and we must surely follow not long thereafter.

All pictures are from:





Olmec dragon

The dragon

Nature of spirit, spirit of nature.

Francis Huxley.1979,Thames and Hudson Ltd.

apart from the picture of the aquamanile, which is from:

Lions, Dragons & other Beasts

Aquqmanilia of the Middle Ages, Vessels for Church and Table

Peter Barnet and Pete Dandridge (editors). 2006 MMA Yale.

WEDDING RINGS                                                                  by MAike Valcarcel

We all know that a wedding needs rings, just like cake, “ I do”`s, a beautiful dress,

and love.

Do we know why? What is the symbolic meaning? Where does the tradition come from? Why do we wear the ring on a specific finger?





   
 Tanya Lyons                                       Patrick Malotki                              Phillip Sajet

  “Growth”                                          “Heart Wedding Ring”                    “ Infinity”

   grass braided                                     18ct gold                                        pure gold/ 18ct

                                                                                                                  gold

The tradition of wedding rings goes back to ancient Egypt where rings were fashioned out of  twisted and braided reeds or grass taken from the fertile plains next to the river Nile. The river being the bringer of all fortune and life.

The circle/ ring has no beginning and no end stands for the continuous flow of life/ love and trust, eternity.

Even the hole in the middle of the circle has a meaning: it`s a symbol of the gateway, or door, leading to things and events both known and unknown.

The ring is worn on the 3^rd finger of the left hand because of a belief that the vein of that finger directly travels from the heart.

These rings out of grass did not last very long, reed and hemp probably a bit longer, but were then replaced by leather, bone or ivory.

In early Rome they started to use iron which again symbolized the strength of love a man felt for his chosen woman. Rust might have been a problem though.

Silver and gold only became fashionable in medieval Europe, and gemstones were added.

That`s the tradition- but how nice that some people take tradition further and add other symbolism, brake the rules and challenge the norm!

Here are some examples:



   
Glynis Gardner                               Alyssa Dee Kraus                         Elisa Gulminelli

   

    “love you long time”                        Wedding Band(aid)                       “Marriage of

     Ice                                                18ct gold / garnet                          Convenience, Love

                                                                                                               for Money”

                                                                                                               Credit cards



    Yael Friedman                             Tony P.Esola                         Annie Tung

      

    “ Marriage As a Puzzle”               “Wedding Band”                   “Divorce Ring”

    Silver, cast                                    steel, 14ct gold,                    “A Broken Nest,

    This ring falls in pieces                   stainless steel,                         A Broken Ring”

    if you take it off-                            diamond                                silver

    so if you want to be

    unfaithful and remove the

    ring you better know how

    to reassemble it!

Pictures are taken from the book: 500 Wedding Rings by Lark Books

     

 

For the love of pearls...

Left to Right: A revamped pearl necklace, Fairy drops with pearls and Seed pearl and silver heart Sautoir necklace (Firepetals)

By: Adeline Jubi

It’s June already and another birthday is looming. I decided to dedicate this blog to my birthstone, the Pearl. I used to think that pearls were only for old elegant ladies, but as the years go by and the grey hair and wrinkles are starting to show, I had a change of hart about pearls. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not going to don a sensible string of pearls and court shoes soon. I am however trying to transform conservative pearl jewellery into funky contemporary pieces. It’s time for pearls to get reinvented once again.

 Pearls have been harvested for thousands of years and played a very significant role in jewellery. It’s the oldest gemstone known to men and was considered the most valuable for centuries. The Ancient people believed that pearls had magical properties and could bring prosperity and a long life and was thought to be the tears from the gods.

The Chinese have used pearls to cure many ailments like indigestion, heart disease and fever. That this could have worked is quite believable since the main ingredient in cultured pearls is calcium carbonate, an ingredient used in antacid today.

Five hundred years ago when Columbus discovered the Americas, he also discovered oysters containing pearls. These oysters were abundant around the coast of Venezuela and Panama and pearls became the biggest export from the “New World” , that was before gold and silver was discovered and overtook it. Pearls became all the rage in the Royal Courts of Europe.

"La Peregrina" worn by Mary Tudor, (1553) left and Elizabeth Taylor, right (1970)

One of the biggest natural pearls ever found was the La Peregrina ("the Pilgrim" or the "wanderer") and is the size of a pigeon’s egg. It was found by an African slave in the mid 16th century of the coast of Santa Margarita or the "Pearl Island". As reward, the African slave got his freedom. This beautiful pearl has had many famous owners like Philip II of Spain who gave it to his wife, Mary Tudor or “Bloody Mary” as she was better known as. After her death,  it was returned to Spain and formed part of the Spanish crown jewels for 250 years. It resurfaced when Napoleon Bonaparte’s brother Joseph was put on the throne of Spain. With Napoleon's final defeat at Waterloo, Joseph fled Madrid with some fabulous jewellery including the pearl. Joseph's nephew, Charles Bonaparte who was to become, Napoleon III was the next owner. It weighs 203 grains, more or less the equivalent of 50ct. In 1969, Elizabeth Taylor received it as a Valentines gift from Richard Burton during their first marriage. She commissioned Cartier to redesign the neckpiece and it now also contains rubies, many diamonds and some South Sea pearls. After Elizabeth’s death in March last year, the necklace was sold in December 2011, for £ 7.9 million in New York.

Left to Right: A modern Mikomoto design; A traditional Mikomoto string of pearls with signature 18ct Gold clasp; Vintage graduated Mikomoto strand with signature clasp.

Pearls usually form inside mussels and oysters, mostly as a defence mechanism against an irritant like a piece of sand or grit. Layers of nacre form over the irritant like scar tissue and build up over time to form a pearl. The pearl can form as a sphere when not attached to the wall of the shell or as a half pearl or blister pearl when attached to the wall of the shell. The shape of the nucleus determines the shape of the pearl.

Cultured pearls are formed when an irritant like a bead is placed inside an oyster shell to initiate the formation of a pearl. Layers of nacre are deposited on this nucleated bead. Cultured pearls take a much shorter time to grow for this reason. Sometimes the layers of nacre on a cultured pearl are unacceptably thin and a pearl can easily chip.

 Cultured pearls were revolutionized by  Kokichi Mikimoto, a Japanese pearl farmer. He brought respectability to cultured pearls, previously not even recognized as pearls. It was said that Mr. Mikimoto who lived for 96 years, swallowed 2 pearls every day for good health.In the last 100 years, The Mikomoto Co. has grown to one of the top luxury brands in the world. 

The colour of pearls differ from white, pink, brown, blue , black depending on the type of mollusc and the type of water the pearl has formed in. Natural pearls are more expensive than cultured pearls and are becoming extremely scarce due to overfishing of oysters and pollution. Freshwater pearls are usually more irregular in shape and colour than saltwater pearls.

Pearls are the only gems perfectly and completely formed by nature. All other stones need the skill of the stone cutter or lapidary to bring out its lustre and beauty, but pearls are just perfect.

Good enough to eat... Some interesting pearl jewellery by American Artist John Hatleberg

"GREEN PEAS" I planned the whole piece around the Pea coloured pearls. (Firepetals)

Art versus HeArt by giselle

I would like to share with you the work, thoughts, inspirations, and approaches of two world class modern day artists. Both artists express social commentary, personal sentiments and passions through their work, the one employing shock tactics that in some instances border on the grotesque and in others a degree of tongue in cheek humour, the other artist employing grace, romance and a lot of soul, honesty and beauty to achieve similar objectives.

No contemporary artist is more celebrated, contested or controversial than Damien Hirst, his work has dominated galleries, newspapers and auction houses. In addition to being a creative visionary Hirst has proved to be a savvy businessman, he has combined his fame and notoriety into an art empire becoming one of the wealthiest living artists today. He is the most prominent member of the group known as the Young british Artist's who dominated the art scene in Britain in the 1990's and are known for their unusual materials and for challenging art concepts.
As a teenager Hirst liked to look at illustrated pathology books, fascinated by the images of disease and injury.Through his art he explores human experiences such as love, life, death, loyalty and betrayal through a variety of media, including painting ( Spot paintings and Spin paintings ), medicine cabinet sculptures, glass tank installations and drawings.

The central, though not exclusive theme of Hirst's work has been an exploration of mortality, a traditional subject that Hirst has updated and extended with wit, verve, originality and force. He is best known for a series of works ( The Natural History Series ) in which dead animals are presented as a Memento mori ( Latin for - " Remember you will die" ) in forms ironically appropriated from the museum of natural history rather than of art. ( www.leninimports.com/damien_hirst.html )
With Damien Hirst's art there is the pervasive sense of a joke being played on the crowd, a sense that has developed ever since the young Hirst said he wanted to get to the point where he could get away with bad art. But glance into that crowd and it suddenly seems unreasonable to damn Hirst too quickly. All around you may find people looking, really looking at objects in new ways albeit shockingly- an important aim for an artist.

Although Hirst participated physically in the making of early works, he has always needed assistants and now the volume of work produced neccessitates a 'factory' set-up, this has led to questions about authenticity. He describes in an interview one painting assistant who was leaving and asked for one of his Spot paintings ( which have become an icon of his work ) Hirst told her to " make one of your own " and she said " No, I want one of yours " Hirst replied "But the only difference, between one painted by you and one of my own is money.

Hirst sees the real creative act as being the conceptor, not the execution, and that, as the progenitor of the idea, he is therefore the artist - Wikipedia ( en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Damien_Hirst )

Damien Hirst with one of his paintings made up of thousands of butterfly wings
entitled - I am Become Death, Shatterer of Worlds
 ( 5.1 x 2.13metres )

One of the themes that has consistently pervaded Damien Hirst's career and the one that I find the most disturbing has been the use of butterflies dead and alive in his art. In 1991 Damien Hirst held a solo exhibition occupying two floors of a disused shop in London entitled IN and Out of Love. Upstairs pupae attached to white paintings hatched out into the gallery. Downstairs dead  butterflies were stuck to coloured canvasses. Hirst followed this up by creating dazzling stained glass-esque arrangements of the unfortunate late insect's wings.

Hirst is a genius at commodyfying his art - he has introduced a line of skateboards and covered a racing bike (commissioned by Bono) that was riden by Lance Armstrong in the Tour de France finale with butterfly wings. For this Hirst's assistants removed the wings of several species of butterflies- believed to include the Blue Morpho and the yellow-and-black Buttercup and glued them to the bike.
The artist's company would not say where the insects came from but commented that he had them specially bred for previous projects-including a stained-glass-style window made up also of butterfly wings. According to Hirst " I wanted to use real butterfly wings and not just pictures of butterflies, because I wanted it to shimmer when the light catches it like only real butterflies do, and we were trying not to add any extra weight to the bike.

Made up entirely of butterflies

Bringing Forth the Fruits of Righteousness and Darkness

At an exhibition at the Cleveland Museum which documents Hirst’s life work proves that God, or more broadly speaking religion, has been a life-long concern of the artist. The exhibition booklet recalls the four most important things in life according to Damien: science, art, love and religion. This quote was to compliment the content of a room in which science – supposedly the antithesis of religion – is celebrated as the dominant of the four components: glass cabinets of operating tools, and plastic models of the body are presented in front of graph paper walls. Yet, meters away in the next room was the profoundly beautiful butterfly altarpieces – a tribute to nature’s design.

There was a triplet of arched canvases, hung like three stain glass windows in a grand Romanesque cathedral entitled ' Bringing Forth the Fruits of Righteousness and Darkness.' On top of a coat of royal red paint, was stuck brilliant brightly coloured breathless butterflies, so they appear like polychrome glass.
It is believed that butterflies symbolise the resurrection, because they are like a resurrection body – once a larva, then transformed to a pupa before a butterfly.
The theme Memento mori comes through strongly in these beautiful pieces of art as many butterflies had to die to make them.

An African artist who is often included in major world shows El Anatsui strikes a rare combination of stunning beauty, fascinating communal process and deep metaphorical and poetic meaning. He draws on artistic and aesthetic traditions from his birth country of Ghana, his home  Nigeria and various Western art forms. Anatsui’s work is about transformation, he addresses a vast range of social, political and historical concerns through his central themes of the erosion of inherited traditions by powerful external forces and their manner of survival and transmission into the present.
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Using found materials such as printing plates, condensed milk tins and aluminum liquor bottle caps allows the artist full freedom to improvise and invent. Anatsui is also captivated by the history of use that such materials retain.

For his metal wall hangings, Anatsui recycles bottle caps from a distillery in his home town, piecing them together to form monumental curtains patterned with rows upon rows of different brands of liquor bottle caps. For the artist, given liquor’s key history in the slave trade, these works reference relationships between Europe, Africa and the United States. Not only does Anatsui’s alchemical transformation of discarded materials raise pressing issues of global consumerism, but it highlights the blurring of geographic identities. ( http;/www.channel4.com/culture/microsites/B )

At once sculpture and painting, Anatsui’s wall hangings drape, ripple and cascade to reflect light and create shadowy pockets. As has been enthusiastically noted in reviews around the world, viewers of Anatsui’s work exult in its overwhelming splendor and in each work’s contradictory combination of weight and lightness. Just as each work is greater than the sum of its thousands of parts, its meaning transcends the particular cultural influences that inform the artist’s practice. Anatsui’s assembled objects embody a universal relatability that strikes a chord in every one of us. ( http;/www.channel4.com/culture/microsites/B )

Anatsui uses young people in Nigeria who have finished high school and are waiting to take their university entrance exams as assistants, " So while waiting for that, they pass away the time helping me in the studio and making a very good living. Most of them are too impatient to be artists, but they enjoy working with the materials. I think the fact that I use several hands lends something. The presence of all these hands - from the assistants, the handlers and myself - I think it adds a charge to the art. I'm beginnning to think that it might be moving in a spiritual. direction" (http://www.artinfo.com/news/story/34119/a-coversation-with-el-anatsui/ )

In my opinion an artwork whether it be a painting, sculpture, drawing or installation, should cause some lasting shift in your equilibrium and leave one with a lingering sense of beauty. I'm not sure as in the case of the majority of Damien Hirst's art that being depressed, appalled or deeply shocked counts.......