First we Quake, Now we Shake |
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Jewellery Quake’ is the title of a jewellery exhibition shown in the Gallery of the Hiko Mizuno College of Jewellery, Tokyo, the Galerie für Angewandte Kunst, Munich and the Pavilion of the Gerrit Rietveld Academy of Art, Amsterdam between 1993 and 1994. The participants were all jewellery design students at the aforementioned art institutes. It was an exhibition project that had an immense impact on all those involved as well as on visitors, and one in which various views and attitudes towards jewellery accentuated each other. Since then this intense interaction worldwide has continued and now, some ten years later, is taken for granted. The participants, who at the time stood on the threshold of their careers, are now professionals, internationally engaged, with their own insights and reputations. To mark the start of their careers and celebrate what has this far been achieved, two participants, Ela Bauer and Karin Seufert, thought it would be a good idea to bring together this group of jewellery designers and exhibit in the same cities again. Galerie Ra was enthusiastic about the idea and is the first gallery to kick off this travelling exhibition. Teruo Akatsu shows necklaces from ceramic roof tiles in which the texture and shape of the original material greatly influences the result. Also with the necklace illustrated the material – urushi clay – plays a major role, i.e. with regard to weight and sound. Volker Atrops makes copper brooches and pendants sometimes combined with stones. They have an archaic feel to them and evoke amulets and shields. Ela Bauer is fascinated by movement and change and expresses this in organic and cell-like forms. Silicone rubber is the ideal material for this due to its suppleness, skin and transparency. Ten years ago Karl Fritsch attempted to make revolting-looking jewellery rather than designs with a more conventional aesthetic in order to draw more attention to them. However, in retrospect these jewellery designs are extremely subtle and beautiful! Karl’s jewellery changes our perception, which is heightened when his designs are worn. Manon van Kouswijk has a multidisciplinary approach which results in all kinds of objects and products. In her work archetypes are the starting point for a process in which function, meaning and association are explored and re-visualised. Karin Seufert work is very much about a specific material that has a story or a history about it. By reordering this material into a different context she creates new stories. Norman Weber calls his pendants ‘Objects’. They are made from stainless steel and have layers of colour which are partly sanded down again. They resemble found objects but are not linked to a particular source or time. Paul Derrez back |
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