Experimental Ring Project - Research Notes

Experimental Ring Project

Research Notes

-Historically the things that separate people are clothes and adornements. (rank and status)

-Clothes

-"inner spiritual states" (Ethnic Jewelry)

-metaphor for social elements

-language

-ritual

-art

-beliefs

-ideas

-Examples: Igbo Women:  In nigeria, prestigious women wear heavy brass anklets to create a gait-like walk.  Poor people would fake this gait even though they had no brass anklet.

-Different materials used in history in African, Indian, and New Guinean Jewelry. 

-gold

-silver

-gemstones

-ivory

-shell

-coral

-beads

-INDIA - rings

-finger-rings are worn on all fingers, including thumbs.

- toe rings scare snakes, evil spirits, and scorpions.

-symmetrically arranged on body 

-A popular ring is called Nava Ratna, "nine stones"

-every planet has its own stone

0a nava ratna has nine stones for nine planets and provides universal protection

-THE PACIFIC - Mwali and Soulava and the Kula Circle

-Mwali- arm ornament made from a Conus shell whose base and narrow portion have been removed, pierced, and shells, etc. are hung from it.

-Soulava- Long necklace, flat beads, red spondylus shell, and part of a conical shell.

These were passed around the Kula Circle (group of islands) in opposite directions on a trade route. Mwali- always given with right hand.

-Myth: There was a hero named Tava who sometimes took the form of a snake.  He would visit Kula villages (villages in the Kula circle) and bring good fortune.  One woman in each village knew where he was and had to tend to him.  If he felt mistreated he would leave, taking with him the good fortune he had brought to the village.

NORTH AMERICAN INDIAN JEWELRY

Even after the fur trade ended in the early nineteenth century and the supply of tradesilver virtually stopped, silver continued to be a part of Native American Culture.  Itwaspart of the Woodland Indian culture for the remainder of the century, used for ceremonial and costume jewelry.  Some silver got to the Plains from the Eastern Indians and Spanish settlers in New Mexico.  Plains and Iroquois Indians began fashioning silver jewelry in the early 19th century.

Evdence suggests that the Navajo had been making silver jewelry since the 16th century, but it wasn't reported until 1864 in a New Mexico newspaper.  By the 1880's, the Navajo added necklaces, bracelets, and rings and started setting afate, malachite, jasper, cornelian, and more.

-naja- a crescent shaped pendant of Spanish origin.

-Zuni jewelry - setting turquoise, shell, coral, and jet in intricate mosaic patterns.

Walters Art Museum- Bedazzled Notes.

Here's some notes I took on my visit to the walter's museum Bedazzled exhibit:

-There was a case with two necklaces composed of polygonal carnelian beads, alternating on loop-in-loop chain with hook-and-eye clasps.  One chain was more complex.  It was Roman Imperial style.

-There was a ring with a reclining ram.  It was a sculptural rendering of a ram.  the plaque read "This impressive ring is decorated with chased geometric patterns on the hoop and a reclining ram on top.  The lotus ornament on the sides indicate Egyptian influence.  Rings like this would most likely have been worn by high-ranking officials or priests.  Syro-Palestinian,14th-13th cent. B.C. Electrum, cast and chased H: 1 7/8 in(4.8 cm) D: 7/8 in

- Bullae- hollow pendants.  Worn as charms and filled with perfume.  The stopper was held with a chain orcord.  Worn as amulets esp. by children.

-A very interesting part was the "Ladies Dressing Table."  This was a glass case with things that a lady would normally need from the 1700's - 1850's.  There was a posy holder from the 1830's, usually worn on an evening gown, a diamond ring and a bracelet with medallions.  The most interesting thing was a small toilet case with smaller glass bottles that fit inside of it.  There was even a tiny golden spoon.  ext to the entire case was a woman taking a strand of pearls out of a golden jewelry box.

-The first thing I noticed was the pair of bracelets from the Olbia treasure in the first section of the exhibit.  In a glass case in the middle of the room, two bracelets almost exactly the same size, three sections, and three hinges with 27 KNUCKLES!!!  oh , my, god, shoot me now, i NEVER want to do that!!  Hahaha.  The Olbia treasure was found in the 19th century by the Black Sea Coast in Ukraine.  This is only one piece of it.  There are multi-color gemstones of various sizes (the style at the time) , cloissonne work, beading(gold), and repousse.  

- Iris corsage Ornament.  NY, 1900.

-Jewish marriage rings

-Gimmel Rings  Fascinating!  Two interlocking loops create one ring.  Popular marriage ring.  This could be cool for the destruction-creation project that I did.  Well, food for thought, I'll put it in that filing cabinet in my brain somewhere.

Well, thats all the notes I took.  I also would like to say that the lighting was not so good.  I could see the main parts of the olbia bracelets, for example, but not all the intricate details on the back.  Although, the curator did provide magnifying lenses and information sheets.  And there were nice comfy cushioned benches!  Yay.

FIN

After Action Review- Ring Project - Ring #1

Sustains - I created texture well and created different planes with the sheet.  My concept was creation = Destruction, and I showed creation very well- but, it wasn't obvious enough how my ring showed destruction. 

Improves - The composition of the design was poor and unintentional.  I created a two-dimensional design on a sheet, and I started to bend it and create "pop-ups" but the more I twisted it the more the composition was lost.  The idea was to destroy the original composition and create a new composition, but I didn't think enough about the final composition.  Next time, I will have to think of the entire process and not just the original cutout design.

What Ifs - Honestly, if I had just made it one more time I think it would have been a lot cleaner.  I also could have created repitition by adding more metal. Also, by adding more metal I could have create more planes outside of what sits right on the finger when you wear the ring.

Ring Project Bibliography

Here's the two books that I looked to for information:

Cutsem, Anne van. A World of Bracelets. Milano, Italy: Skira editore, 2002.

Ethnic Jewelry. Ed. John Mack. New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1988.

Iconic Design

     Okay, so I thought I did the iconic hollow formed pictures right.  I spoke to my teacher (Jan) about it and shetold me to research iconic forms.  So, I went on the MoMa Design Store website and also looked up the definition of "icon" through the online Merriam Webster Dictionary.  Attached is a screen shot of the definition.

     I noticed that a lot of the items in MoMa Design Store were just abstracted forms of recognizable things - tables, chairs, lamps, etcetera.  So, I guess iconic means- representing something that is recognizable.  I also wonder if it has to be designed well to be an iconic design.    I'm still not entirely sure what he true definition of an iconic design is.  Maybe something that has been repeated as an iconic figure in art history?  Maybe something that deconstructs the idea of an ordinary object?  Or, maybe just something that is very "well designed" - by today's standards.

After Action Review

Sustains - I made the plexi glass and the brass in the die match perfectly.  Originally, I started with masonite and plexi glass, but I messed up the plexi glass so I threw out the masonite.

Improves - I tried to use the masonite later because I thought I would need more room to press, but instead of cutting a new one, I used the one that didn't match the plexi glass and brass plates.  This made gaps, bending the brass and making the forms uneven.  Also, one of the sides of the die  did not have filed edges, which wasted a lot of material (I used a lot of copper because my die is big) and left less room for mistakes and learning.  I didn't anneal enough either.  In the end I took the masonite out and hammered the brass flat, and the plates matched again.  Then I just used the plexi glass and brass together.

What Ifs - The project would have been more successful if I made all parts of the die together.  Making part of it uneven ruined the integrity of the rest.  Also, I could anneal more and try to push my forms further.

Hey!  So, a lot has been going on lately.  I recently took photos of "iconic hollow" things.  It was very hard for me to do at first, and all I could think of was cars, and houses.  I went to DC weekend so I happened to take a picture of the national art museum and the library of congress.  At least I think thats what it was.  Then I went to Royal Farms the next time and took pictures of everything.  It was fun, but I think people were looking at me wierd.  Like, "does she really think that bag of chips is a good photo?"  NO!  It's an idea.  Oh well.  

Creative Caffiene

Hi!  I'm Jamie Hofmann and I'm currently enrolled in Jewelry III (Art 419) at Towson University.  My first assignment is called Creative Caffiene, and the idea is to find fabulous form so that we can translate it to metal through a hydraulic press.   The challenge was, finding out how to get into the project and really get excited about it.  At first, I just looked for shapes that were pleasing; a rock, a flower, or a rounded outdoor light.  These were pleasing to the eye but they were not so challenging mentally.  What could I do?  Well, to entertain myself, I started finding people with interesting hair and asking if I could take a picture.  It was very good for me.  I don't know a lot of people around here, and I have a little trouble being social sometimes.  I forced myself to walk up to complete strangers and ask them random questions like, "can I take a picture of your hair?"  It was pretty amusing to figure out how to explain why I wanted a picture of their hair.  "It has a nice shape," I'd say, or "It's for a jewelry project."  Some people thought it was funny and some were annoyed.  I don't care cause I got their picture!  Who knows what I will photograph next.