June 29, 2005
craft or design?
Sheridan Kennedy, a friend of Suzanne's sister---Barbara Heath is coming to stay with us for several days whilst she organizes her show of jewellery.
The show is at the Jam Factory. From what I can gather the exhibition is called Shades of Gray. It is a celebration of its 20th year as one of Australia's leading jewellery workshops, and it brings together its previous tenants for the first time to show their work.
Sheridan is in Gallery 2 which is a room at the end of the main gallery, which contains a series of linked show cases that exhibit Sheridan Kennedy's Astromancer:
I'm not really sure what an astromancer is.
'Astro' means star shaped, pertaining to outer space.
'Mancer' means to interpret signs so 'practical' decisions can be made, and it is associated with prophecy.
The image appears to depict some form of navigating instrument
I always been puzzled by the ambiguity surrounding art jewellery. It is mostly seen as craft. Craft understands itself as retaining the vital link to its folk roots whilst art and literature have severed those roots and become autonomous.
Yet contemporary jewellery is about smart and fashionable design that is also very wearable (eg., neckpieces, brooches, rings and bangles).
This kind of work is seen to be craft, and this kind of ornament is to be found under the umbrella of Craft Australia or Craft Victoria.
One thinks of people showing off their wealth and status in conspicuous displays of flesh, fashion, and body adornment. I guess that jewellery, aesthetically pleasing (beauty) and sexy bodily adornment go together.
So we have egetal
Or should we view jewellers as more than designers? People talk about ceramic artists do they not? Why not jewellers?
Some of the jewllery work that I'd seen in the Jam Factory around three years ago when I used go the openings, was often interpreted as a form of art. It is viewed in an art gallery and a some works can be seen as a form of sculpture.
Hence Object Gallery
Can Sheridan's Astromancer exhibition be interpreted as sculpture? The title suggests more.
Why not view jewellers as visual artists using jewellery as their medium? They are more than designers making a beautiful aesthetic object as the work is goes beyond an ornament because it is about meaning aand the interpretation of signs.
Posted by Gary Sauer-Thompson at June 29, 2005 12:02 AM | TrackBack