B-Tech Title Reasoning

During last weeks B-tech meeting, I was asked to try and redefine my title on the spot and I came up with ''The use of automobile design as a reference for creating jewellery.'' I was then questioned why I didn't use the word car instead of automobile, I must admit that initially my response was very weak as I replied ''it just sounded better.'' However I have sat and given this some thought....


I'm not sure if this is just my way of thinking but when people refer to a car my mind always associates it with some form of sedan available on the market... and I usually never think of SUV's or Bakkies.....as people often refer to it being a SUV or Bakkie and not a car. My plan is to use a variety of images on Pinterest being any sort of car ranging from sedans to SUV's. I feel that automobile is the correct choice of word to be used as it does not limit the type of vehicle I am able to use as a reference. 

How to go about working with my new passion

So I've decided to keep things very simple with regards to the references being used towards my B-tech. I will still be using Pinterest to create mood boards of vehicles that I have a liking towards, from this point, I will create jewellery based loosely around the sculptural form of the vehicle depicted.

Realizing my Passion

During my final B-Tech a few weeks ago, we touched briefly on the topic of being passionate about our work. After discussing this with my peers, I have finally convinced myself that I am in fact not actually passionate about sculptures; which I had used as my reference thus far whilst doing my B-tech. My passion has four wheels and a steering wheel, yes you've guessed it! cars! with my B-tech title being 'using sculptural forms as a reference for creating jewellery', I am of the opinion that I am able to still retain this title as I understand sculptural form to be loosely defined as an object that is 3-Dimensional and with cars being 3D it kind of fits perfectly!

Decisions desicions

After having a very lengthy conversation regarding my predicament with Chris and the other students during our weekly B-Tech meeting, he has given me two options. Option 1 would be for me to take a gap year with my B-tech studies and continue in 2016.The second option would be for me to accept the offer at Design@50  and take the newly acquired skills I learn and apply them to my B-tech scheme of work. So whilst working at Design@50 I would still be continuing working towards my B-Tech at my own pace until my contract ends early next year. I am kind of liking the second option more than the first because I wouldn't be giving up my B-tech and I would still be working at Design@50. It seems like a win/win  situation at this moment in time.

Early acceptance - Design@50

I have just recieved a call from the people at Design @ 50. I have been offered a place to work and improve my skills on the CAD program Rhinoceros.  I'm not sure what I am goin to do just yet because I am nearly half way done with my B-Tech studies and I'd hate to throw all of that out the window. Although on the other hand it's an amazing opportunity for me to better my skills as well as speed on the program and I don't want to throw this away either.   I will have to sit down with Chris during tomorrow's meeting to discuss my predicament.

Gatsby's Idea

After having a look at the exciting pieces that everyone is busy making, I decided to scrap the bracelet idea. In need of inspiration, I decided to watch The Great Gatsby, whilst watching the movie I noticed that bow ties were really big part of men's fashion back then, during that art deco time period. This immediately gave me an idea to create a bow tie.

B-tech Meeting (29/5/2014)

The drawer in terms of contemporary Jewellery

A drawer offers a form of storage and protection; it could be used to hide objects away from display of the public as well as being able to present objects. There a 3 different categories of drawers which Contemporary jewellery occupies. These categories are; Drawers of museum collections, collectors/owners and dealers/galleries.

Drawers of museum collections often house collections of jewellery, usually either of a specific genre example work done by a specific artist, rings, earrings etc. It encases items that aren’t receiving immediate attention as well as offering protection from the public. The viewer has to open the drawer to have a closer look at the article of jewellery as opposed to a plinth where there is no security.

Drawers of collectors/owners are different in the sense where the drawer of the owner is regarded as a ‘domestic collection’ and the drawer of the collector is regarded as an ‘institutional collection’. The drawer of an owner is usually a multipurpose drawer found in a bedroom/ dressing room housing the owner’s jewellery as well as other objects such as socks etc. Collector’s drawers are usually drawers which are designed and manufactured to house specific items or a specific genre of items (watches, rings, earrings etc.) to create a collection.

Drawers of dealers/galleries usually contain multiple articles of jewellery placed together. In my opinion I find it similar to the drawers of museum collections apart from the fact that in the  drawers of dealer/galleries the articles of jewellery are not necessarily being placed together to create a collection. These drawers don’t always have to house completed goods, it could also be used to create an archive of old pieces/ prototypes or even just simply house the stock of the dealer/gallery.

B-tech meeting (22/5/14)

During our weekly B-tech meeting, we were reminded about our upcoming Anglo Platinum competition. I am rather excited about this because the brief states that the piece manufactured has to be commercially viable and must be suitable for export purposes. This is the perfect opportunity for me to incorporate my designing and manufacturing of the piece on Rhino, as I am of the opinion that using Rhino would be the ideal method of manufacturing a commercially viable article of jewellery in todays day and age.

Keeping with the times

Whilst working at Vijay Shah Jewellers, I have noticed that there is a strong shift towards jewellery being designed on Rhino and printed using a 3D printer. I cant help but think that this is the way forward in the Jewellery industry. Whilst I am still not yet able to afford the 3-D printing system, I have purchased Rhino Gold earlier on in the year and somehow I have ended up neglecting to familiarising myself with this program. In my opinion, I feel strongly about this being the way forward in terms of manufacturing jewellery. Maybe I should try and incorporate designing and manufacturing on Rhino whist continuing with my B-tech?

My Interest on Pintrest

 

After conversing with my peers, I was encouraged to use Pintrest as a starting point of finding the initial image of reference, which I would then be able to deduce interesting design elements and use them to create a sculpture which will be the reference for creating my jewellery collection.

Metamorphic reference

I am addressing my referencing issue towards the creation of my jewellery. For example, instead of using a random image of a sculpture from the web, which I did previously, I would like to use those images as an inspiration to create a sculpture from which I can extrapolate jewellery pieces.

 

End of term....finally getting started!

After engaging with Chris at this weeks meeting, he too encourages me to create my very own sculptures and then use them as a reference for creating my jewellery. This will definitely steer me in the direction of working with a specific reference (my own work)

Presenting to the first years - Round 2

After extensive research. I tweaked my presentation. I realised that the artists used their own sculptures as a source of inspiration/ reference in creating their jewellery pieces. Perhaps I too should adopt this idea of using my own sculpture as a reference. It worked well for artists like Jorge Gil and Fritz Maierhofer, why not me?

 

Presenting to the first years (Trial run)

Chris was present amongst the audience of B-Tech students when I did a trail run of my first year presentation. My presentation consisted of images that I found interesting and that were possible references I could have used to design and create my jewellery. Chris suggested that I should be less random and more specific with my selection of references.  His rationale was that, by doing that, it would be easier to use them as a reference towards my B-tech at a later stage.  He also suggested that I should research the different sculptural figures which inspired the artists jewellery which I included in my presentation.

Reference

 

After our weekly B-tech  meeting, I was asked to source an image of a corset which I used as a reference for creating the lace up designs for my rings. This image can be seen at http://www.chantillydreams.com/Pretty-in-Pink-Black-Lace-Corset_p_1209.html