Critical Design
Critical Design
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Throughout the research project, the contextual review, insights, commentary and discussions informed the creation of Critical Design which aimed to visualise the findings deemed important to highlight in order to question and, where possible, influence the issues identified. Critical jewellery design pieces, created in line with a desire as an artist/maker to bring about social change, are used as anchors to re-consider the identified challenges, implications and possibilities. The pieces pose a practice-based aesthetical commentary on the research conducted.
Real or Fake?
For the series Real or Fake? a pair of earrings and a pair of signet rings were produced to question the labelling and the underpinning beliefs about the authenticity of man-made gemstone crystal materials.
Man-made crystals, when grown in mirror of their natural counter parts, are identical, and in some instances are superior, to mined gemstones. Engineered growth techniques enable a crystal to grow following its underpinning crystal structure, molecule by molecule. Two signet rings have been formed out of quartz – one made from man-made quartz and the other from mined quartz. The area where normally an identity marking seal would be positioned on a traditional signet ring on this occasion shows the natural growth patterns these two materials display, in line with their trigonal crystal structure. The rings were carved so that these patterns remained visible on that specific location in each piece, to showcase their quintessence. They both clearly follow nature’s predetermined structure, although the mined crystal in a more scattered and less formulated way. The rings also demonstrate the ability of man-made materials to be grown in such a way that they are flawless, making them in some instances easier to work with and, for this reason, more desirable than the mined crystal.
For the series Real or Fake? a pair of earrings and a pair of signet rings were produced to question the labelling and the underpinning beliefs about the authenticity of man-made gemstone crystal materials.
Man-made crystals, when grown in mirror of their natural counter parts, are identical, and in some instances are superior, to mined gemstones. Engineered growth techniques enable a crystal to grow following its underpinning crystal structure, molecule by molecule. Two signet rings have been formed out of quartz – one made from man-made quartz and the other from mined quartz. The area where normally an identity marking seal would be positioned on a traditional signet ring on this occasion shows the natural growth patterns these two materials display, in line with their trigonal crystal structure. The rings were carved so that these patterns remained visible on that specific location in each piece, to showcase their quintessence. They both clearly follow nature’s predetermined structure, although the mined crystal in a more scattered and less formulated way. The rings also demonstrate the ability of man-made materials to be grown in such a way that they are flawless, making them in some instances easier to work with and, for this reason, more desirable than the mined crystal.
The labelling of lab-grown and mined materials was further questioned in a pair of earrings which were set, with one containing a faceted brilliant cut man-made diamond and the other a mined diamond. Whilst, at a first glance the traditional-looking gold diamond stud earrings look like nothing special, on them the question ‘REAL?’ on one, and ‘FAKE?’ on the other have been engraved. These are the only markers to distinguish the one from the other, as from looking at them one cannot tell the stones apart. Engraving the words on the ear posts of the studs meant that the markers could not be seen when they are worn, so viewers would therefore no longer be able to make the distinction.
Wear the Waste
For the series Wear the Waste a necklace and ring were produced that visualise the average amount of kimberlite waste rock that needs to be mined in order to produce the incorporated or referenced diamond. With on average 4350 kg of kimberlite needing to be removed to mine 1 carat of diamond, the heavy kimberlite necklace (weighing 2.175 kg) aimed to provide its wearer with a tactile appreciation of the effort that is required to displace this amount of rock in order to obtain the featured 0.0005 carat diamond, and served as a commentary on the increasingly promoted sustainability narrative surrounding mined diamonds, its craters now even visible from space. The ring, made from kimberlite waste material, was displayed in an engagement box. It has been engraved with a scale marker, providing an insight into how much kimberlite needs to be displaced on average for a standard 1 carat diamond, a traditional feature in modern engagement rings.
For the series Wear the Waste a necklace and ring were produced that visualise the average amount of kimberlite waste rock that needs to be mined in order to produce the incorporated or referenced diamond. With on average 4350 kg of kimberlite needing to be removed to mine 1 carat of diamond, the heavy kimberlite necklace (weighing 2.175 kg) aimed to provide its wearer with a tactile appreciation of the effort that is required to displace this amount of rock in order to obtain the featured 0.0005 carat diamond, and served as a commentary on the increasingly promoted sustainability narrative surrounding mined diamonds, its craters now even visible from space. The ring, made from kimberlite waste material, was displayed in an engagement box. It has been engraved with a scale marker, providing an insight into how much kimberlite needs to be displaced on average for a standard 1 carat diamond, a traditional feature in modern engagement rings.
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