Between two cultures: a dialogue in jewellery

This paper is concerned with the research I am carrying out at The University of Manchester‟s Laser Processing Centre, a project which emerged through a need to understand more about laser technology and its potential for use in the creative industries. My interest lies specifically with titanium and, being a jeweller this means finding answers for contemporary jewellery, but I have found that crucially, since I am based in the School of Mechanical, Aerospace and Civil Engineering, it is the dialogue between myself and the engineers and scientists that surround me that has enabled most of the progress. I therefore have to thank Professor Lin Li and Professor Andrew Gale for their continued support in this unusual venture

Bridging the gap

This paper illustrates some of the outcomes from research carried out by the main author as art jeweller in the Laser Processing Research Centre (LPRC) in the School of Mechanical, Aerospace and Civil Engineering at The University of Manchester. The work shows examples of surface marking of titanium using a 60 W CO2 10.6 μm laser for the production of jewellery and observes the effects caused by heat delivered to the titanium substrate. Points are addressed such as the distance created between artist and technology, allowing ‘accidents’ to happen in a necessarily precise and safe environment and the need for closer communication between disciplines in order to understand the potential of emerging technologies for art and design

Laser marking of titanium for contemporary jewellery and the process of scientific knowledge transfer

Laser marking of titanium for contemporary jewellery and the process of scientific knowledge transfe

From art to engineering

This paper describes work which emerged through a need to understand more about the potential of laser surface engineering for use in the creative industries. The method of creation of contemporary jewellery pieces and the resultant ‘Ocular’ jewellery series are described from the points of view of an artist and an engineer. The work demonstrates how laser controlled oxide growth on commercially pure titanium under ambient conditions can be used as an artistic tool by producing even, defined colours or by reproducing a simulation of freehand drawings on a titanium surface. It also asks the question: how different are artists from scientists and engineers

The power of communication through art jewellery

The presentation illustrates the results of an interdisciplinary practice between the main author as art jeweller and engineering with materials science. The talk will be supported by a series of examples of surface marking of titanium by laser for the production of jewellery objects and the effects caused by heat delivered to the titanium substrate. The research demonstrates how laser controlled oxide growth on titanium can be used as an artistic tool by producing precisely defined colours according to different parameter settings. The overriding success of this work, however, is the pathway created from art practice into engineering research, taking advantage of methodologies from both cultures, resulting in an improved communication and understanding between these extreme disciplines. The paper is also concerned with the distance created between artist and technology, the importance of crossing boundaries and taking risks beyond normal personal practice in order to join in the investigation of global current debates, for example climate change. Through the collaboration with scientists and engineers and the production of art jewellery the author aims to bring new knowledge of science research and art practice to wider audience

Patterning on the microscale: wearable jewellery objects

Collaboration between the artist and material scientist Exhibition Curator: Elisha Buttler/FORM Exhibition Guest Curator: Kevin Murray Exhibition venue and dates: April 9th to May 30th 2010, Midland Atelier, Perth Can jewellery function as an instrument of change? Jewellery is inherently appealing as an object. Frequently associated with status and beauty, a piece of jewellery can be iconic and convey overt messages regarding wealth, style, status. However, emerging trends in jewellery and related object design are beginning to challenge many customary ideas of jewellery, and instead, position it as an object which is not only functional but can exert degrees of change on the wearer – or viewer. These trends form the basis a FORM exhibition in development for 2010. Concepts such as ‘functionality’ and ‘change’ are open to multiple interpretations. However for the initial purposes of this exhibition, they have been grouped into two key categories: 1. Function and Technology This category includes jewellers and related designers who create products possessing tangible functions or new technologies which aim to deploy specific benefits to individuals and/or the broader community. Emphasis will be placed on designs that point to long-term benefits, rather than one-off, largely conceptual pieces. 2. Sociology and Symbolism This category includes the less tangible elements of contemporary jewellery which have potential to alter perspectives and promote action through their symbolic connotations. Like the Function and Technology category, the underlying themes here are designs which focus on benefits and heightened social awareness for individuals and the broader community. The exhibition will explore jewellery that fits into either (or both) of the above groups, while focusing on the varied levels of ‘change’ jewellery can wield; namely in the areas of health, technology, sciences and community. This is a relatively new area of development but one which possesses immense potential for groundbreaking innovation and cross-disciplinary, cross-industry advancement. A central aim of the exhibition will be to highlight this potential for innovation and cross-sector collaboration through jewellery design, and the strategies, investment and other conditions required to foster these new directions. Also key to the exhibition will be examinations of the crossovers between the two categories, and the relationships between aesthetics and practicality. Jewellers featured in the exhibition are: Helena Bogucki, Otto von Busch, Sean O’Connell, Martina M. Dempf, Donna Franklin & Simone Hicks, Leah Heiss, Jessica Jubb, Rui Kikuchi, Erin Keys, Bethany Linton, Vicki Mason, Sarah O’Hana, Nikki Stott, Renee Ugazio, Jayne Wallace and Areta Wilkinso

Sting of passion

A new exhibition of contemporary jewellery by 12 up-and-coming international jewellery artists opens at Manchester Art Gallery this July. Curated by Manchester-based jewellery artist Jo Bloxham, the exhibition features new conceptual works of jewellery by artists from as far afield as the USA and Mexico. All the works on display have been inspired by Pre-Raphaelite paintings from Manchester Art Gallery’s prestigious collections. The paintings have all been selected by the exhibition curator, Jo Bloxham and include Pre-Raphaelite favourites such as Arthur Hughes’ Ophelia and Rossetti’s The Bower Meadow and Astarte Syriaca. The works portray women as a femme fatale, a seductress, and in some cases, purely as an object of beauty. Bloxham comments that each of the jewellers has responded individually, the works have provoked some strong reactions, and astonishing results: “The jewellers have created an exciting body of work using a diverse selection of materials, from gold and garnets to concrete and broken glass. The Sting of Passion is an opportunity to explore an area of jewellery design rarely seen in the UK.” Polish jeweller, Arek Wolski has added modern irony to his work for Eve Tempted by John Stanhope. Playing on words, Wolski has created a t-shirt brooch, changing the phrase ‘Last Forever’ to a more cynical ‘Lust Forever’. French jeweller, Benjamin Lignel found The Bower Meadow by Dante Gabriel Rossetti deeply unsettling. Lignel says “Here are the real desperate housewives: typecast for maximum excitement. Rossetti’s dancing beauties live the test-tube lives of neutered she-monsters in a tree-lined water-tank.” Nanna Melland from Germany has created a fine, gold chain, to sit around the waist of Rossetti’s Astarte Syriaca in the form of a new girdle

Medals 1-7

I am curious about the instruments that other professions use for measuring and observing their work. The elegance of opticians’ trial lenses, the strict order and arrangement of them in felt lined cases provided me with inspiration for this series of medals. All of them carry an original trapped lens in the centre that would once have been used to determine a patient’s prescription. This invites the viewer to peer through, to examine in detail, to inspect further - actions associated with scientific observation and also with improving sight, aiding discovery and crossing into new territories. My recent research in laser processing has led me to work closely with scientists and engineers which has had a profound effect on the way I now work

The creative debate

Presentation and discussion with Engineering and Physical Sciences students, University of Manchester

Brooch and Pendant

“Seeing as a kind of journey: from dark to light, from nothing to substance. Sight as crossing over…an understanding of oneself and the other. “ (Samuele Mazza. Spectacles) Over the last 15 years as a lecturer I have been increasingly interested in the integration of emerging technologies for the creative industries, overseeing the installation of laser systems for welding, cutting and marking for jewellery and applied art courses. In order to further understand the technology that artists increasingly look for to use as a daily tool, I recently completed the research project Laser processing on titanium for contemporary jewellery: a bridge between cultures at The University of Manchester in the School of Mechanical, Aerospace and Civil Engineering. The difficulty in understanding between my own art background and their engineering culture, however, created in the project a new dimension. The relatively straightforward task of finding applications of laser processing for contemporary jewellery also became a mission to improve the communication between art, science and engineering through the objects being made. The Ocular series 1-6 created during the research, was grounded in the aesthetic and function of the measuring instruments used in optometry. These had always been an intriguing source of interest to me, perhaps because of my lifelong condition of hyperopia and astigmatism. Manual instrumentation, trial lenses and correcting glasses provided an important design influence. The objects all include a lens in the centre, inviting the viewer to peer through, to examine in detail, to inspect further - actions associated with scientific observation and also with improving sight, clarifying vision, aiding discovery, altering perception or simply appealing to the wonder of magnification. The journey that I encountered during my research included microscopic views of titanium oxidation and opened new levels of material understanding thanks to the help of engineers and scientists working around me. Eyesight correction and the essential use of both eyes needed for binocular vision became metaphors for the research. The Ocular series were modelled on the idea of a monocle that might be made to individual prescriptions, suggesting that correcting vision would help see the ‘bigger picture’, assuage ‘clouded’ or ‘tunnel vision’. For this exhibition it is my intention to further develop the concept of using sight as a bridging mechanism between the cultures of science and art. Jewellery is the ideal art form with which to communicate and carry this notion forward and I hope to work with a scientist and/or an engineer to carry it out. The object/s made will also engage with issues surrounding the public understanding of both art and science, exposing aspects of engineering research and of art practice that aim to change persistent preconceptions