Hi friends,
Since I am working with my hands all day long, and am proud that one of the core values of my business is the meticulous handmade process, I am often faced with issues regarding mass production vs. handmade small series process.
This issue was the beginning point of an exhibition I presented in collaboration of my studio partner Adi Yair (a weaver and fashion designer) at the Design week of Jerusalem 2018 last month.
We asked ourselves several questions:
- Can design and conservatism co-exist? Or is design based, by its very definition, on innovation?
- Is there a place for personal, handmade, slow production processes in the current world climate, of consumption, industrialization, duplication and mass production?
- Why is it important to preserve traditional production techniques? Does keeping traditions in this area necessarily mean a traditional product?
- Is innovative design intended for liberal people? Or maybe, the freedom to choose - the process or the product, is essentially liberalism?
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Left photo - general view of the exhibition and experience station.
Right photo - a glimpse into Adi's process.
Both me and Adi combine traditional processes along with unconventional materials and processes to create modern, minimal products that are far from being traditional. We decided to concentrate this exhibition on our process, thus enabling the visitor a glimpse into the handmade process of a modern maker.
That's me - going through so many photos, images and even tools and materials to decide how to best present my handmade process.
For me, it was about showing the various stages of designing and making my concrete jewelry. Starting from the inspiration, which sometimes finds its way into my Instagram account, and can definitely be seen in the enormous amount of boards in my Pinterest account.
After that, there are sketches, and then I start playing with metal, usually silver. I cut it, sand it, twist it, fold it, solder it, then sand it again, and again. If I am happy with the result, it is then time to cast the concrete into it. Then I wait for it to cure before I can move on to the next stage, which is yet again... sanding. This time, of the concrete parts.
(If you would like to learn more about combining concrete in jewelry check out this blog post.)
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A closer look into parts of the exhibition.
As part of the exhibition, we put up a station where visitors could experience for themselves working with metal and weaving. It was interesting to see the various ways people expressed themselves through these two mediums, especially children. I still haven't decided what to do with the end result of the experiment.
One of the younger visitor at the exhibition leaving their mark on the brass plaque. Photo by Ricky Rachman.
In my opinion, a key element that made this exhibition so special was the fact that it was presented in the actual space where the work is happening, so in a way, the studio itself - Adi's loom, my work bench, the concrete station, the various tools and even the mess on my table - were part of the exhibition and of the experience.
Although the exhibition is officially over, we decided to leave parts of it on the walls of the studio, so if you are ever in Jerusalem, feel free to stop by (call/email or text first to make sure I am there) and prepare to be inspired :-).
Love,
Baara