The Gift That Keeps Giving ;)

Sooooooo I said I'd catch y'all up on what I've been up to lately at Uni. So here it is:

This term has been split into four three week projects. They were entitled:
- The Alchemist
- The Transformation
- The Secret Ingredient
- The  Big Issue

SO

The Alchemist:

‘Regurgitations of Consumerism’

My pieces represent consumerism in its most simple sense, gluttony. Through the medium of confectionary I have created symbols of what will happen when someone ‘over consumes’. The result is something of revulsion and disgust. These pieces are not just representations of gluttony but are a symbol of the effect consumerism has, as a whole, upon mankind.

The Transformation:
‘Feast and Famine’

Not what you'd expect from a jewellery student is it? Well, the whole purpose of this project was to transform the silhouette.

I explored the shape of the body associated with both words. When thinking of the word ‘feast’ one would normally picture a large, or obese, person, and with ‘famine’ they would envisage a skinny, bony one.
I overlapped the two associations to develop a combination of the two. I used the angles (bony bits) of a skinny person, and the scale, albeit rather exaggerated, of a well feasted body.
The piece also affected the way the wearer moved. There was restricted leg movement to sympathise with the uncomfortable movements of a larger body.

The Secret Ingredient 

Profession: Milkman

This piece was designed for a stereotypical Milkman. This would be a promiscuous man who would typically be suspected of having affairs with women on his Round. 

My piece has a fairly whimsical purpose. It is to be used as a tool to aid the Milkman in picking which of his favourite women on his round he’s going to visit. The Milkman would spin the piece in front of his comrades, jesting about how many women he has to pick from.

The secret function of the piece is that it is weighted to land on the one woman the majority of the time, his favourite, the one he’s falling in love with.

(sorry about the poor quality of these last two photos, I left the good ones on my Uni account, eep!)

The Big Issue

‘Blood Diamonds’

My piece highlights the relationship between the diamond miner and the rest of the World. The shovel represents the miners; it is entrapped by the diamond, as is Africa and its people. Many people that were released from slavery in the mines have had to return, under their own will, for a source of income, however poor it is.

One side of the piece is ‘cut’ almost like a gem, and the other has been left ‘rough’. One side is Africa, ones side is the outside world.

You can’t see straight through to the piece inside. The vision is clouded. It can be ignored and disregarded. On the ‘rough’ side the shovel is almost touchable, almost free, but it never will be.

(and the same for these photos!)