Reviewing Methods and Materials - Jewellery and body ornament

Reviewing Methods and Materials…

Three-dimensional works of art, design and craft:

Art, design and craft in jewellery:

Jewellery and body ornament.

Students can begin to consider the advantages of using three-dimensional jewellery techniques in order to represent observations, ideas and emotions, or create decorative or functional works of design or craft .

Display environment, scale, supports:

Describe the lighting environment in the exhibition area, and describe any shadows cast by the jewellery or sections of the jewellery. How do these shadows influence the viewer’s perceptions of the jewellery?

The scale of a piece of jewellery can influence the viewer’s perceptions. Describe the size and scale of the jewellery.

Has the artist produced a piece of jewellery that projects out from a section of the human body? Does the piece of jewellery depend on low relief elements with shallow projections or high relief elements where raised features project further away from the wearer’s body?

Has the artist, designer or crafts practitioner produced a body ornament that is suspended from the wearer’s body?

Has a small item of jewellery been placed on a large platform or plinth, or an item of furniture? Has a small item of jewellery been placed in a glass display cabinet? If the small item of jewellery is in a display cabinet, has the exhibition organiser used special support structures or lighting devices in order to present the work?

Has the artist, designer or crafts practitioner created large body ornament or wearable form that can be placed on a large platform or plinth?

How high is the top surface of a platform or plinth or item of furniture used to present the item of jewellery for display?

Does the use of any large platform or plinth or an item of furniture for display purposes influence the way that the exhibition visitor views the item of jewellery?

Has the artist, designer or crafts practitioner featured kinetic elements in the jewellery? Describe these elements. Does the movement depend on natural forces, such as breezes or body movement, or has the exhibitor used a special mechanism in order to promote movement? Describe the movement of forms associated with the item of jewellery.

Jewellery: works or art, or design or craft?

Is the exhibit a work of jewellery art? Why is this exhibit a work of art, rather than a work of design or a craft work? If this work is a unique visual representation, describe the representation and the visual composition used by the artist.

Is the exhibit a jewellery design work? Why is this exhibit a work of design, rather than an art work or a craft work? Has the designer produced a work in response to a specific design brief? Describe the design aims that guided the development of the exhibit. Describe the decorative or utilitarian purpose for the item of jewellery. Has the development of the exhibit been associated with specific design traditions and practices?

Is the exhibit a work of jewellery craft? Why is this exhibit a craft work, rather than an art work or a work of design? Has the crafts practitioner produced a work that is part of a specific craft tradition? Describe the crafts technique that guided the development of the exhibit. Does the craft work serve a particular function? Describe the decorative or utilitarian purpose for the craft work.

Jewellery techniques:

Describe the materials used for the jewellery work.

Has the artist, designer or crafts practitioner produced a work that required the manipulation of jewellery materials purely by hand, or has the exhibitor relied on the use of hand tools. Describe the hand tools used to produce the work. Has electrically-powered equipment been used to create the jewellery work?

Has the artist, designer crafts practitionerrelied on the use of modelling techniques in order to produce the jewellery? Can the viewer detect the marks of modelling tools or other implements on the surface of the jewellery? Does the jewellery feature smooth areas or fine detail or heavily textured areas? Describe the use of shapes and linear elements in the jewellery. Has the exhibitor left any natural or pre-existing surface colours visible, or have inlays, additional surface colours, two-dimensional collage techniques, or laminating techniques been applied to the jewellery surface? Does the jewellery feature a matte or gloss or a reflective surface?

Has the jewellery been produced through the use of beating, etching, carving or cutting techniques? Have hand tools or power tools been used? Describe the materials used for the jewellery. Has the exhibitor carved or cut out the jewellery in bone, wood, stone, metal, or plastic compounds? Have hammering, carving or sanding tools been used to smooth or texture surfaces on the jewellery? Have holes been carved through the jewellery? Describe the use of shapes and linear elements in the jewellery. How many holes have been carved or cut through the jewellery in order to create positive or negative shapes or spaces? Are the positive shapes more prominent than the negative shapes or spaces? Has the exhibitor left any natural or pre-existing surface colours visible, or have inlays, additional surface colours, two-dimensional collage techniques, or laminating techniques been applied to the jewellery surfaces? Does the jewellery feature a matte or gloss or a reflective surface?

Has the jewellery been created through the use of a casting technique? Has the exhibition catalogue or label described the type of casting techniques used? Has the final jewellery work been cast in metal, glass, ceramic slip, or a resin or plastic compound? Describe the use of shapes and linear elements in the jewellery. Does the jewellery feature smooth sections, clearly defined areas of detail or textured areas? Has the exhibitor left any natural or pre-existing surface colours visible, or have inlays, additional surface colours, two-dimensional collage techniques, or laminating techniques been applied to the jewellery surface? Does the jewellery feature a matte or gloss or a reflective surface?

Has the jewellery been created through the use of assemblage techniques? Has the artist used paper, card or cardboard, wood, stone, natural forms such as bone, pearl or shell, metal sheets or cast shapes or wire, glass, flexible or rigid plastic, fabric, ceramic forms or found objects to form the jewellery? Has the exhibitor used hard surfaces or soft surfaces to form the item of jewellery? Describe the assemblage techniques that have been used to form the jewellery. Has the exhibitor used tearing or cutting processes, or folding and twisting techniques? Has the exhibitor used metal soldering or welding techniques, glues, or attachment techniques such as the use of wire or fibre connections, pins, rivets, nuts, bolts, screws or nails, or raised metal prongs? Has the exhibitor used sewing techniques to connect jewellery elements? Has the assembled jewellery elements been placed together on a base or the ground surface? Describe the use of shapes and linear elements in the jewellery. Has the exhibitor left any natural or pre-existing surface colours visible, or have inlays, additional surface colours, two-dimensional collage techniques, or laminating techniques been applied to the jewellery surface? Does the jewellery feature a matte or gloss or a reflective surface?

Subject matter:

Has the exhibitor used three-dimensional jewellery techniques in order to produce realistic representations? Describe the representations.

Has the exhibitor used three-dimensional jewellery techniques in order to produce an abstracted representation? Describe the representations.

If the exhibitor has produced three-dimensional sculptural pattern forms, describe the placement and scale of the pattern lines or shapes, as well as any distinctive optical effects.