Split piece - Malcom X

So stoked, i finally finished the Split piece of Malcolm X inspired by banksy's description of "whatever means necessary". Banksy was referring to the process by which street art is created. Malcom X, used that same line in a speech, but the parallel is that it is also an ode to "Bricolage". 

Bricolage defined is "Use what you have where you are in any given environment.

Ive made a frame for the six bracelets, each constructed from a humble variation of materials consisting of aluminum, aerosol paint, record vinyl,copper and silver.

Its ironic because i keep forgetting it is six separate pieces of jewelry, and i keep viewing it as one piece or as a small sculpture.

If you battling to make out the image, squint your eyes. Ive noticed that when you view the display from a distance, the image of Malcolm X is rather noticeable, which is a good thing, as it will draw the viewer closer, and hopefully they will be able to identify with the idea that its actually six cuff bracelets.

The copper catch mechanisms create a slight division between the upper and lower panels of each bracelet, and next time, i would definitely rather stack them side by side like this.

I may experiment next time with perhaps secret encoded messages that can only be read when bought together, or continue with other imagery.

Sustainable living Exhibition - Buckles (Plug-ins)

The definition of Plug- in is:

plug-in

adjective

able to be connected by means of a plug : a plug-in telephone.

• Computing (of a module or software) able to be added to a system to give extra features or functions : a plug-in graphics card.

I especially like the part that says "able to be added to a system to give features or functions" Its feels like this process involves more of breaking away from a "System" to give extra features and functions,  Those functions are wearable art made from found objects, jammed and extended into jewelry.

Anyway here are  two buckles i constructed from the plug. I like the idea of them being smaller, and hopefully they will have wider appeall.

To create an interesting visual contrast i used yellow paint, thats what i had and thats what i used.I just wanted to make it more appealling. Im not so happy with the tiny bubbles. Big bubbles are acceptable but these little surface bubbles are driving me crazy.

I really need to invest in some new colours. I admit i've over done it with this purple.I used a piece of microchip to make a kind of "visual switch" to fill the empty cavity.

Something of relevancy which relates to Street art which has evolved in my research is the way in which i approach creating work.Its very, freestyle, improvised, hands on, DIY. I like it, Its like three dimensional anarchy! 

In the words of Steve Powers, graffitti artist and member of the barnstormers, he explains that when he works, he just calls it as he sees it, meaning things just unravel and each piece is created in a very spontaneous fashion.

Graffiti and street art has a relationship to bricolage, of "use what you can wherever you are in any given environment" Creativity just manifests and then you kind of release it in the moment.

Drum n Bass

Kj Sawka is a human drum machine

Ring Ring

Hello this is Glenn speaking..................................

I constructed this ring using a combination of traditional materials and found objects.

I used silver as outer walls and submerged pieces of tin from paint tins.

With no real planning i threw in a cubic zirconia as well.

Initially when i made the ring, i was not sure how i felt about it. Now that I have photographed it and looked at it again,i think there is an interesting tension between the precious metal, and the random floating bits of debri. 

 im contemplating developing it further, by potentially making a series of rings.

It would be nice to expand my designs into other design variations. Ive constructed, belts, buckles and earrings using found objects , but i think to develop a range of rings using found objects combined with silver.

Could be exciting to explore these possibilities further.

Cheers.

Sustainable living Exhibition - Buckles.

Fellow Jewellery designer Nick Rose and i were donated scrap metal from a Durban company called Chicks scrap metal.

We have been commissioned to construct some works using the materials kindly donated by this etablishment.

We paid a vist  to this scrapyard one Satuarday morning and were free to roam and collect what ever materials we felt necessary.

I stumbled apoun an old plug point which i am currently cutting up to make some more belt buckles.

Ive been wanting to make more buckles for a while now, but i am going to make them smaller than the size of a tape.

Previously i intended to make smaller sizes so i made a mould with smaller dimensions to facilitate smaller found objects.

I like the tape buckles that Ive been making but i want to try making variations of sizes that are slightly toned down that might appeal to a slightly more refined personallities. Mabee we could view it as being Loud and soft at the same time.

Im thinking of keying out the red detail and painting the backround just to make it more fun. Theres an infinite amount of things i could do to enhance its visual quallities. 

Like all good spontaneous approaches i think im just going to live in the moment and let things unravel as they should.

Im thinking Im going to call them Plug-ins. Its a relevant word that relates to technology and speaks of the now.

Regarding my own work: Exploration

With regards to the work  that i am currently exploring, and the way in which i need to explain my work.
What is the question? What am i trying to do?
How do i convey street, through my work?

An aspect of it relates to the materials, as well as where the materials are found, like the sites of a public space.

Cuff Bracelet,Mural-Split piece technical process

So i have established a connection with the Split-piece and my Cuff bracelet mural project. I think it needs to be re named as the Split-piece.

This project has taken some time now , and im in the finishing stages of constructing catch mechanisms for each Cuff bracelet. I have chosen once again to use copper for the catch mechanisms, as it is a cheap and easily accessible medium. 

I still have to rivet each mechanism to the end of each cuff, and am hoping to wrap this up by the end of the week.

Lastly i need to construct a square type frame to mount all six cuff bracelets so the image of Malcom X is kind of visible.

Its been a learning process, and there are things i would definitely do differently next time.

I think stacking them one onto of each other would create an easily identifiable image.

Due to the catch components protruding from the edge of each bracelet, there will be slight spaces between each bracelet. When displaying the six bracelets ( 3 set stacked on top of 3 sets)this may make it difficult to identify what the overall image depicts.

 Another issue that came to light was i used paint. I do like the rawness, and i even like the way it has scratched off in the construction process. I thought that next time i could even anodise the aluminium if i wanted to project the bright and colourfull attitude of aerosol paint.

I could all the same re approach this process, and get the aluminium panels laser cutt, and use technology to aid me in the process but it just wouldn't feel the same. 

This process was guided by the phrase "Whatever means necessary" and i think if i had approached it any other way the results would have turned out much differently.

If i were to approach it in a commercial light mabee then i would use technology to aid me but, majority of the materials would be bought bran new and lack the energy and history, that found objects seem to contain.

Cuff bracelet Mural - Split-Piece

Ive just discovered an interesting relationship between my mural piece consisting of six individual bracelets and something that is known as a Split-Piece

In graffitti their is a term known as a split-piece.What happens is an artist will paint aspects of a mural in separate locations, that actually comprise of one image. The murals are individually photographed and then photoshopped together to make up one image.

Its quite interesting that i have discovered this existing activity, when im almost finished my mural bracelet concept. It would perhaps be more accurate to call it a split piece as the concepts are relatively similar. 

Like my jewelry each piece is  worn individually however when displayed together make up one unified Image.

This is also now a relative relationship based on how and why "Street Jewellery" could be like Street art. 

 An artist who specializes in Split-piece graffitti, is a Capetown based artist by the name of Falco.

Below is an image showing the concept of a split piece which he painted in a rural suburb called Darling just outside Capetown South Africa.

If you look at the image on the outer edges of the image you will see the mural has been painted in four separate locations.

I think overall its a pretty cool concept.

Thanks Falco.

Mural

Ive just discovered an interesting relationship between my mural piece consisting of six individual bracelets and something that is known as a Split-Piece

In graffitti their is a term known as a split-piece.What happens is an artist will paint aspects of a mural in separate locations, that actually comprise of one image. The murals are individually photographed and then photoshopped together to make up one image.

Its quite interesting that i have discovered this existing activity, when im almost finished my mural bracelet concept. It would perhaps be more accurate to call it a split piece as the concepts are relatively similar. 

Like my jewelry each piece is viewed and worn individually however when displayed together make up one unified Image.

This is also now a relative relationship based on how and why "Street Jewellery" could be like Street art. 

An artist who specializes in Split-piece graffitti, is a Capetown based artist by the name of Falco.

Below is an image showing the concept of a split piece which he painted in a rural suburb called Darling just outside Capetown South Africa.

Mural,split-piece,falco graffitti

Ive just discovered an interesting relationship between my mural piece consisting of six individual bracelets and something that is known as a Split-Piece

In graffitti their is a term known as a split-piece.What happens is an artist will paint aspects of a mural in separate locations, that actually comprise of one image. The murals are individually photographed and then photoshopped together to make up one image.

Its quite interesting that i have discovered this existing activity, when im almost finished my mural bracelet concept. It would perhaps be more accurate to call it a split piece as the concepts are relatively similar. 

Like my jewelry each piece is viewed and worn individually however when displayed together make up one unified Image.

This is also now a relative relationship based on how and why "Street Jewellery" could be like Street art. 

An artist who specializes in Split-piece graffitti, is a Capetown based artist by the name of Falco.

Below is an image showing the concept of a split piece which he painted in a rural suburb called Darling just outside Capetown South Africa.

Mural,split-piece,falco graffitti

In context to everything - Bricolage

I haven't blogged in a while so to try get back in the flow of the know, just thought id put this out there.

Over the July break i got a new edition to my makeshift drum kit. Previously i acquired a bass pedal which i swapped for one of my belts. A fellow Jeweler friend gave me a drum kit tambourine, which i'm now using as a type of hi hat.  The other day i was washing the dishes (something i will hate till i die) and discovered the interesting sound quality it had, so i have now appropriated it into a sound source.

I've been wondering a lot about the activities i do collectively and if it is all connected to bricolage. I've discovered in my Jewelery making that i'musing bricolage to make street Jewelery, aswell as music and photography. In the construction of a drum kit I have used bricolage too! Objects have been appropriated into sound sources, Plastic boxes have been used as props for stands, and the snare which sits on a plastic box acts as a bass drum.

Theirs this reoccurring theme of improvisation,where i tend to do things very spontaneously.Its a way of using what you have where you are in any given circumstance. In context to percussion taking found objects and arranging them into a type of sequence feels the same as making jewelry, Its like i'm trying to create this improvised melody which takes place in a moment in any given environment.

All this reflection has been rather enlightening and the significance of realization has steered this ship far beyond the notion of recycling. Im pretty happy about that.