The Nature of Jewellery

There are a limitless amount of ideas that influence jewellery design, one of the more controversial is taxidermy. Usually, designers or artists use small amounts of animal parts, like teeth or a few bones, but others go to the length of hollowing out a whole animal as shown below. This may not be jewellery but it's still a good example of a taxidermy accessory, I can't remember where I found the image though.

Shown above is a set of snake vertebrae bracelets designed by Shannon Astali DeJong. This item shows a slightly more subtle side to taxidermy jewellery, although there is still something eerie about it. Personally, I wouldn't wear these but would consider a fake version as I love the animal influence yet wouldn't want to wear the real thing.  Posted below are a pair of squirrel paw earrings from Etsy and a duck headpiece, the origin of which I do not know. I think there is something sickeningly beautiful and compelling about these items and it makes me want to see more, though feeling guilty for doing so. Whereas the earrings are for sale, the duck headpiece seems to be from a shoot of some kind so that raises the question, was there any point in decapitating a bunch of taxidermy ducks? Perhaps it's just for the sake of controversy.

The work of the appropriately named artist Julia deVille ranks arguably at the top of controversial jewellery design. The majority of the animals used in her work are of the most defenceless variety, using field mice, small birds and even kittens. Whilst some of her jewellery designs are metal replicas of animal parts, deVille doesn't shy away from using the real thing, as can be seen below. 

Fortunately, to combat and contrast with the morbid styles of the above designers, Hafsteinn Juliusson and Paula Hayes have each created a different form of living jewellery. The first is part of a series of necklaces designed by Hayes and below is one of many rings by Juliusson.

Whilst most people are unlikely to have a problem with those who choose to wear a ring filled with grass, I'm sure opinions would change when animals creep back into the mix. In Chengdu, China, there was news of teenagers of wearing living fish, encased in plastic pendants and apparently they last 3 months.

Tacheles

Whilst on a study trip to Berlin with the Uni, our course leader took us to a partially demolished former department store in the Jewish quarter of the city. It is now the base of an artist collective and houses several galleries, bars and clubs. Graffiti covers the majority of the wall space and overall, the atmosphere is amazing. We decided to return that evening to investigate these bars and I'm very glad we did! Later in the trip, a Croatian man told me how much better it was during the Summer but I found it a captivating building, even in February. In bar at the top floor of the building, everything bathed in a blue hue, hence the name 'Blue Salon' and as we enjoyed some Jaeger-bombs, it began to snow lightly. 

After a while, we descended to ground level, where there was a bar named 'Zapata' with a fire breathing metal head. Although I didn't capture that particularly well on my camera, here are some photos of other various parts of the building.

Photos by K.L.V.

Octopus Games

 

'Octopus Games' is the name of a Japanese woodblock print designed by Utagawa Kuniyoshi, created around the same period as Hokusai was creating his prints. I wrote about Kuniyoshi for my dissertation at Uni, discovering that although he was not as famous as other artists, such as Hokusai and Hiroshige, he was the King of satire in a time where it was desperately needed. Tokyo (or Edo at the time) was under the strict rule of the Tokugawa government, where most pleasurable activities, including Kabuki theatre, were banned or suppressed. You can tell that the roots of Anime are found in this era and although I'm no fan of Anime, I really enjoyed visiting the Kuniyoshi exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts! Although many of the images appear humorous, there are numerous hidden messages that often escaped censorship. Here are two of his satirical triptych prints.

 

The two badges displayed above were bought from the Royal Academy of Arts whilst the exhibition was on, below are some photos of the Noh theatre masks on display at the V&A. Noh theatre was encouraged by the Tokugawa government, yet Kabuki and Kyogen, which are other forms of theatre, were quelled as Noh was the entertainment of the Samurai and other members of the upper classes.

Woodland Feathers

Although I mentioned my latest photo shoot in the first blog post, I didn't go into much detail as to what it's about or why I did it. Firstly, the majority of my shoots took place in studios, though one was in my garden, so I wanted to try photographing on location. The reason being, to incorporate the surroundings to help achieve the atmosphere I wanted. I also added to the materials I'd be using and due to my fascination with feathers, I bought a variety of different shapes and sizes. Luckily, my friend who modelled for me owned a very appropriate dress, the shoulders of which were also covered in feathers. The mask itself, I sort of made up as I went along with only a vague idea of what it would like look as a finished item, despite that I was very pleased with the final result. I required my final images to be reminiscent of the many photographs I've seen of worldwide indigenous people or tribes, yet at the same time resembling none of them overtly.  Due to wanting an eerie atmosphere, I first planned to take the photos at night but unfortunately the majority turned out far too grainy. Saying that, a couple were salvageable.

A few days later, a second attempt was made. This time, I brought with me 4 metres of faux fur that I'd bought for my end of Uni exhibition, to serve as some kind of cloak. We wondered around the woodland for quite a while and to my satisfaction, discovered some great settings for the shoot. The photo directly below, taken using the wide angled lens that my friend and model lent me, is one of my favourites as I love how the trees tower above Somali, yet due her posture she shares the same sense of elegance. Below this image is a selection of other photos taken during that shoot.

 

Photos by K.L.V.

Junkanoo

The following images still fall under the hat theme but I thought the previous post was lengthy enough already. The Junkanoo parade has its roots in West Africa and the slave trade but became the soul of Bahamian culture, so I was surprised that it came to the Isle of Wight!

Photos by K.L.V.

Hats: Part 2

Since the previous post was about hats I've designed, this post is about a few interesting hats that I've seen and photographed. A couple of years ago now, I attended a Björk gig at the Hammersmith Apollo and knowing the kind of outlandish attire she normally wears, I had high expectations of her outfit that night. The opening act was an experimental Iranian DJ named Leila Arab, who I've since become a fan of. Once that had finished, Björk revealed her outfit as a pink tin foil dress, or so it appeared, and a hat comprised of many brightly coloured fluffy balls. A year later, I returned to London and was reunited with this very hat  whilst viewing 'Hats: An Anthology by Stephen Jones', an exhibition being held at the V&A museum. Below, the pictures taken on both occasions. 

To accompany the hats designed by Stephen Jones at this exhibition, there were also those  of Philip Treacy. One of my favourites on display, as worn by Isabella Blow (left) and as it stood in the exhibition (right). 

During my stay in Innsbruck, Austria, I visited the Swarovski Crystal World. The whole experience is a psychedelic blend of colours and reflections and here are a couple photos of what dwells inside. 

Following the European theme, in Prague I saw some more great hats and headdresses. and these were traditional or ceremonial outfits of the Czech Republic. At the museum of Folklore, the curators were very strict on photography but I managed to capture a couple. I think the use of straw looks great here but the sheep horns make the right hand image my favourite.

Finally, the Nordic Museum in Stockholm, Sweden. I know I already mentioned this city in a previous post but it's still relevant to the hat theme, that and Stockholm is great. The Nordic Museum displayed a large variety of interesting objects, including a history of Swedish furniture, modern and folkloric art as well as traditional Saami clothing. The Saami are the indigenous people of Northern Scandinavia and examples of their head wear can be seen below. 

 

I wanted to post a video of what I thought were a Saami band. However, Värttinä are in fact Finnish but I'll post it anyway because I like them. The 'Snake Song' has a pretty eerie introduction and in my opinion, conjures up images of female Nordic Shaman or 'Völva'.

 

All but 3rd Photo by K.L.V.

Hats

Every time my friends and I go to a club named Dungeons, we have a new obsession with asking people 'what hat are you wearing next week?'. Since I am going there again tomorrow, I thought today's post should be hat themed..  So here are some hats I have designed in the past for Uni projects.

 

Photos by K.L.V.

Birds of the Galapagos

Over the summer, a friend and I planned on collaborating to produce a small educational zine. Originally, our idea was to base it on an area of Vietnam where much of the flora and fauna are at risk and it would feature an odd looking primate named the Tonkin Snub-nosed monkey. However, we changed our mind once Katie had bought me a book about the Galapagos for my birthday and looking through it, decided to theme the zine on the birds that inhabit the islands. In past projects at Uni, if animals were involved I've always tried to focus on the lesser known just to highlight that there are other obscure creatures in the world that aren't as popular as Pandas or Tigers, some equally or considerably more endangered. The collages in the images are my creation and the text is that of fellow Illustration graduate and close friend, Katie Allen.