Contemporary designs reshape the nature of jewelry

Contemporary designs reshape the nature of jewelry

JAKARTA (JP): The emergence of new and more innovative designs
in jewelry making have led it to evolve from being a mere craft
to that of a fine and difficult art.

Contemporary designers no longer stick to traditional
materials like gold, silver and platinum. Nowadays a designer
feels free to use anything from aluminum to textiles to rubbish.

The shifting trends in jewelry design are on full display at
the Erasmus Huis, which is showcasing distinguished works of
outstanding Dutch jewelry by designer Hans Appenzeller.

The exhibition, which runs until April 15, also has a jewelry
collection from Indonesia belonging to the Tropenmuseum in
Amsterdam.

Tropenmuseum (tropical museum) is part of Koninklijk Instituut
voor de Tropen in Amsterdam. The museum displays cultural items
and artifacts from sub-tropic and tropical countries.

Established in l864 under the name Koloniaal Museum, the
museum has since l950 expanded its collections to include items
from all tropical countries throughout the world.

The exhibition presents Appenzeller's distinguished designs,
such as a gold pendant in rectangular and fan shapes, aluminum
bracelets, an astonishing aluminum necklace and numerous jewelry
pieces.

Appenzeller is one of the prime innovators behind the
revolution in design that ultimately overthrew the old guard of
conventional jewelry makers back in the late sixties.

"Jewelry should be exciting, a challenge to both the maker
and the wearer. My work then was definitely radical, a
statement," said the artist as quoted by Appenzeller Publication.

People want something that expresses their personality,
matches their mood. Circular shapes don't always do that. On the
other hand, jewelry shouldn't be overpowering, he explained.

Born in Amsterdam, he attended Gerrit Rietveld Academy, opened
his first store in Amsterdam in l970 with pieces influenced by
the Bauhaus ethic -- functional industrial-like designs made of
plastic, rubber and aluminum.

Although dismissing the role he has played in transforming
Dutch ideas on what a piece of jewelry should be, he is gratified
to see more conventional goldsmiths using forms he pioneered in
the l970s.

Contemporary jewelry design emerged as an international
movement in the early l970s, according to The Best in
Contemporary Jewellery. It all began when a small number of
artists in the United States and Europe started creating jewelry
for aesthetic, individual reasons instead of purely commercial
ones, experimenting with a wide variety of styles and materials.

Among the pioneers are Appenzeller and Gijs Bakker from the
Netherlands, James Bennet from the United States, Ulrike Bahrs
from Germany and Joaquim Capdevilla from Spain.

"The process has been slow, but I think the high-street
jeweler has finally realized people don't want run-of-the mill
pieces any more," Appenzeller said.

He is interested in combining his experiments with ideas,
form, color and material with something that has an essential
innovative quality and beauty.

In Amsterdam and New York, he is known as an avant-garde
jewelry designer, but these days Hans Appenzeller is branching
out into home accessories.

Bracelets, necklaces and vases all come from the same point
of view, said the artist who has a predilection for exploring the
different uses of ordinary materials.

From this exhibition one can learn that jewelry is not merely
a luxurious adornment but something that is beautiful, wearable,
and, as artwork goes, relatively inexpensive. (raw)