Art jewellery – why it is different from commercial or mass produced jewellery
Commercial jewellery
Commercial jewellery normally refers to jewellery which has a conservative design. The designs of commercial jewellery usually are the least important aspect of the piece. The objective with commercial jewellery is to mass produce pieces that are quite ordinary but seemingly expensive. They are usually designed within narrow perceptions of what jewellery should look like.
Art jewellery
With art jewellery, the conceptual aspect of the piece is more important than the commercial value it might achieve. Although the function of the piece and the materials used in the creation of an art jewellery piece might seem quite traditional, the designer attaches more significance to the conceptual side of the experimental pieces than to the value of the materials.
Art jewellery is associated with other ‘products’ of Fine Arts. It represents the same tendencies in terms of experimenting with a range of contrasting and unconventional materials. Just like other products of Fine Arts, art jewellery needs to be judged on the basis of technique, creativity, originality and meaningful content rather than its marketability.
There are numerous reasons why the art jeweller often rejects the expensive and conventional materials like gemstones, diamonds, gold and platinum. Rejecting these conventional materials provides more opportunities for stylistic experimentation. As with other forms of design, the main aim is communication and artistic expression through abstract ideas and design.
The two types of jewellery are of course not removed from each other entirely and they do sometimes have common ground. Examples are of pieces that would seem to be conformist due to the conventionality of material, technique and wearability, but express a new and exciting style of design.
Commercial jewellery normally refers to jewellery which has a conservative design. The designs of commercial jewellery usually are the least important aspect of the piece. The objective with commercial jewellery is to mass produce pieces that are quite ordinary but seemingly expensive. They are usually designed within narrow perceptions of what jewellery should look like.
Art jewellery
With art jewellery, the conceptual aspect of the piece is more important than the commercial value it might achieve. Although the function of the piece and the materials used in the creation of an art jewellery piece might seem quite traditional, the designer attaches more significance to the conceptual side of the experimental pieces than to the value of the materials.
Art jewellery is associated with other ‘products’ of Fine Arts. It represents the same tendencies in terms of experimenting with a range of contrasting and unconventional materials. Just like other products of Fine Arts, art jewellery needs to be judged on the basis of technique, creativity, originality and meaningful content rather than its marketability.
There are numerous reasons why the art jeweller often rejects the expensive and conventional materials like gemstones, diamonds, gold and platinum. Rejecting these conventional materials provides more opportunities for stylistic experimentation. As with other forms of design, the main aim is communication and artistic expression through abstract ideas and design.
The two types of jewellery are of course not removed from each other entirely and they do sometimes have common ground. Examples are of pieces that would seem to be conformist due to the conventionality of material, technique and wearability, but express a new and exciting style of design.
Wearable Art
Wearable art, Wearable art, also known as Artwear or "art to wear", refers to individually designed pieces of (usually) hand-made clothing or jewellery created as fine or expressive art. While the making of any article of clothing or other wearable object typically involves aesthetic considerations, the term wearable art implies that the work is intended to be accepted as a serious and unique artistic creation or statement. Pieces may be sold and/or exhibited. The modern idea of wearable art seems to have surfaced more than once in various forms. Marbeth Schon's book on modernist jewellery refers to a "wearable art movement" spanning roughly the years 1930 to 1960. A 2003 New York Times review of a book on knitting refers to "the 60s Art to Wear movement". Most wearable art is made of fibrous materials and constitutes therefore a branch of the wider field of fiber art, which includes both wearable and non-wearable forms of art using fabric and other fiber products. Wearable art as an artistic domain can also of course include jewellery, or clothing made from non-fiber materials such as leather, plastic sheeting, metals, etc.