“Capturing
and reconstructing impressions on the land of our time”
They
changed ‘constructing’ to ‘reconstructing’ on the wall in the gallery. This is
an interesting point for a group of artists who work together. After all
passion, thinking, and collective hit together, the word ‘reconstructing’ has a
better transmission for this exhibition.
Gallery
Kobeia featured10 artists from Taiwan who communicated to the audiences with their
observations of the land they live in. When I walked into the gallery, there was
a pile of ziplock bags which appeared in the form of a bubble, both individually and collectively. Jewellery
pieces were hung on the
wall and the video player was playing music that attracted my ears
immediately. It was a Taiwanese traditional instrument to be heard playing when religious parades are shuttling through villages or cities.
I was
pleased to have a short talk with one of the artists, Yung-Huei Chao.
Moski (M):
This is the second exhibition you host in Schmuck. Could you tell me why chose
Bubble Land as a theme this year?
Yung-Huei
(Y): We chose “Ni Hao” last year, because it’s like saying hello in the UK or
kissing cheeks in France. It was the first time for us to exhibit in Munich. We
would like to “say hello” to this contemporary jewellery carnival. This year we
chose “Bubble” because it has multiple-faces. When heard this word, most people
may consider it as a cute expression, and somehow, actually it
contains sorrow facts in it. For example, it could brake easily, fragile, and
response to one of the popular topics from last year, which was Schmuck
exhibition, is a bubble only insiders talk about it. However, there is an
interesting viewpoint, when many bubbles are gathering together, it takes shape into a configuration of this culture. It contains many
status and countless possibilities. It also represents 10 thoughts linking
together from artists who are islanders. Each artist is a single bubble when we
dedicate ourselves in creation world, however we also have the needs to
interactive with more bubbles. When many small bubbles link together it could
be a huge bubble.
It is a connotation of how human beings live together
but still independent just like the number of contemporary jewellery artist is
growing.
M: Why chose ziplock bag as a material to form your
installation?
Y: These bags are similar to the bubble. Not only in
the shape but also in the characteristic. When they are stack, they interactive
to each other. This material is easily accessed in Taiwan, so we take this
advantage to make this installation.
M: Do you design the lay out in a specifically reason?
Y: Because 10 artists have very different and specific
style, so we have designed independent areas for each artist, and hopefully the
audiences could connect to every artist’s bubble world. After these days, we
have some interesting responses from the visitors as well, and that is also stimulation
for artists.
Next are glimpses of current collections from 10
artists for Munich Jewellery Week 2015.
Mei-FangChiang – Picking Leaves Series interprets the relationship
between plants and environment as well as the mutual dependence of jewellery
and wearer.
This is an interactive work by the artist; by flipping
over the flower, audiences could experience the changing pattern and kaleido-like
visual effect.
Ying-Hsiu
Chen – Scenery in My Mind is the new creation of the
Sketch Series collection. The golden particles are mimicking various kinds of
creatures under the sea. Ying-Hsiu uses this creation recording her life of
living at the seaside. Some visitors believe the colourful childhood nurtures
her work.
This series explain the conflict between technology
and natural nowadays. Although we could search most of the plants on the
Internet, however we cannot touch or feel them. We all live in the impact of
new technology and it is like a magnificent weave came into our life before our
notices.
Red is Chuang’s representative colour, her experiments
playing with red in different mediums, brick, enamel, paper… etc., which builds
up the pieces of the memories relating to her homeland.
Artist was made aware the value of traditional culture is rare and precious. Therefore she deforms traditional Chinese calligraphy and porcelain for the sake of cognition.
Artist’s work is a
reflection of an existence that supposed to be invisible. The illegal structure
is one of Taiwanese memories (such as me), also a silent toleration. The new
work could expand and contract featuring the ambiguous of this silent
toleration.
New creation is derived from the memories of artist’s
childhood. She continues the concept ‘space as a memory’ to create these repetitive
bicycle images. To Miao, space is not just for living, but a standpoint of life
accession.
The new collection is a conversation with artist
herself. The talk is about internal, external, conflict, and self-discovery.
The pure joyfulness of creating is a balance between pragmatism and
idealization, moreover, it is a recording of artistic life in present days.
In relation to urban life, her work responses to human
beings live together yet independently as well as ‘Two Make One Heart 1’ is
cohered by several pieces of knitting acrylic. Artistic creating is an isolated
status for Cai-Xuan. However the support from families and friends just like
the connection of the bubbles weaving up the net of ‘group’.
After Yung-Huei’s guidance, I had a peek at their
catalogue. They printed it in two directions. These images were taken at
different times in various locations. The
purpose of this lay out is to encourage visitors linking the jewellery pieces
with the images of their homeland. While I flipping back and forward this catalogue, the memory of home that lied hidden
deeply in my heart was triggered by these art pieces and the photos.
Jewellery is one of the
oldest archaeological artefacts. It is a unique language that we use in many
occasions in our lifetime. It is not only a body adornment but also a way of learning about human cultures. The Oxford English Dictionary defines ‘contemporary’ as relating to now, and also as living, existing, or occurring together in
time. Contemporary jewellery is the new jewellery of the time, it is what
jewellery artists are making in the present day; it is what is happening now.
In Munich every March, Schmuck attracts a
group of people who devote themselves to the contemporary jewellery movement. This does not overturn the traditional value of the object
itself, but expands the meaning of jewellery beyond body adornment. These new meanings not only focus on
concepts deriving from the object and the wearer relationship; but also a
reflection of new artist working in the present generation. These artists present what
they do and how they live now, as another page in jewellery
history. For me, as an international student and possible future curator, Schmuck illustrates a positive direction and the message that jewellery can be more than a status symbol. (To be continued...)
Courtesy of Bench 886 & Miss Moski
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