The Contextuality of Jewellery
Jewellery is difficult to consider as an autonomous object, for it requires a specific context to function as an object of adornment and be defined as such. And yet, this conventional definition of jewellery as an artefact reliant on its attachment to a wearer is only one of many contexts that transform an object into jewellery. Our human environment is filled with all kinds of situations that can serve as contexts for jewellery and actions of adornment, such as nature, architecture and even urban space.
In the content and creative driven interaction with a chosen object within one of these contexts, the object becomes a counterpart, analogous to the dialogue conducted in language. Contextuality and a dialogical approach therefore form an inseparable unity and lead to an open and non-results orientated process of interaction and engagement.
“In order for jewellery to be recognized as jewellery, it must respond to a given situation and emphasize it through a creative action. The jewellery object must maintain a non-dominant size relationship to its surroundings as well as enable the viewer to have an aesthetic experience.”
Elisabeth Holder