Renee Bevan, Blooming Big Brooch, 2009, cotton, stainless steel
Here at AJF we think a lot about the issue of audience in relation to contemporary jewelry. This covers a lot of territory: from the question of how contemporary jewelry positions itself in relation to fine art and design (click here and here to read previous posts), to the way jewelry objects are exhibited (the problem of the body), and even where (craft versus fine art galleries, for example).
Ilse Marie Erl, Bone Cameo, 2009, found bone, oxidised silver, cotton, stainless steel
We were very interested to learn about a novel initiative for connecting contemporary jewelry and its audience that is currently taking place in New Zealand. Organized by Kristin D’Agostino, a recent graduate of the Unitec jewelry program in Auckland, Broach of the Month Club was inspired by D’Agostino’s desire to find new ways to display contemporary jewelry, and to initiate contact between jewelers and wearers. One of her touchstones has been Liesbeth den Besten’s concept of borderline jewelry, which den Besten defines as ‘about borders, about going beyond borders, over the border. Borderline artist jewellers can’t live in the reality of showcases, galleries and museums. They need other ways to establish a bond with people, with people other than the usual jewellery audience.’
Sharon Fitness, Purple Floppy Poppies with a Blue Edge, 2009, silicon, pigments, sterling silver, 9 carat gold
Keen to know more, we asked D’Agnostino some questions about her project, which is now in its second year of operation.
Broach of the Month club (BOM) is a collaboration between twelve brooches, twelve makers and twelve wearers. It aims to reinstate the community aspect of traditional craft in contemporary jewelry culture. The 2010 club has collaborated with Masterworks craft gallery in Auckland to initiate a new BOM club. The 2010 group includes six original BOM makers, six Masterworks makers and twelve regular Masterworks clients and friends of the gallery. The brooches will be worn, reflected upon and rotated each month, so that over the course of a year every wearer interacts with every brooch.
This is a non-profit project designed to broaden the contemporary jewellery wearer community. No money changes hands. Each party receives equal benefit.
Raewyn Walsh, Vessels, 2009, fine silver,oxidised silver, copper, paint, graphite powder, surgical steel
The BOM club concept provides a vital space for experimental work to be shown and supplies valuable feedback to the makers. BOM club also creates a forum outside of the gallery where selling work is not a concern. Often, only public galleries provide a space where generating revenue isn’t the key component, but public galleries don’t always have the opportunity to show artists in the early stages of their careers. BOM club provides a living exhibition venue that isn’t beholden to the counters of hipness, fashion, and commodity. It aims to present another way of tackling the Gert Staal/Ted Noten question regarding the dilemma of displaying jewellery in galleries as opposed to it being worn.
Gillian Deery, Untitled, 2009, sterling silver, stainless steel
The 2010 BOM club is a pre-emptive test-run for my DIY Broach of the Month Club manifesto, wherein I envision the possibility that BOM could “go viral” and be easily dispensed throughout the jewelry world. I am trying to determine whether the success of my initial experiment was a combination of circumstance and luck or if this idea can stand on its own two feet. Involving Masterworks gallery makes sense, because it solves the logistical issues of the swaps. I have much less control this year, which is exciting and scary. I get to observe the project a bit more. It is the first step in sending this project off into the big wide world.
On a more personal level, I am also a maker in this project, so I have specific questions regarding new aspects of work I’m creating.
To find out more about BOM, visit the website by clicking here.
