The Art of Jewellery

I love buying and wearing jewellery but try as I might I've never yet persuaded Vince to buy me any. I think he's scared of getting it wrong, because I'm very fussy (subtle hint: a pair of Tiffany diamond studs!). Vince wears a watch occasionally and that's about as far as he gets with personal adornment. He says that jewellery should enhance the natural beauty of the wearer. So he might have been surprised by the latest exhibition at mima in Middlesbrough on The Modern Jewel: In Time and the Mind of Others. Here jewellery becomes more than an object to be worn; it is a piece of art.

I was fascinated by the exhibit "Charlotte's Choice", two sets of cast carob beads, one set from gold and one from silver. Each set has equal value which works out to be 251 silver and 4 gold beads. Charlotte Wood, a 19 year old fashion student and Teesside resident, can choose which set she keeps and wears. The other set will be kept for exhibiting by the museum.

I would have loved to have been in Charlotte's shoes when she was given the opportunity to commission artists Lin Cheung and Laura Potter to produce this jewellery for her. Still, I can influence her choice as visitors are invited to help Charlotte by putting a gold or silver token into a box. I opted for the silver; 251 beads would make a wonderful necklace! I wonder whether Charlotte will follow the visitors' advice or make her own choice?

In any case, her choice is not final: she is allowed to swap one set of beads for the other. The rules for this exchange are set out in a contract that is part of the exhibit, along with a book to record the details of the exchanges over time. So Charlotte and the beads will become part of an on-going living art project.

The exhibition is part of the museumaker project and is a collaboration between the artists, local residents, mima and other Middlesbrough museums.

You can read more about the artists and the projects here:

Lin Cheung

Laura Potter

mima

Museumaker Project

Vicky,

Love Your Art

And the winner is...

On Saturday evening we sat eagerly awaiting the lottery draw. The first number came out... We matched it! The second number came out... Oh no! It didn't match. Sadly, none of the others matched either. So no luxury mansion and posh car this weekend.

With nothing much else on TV we got round to talking about what art we would buy if we had won the lottery. With a few million pounds, there wouldn't be much that was out of our price range. And with so many interesting artists and such a wide variety of art, coming up with a single choice would seem impossible. Eventually we decided to pick two items each, not necessarily our favourites but something we would enjoy having around to look at, feel and admire.

Vince's first choice was Three Elements by Ronald Bladon. This minimalist sculpture is formed from three plywood trapezoids stood on end at an angle of 65 degrees.

"I like the simplicity and strength of the slabs," said Vince. "And the way they defy gravity."

Three Elements

Vince's second item was a more classical choice, The Hunters In The Snow by Pieter Brueghel the Elder. This picture has so much detail and reflects the hardships of the time it depicts. The story it tells is full of historical insight, social issues and symbolism. A very interesting picture.

The Hunters In The Snow

"I think I would choose one of Edward Bawden's linocuts," said Vicky. "Perhaps one of the rarer ones like 'Campions and Columbine'. I like the simplicity, the style and the Britishness of his works."

Campions and Columbine

Another artist whose work Vicky admires is Marc Chagall. "I love his folksy depictions of animals and people as well as the bright bold colours. As I have a fondness for cats I would choose 'Paris through the Window' as my second picture."

Paris through the Window

Even if our luck was in and these works came up for sale, we would probably only win a tenner on the lottery. Still, it was fun discussing and choosing what we would do if we did get lucky.

Exploded Art

We were intrigued by the story on Newsbeat about a Mercedes Formula 1 racing car being "exploded" into a work of art. "We could do that," said Vince and promptly grabbed his toolbox and headed for the study.

The old Canon NP6016 photocopier that had been lying around for several years quickly became a pile of plastic, metal and electronic circuits. The challenge was then to arrange everything in its relative position and find a way to suspend it for display.

Not having a purpose-built frame to hang the hundreds of bits from, the washing line became an emergency stand-in. And it was back to the study to find a ball of string to suspend the components. However, we were only able to hang half a dozen pieces due to the weight threatening to snap the line.

Vince said, "Copiers are used by millions of people and they normally only see a plastic box with a lid. This exploded view shows them the heart of the machine in an unusual and artistic way. I call it 'Hang The Copier'."

The display makes the copier look like it has been frozen in time, except when a breeze blows and moves the bits around. It took about three hours to dismantle the parts and create the work of art, but that's nothing compared to the thousands of man-hours needed to design and build the original machine.

The parts are (from left to right):

Frame side panel

Main control circuit

Assortment of brackets

Operating panel

Cleaning brush

Prismatic triangulating focal reflector assembly

Supplementary toroidal quantum energy converter

Sadly, it looks like the sculpture will have to be dismantled as there is now a pile of freshly washed towels waiting to be dried.

Vicky and Vince,

Love Your Art

ps. Here is a previous version of an exploded F1 car.

A Busy Week

We've been so busy this week, we haven't had much time to write anything. But here are the major headlines from the past week or so...

The world's most expensive painting goes on display at Tate Modern.

Read the story at BBC News.

Germaine Greer confuses students and teachers while trying to explain what art is.

Read the story at The Guardian.

And our favourite, Sheep Invade Times Square.

Read the story at All Art News.

Vicky and Vince,

Love Your Art

Artistic Influence In Hartlepool

Vince's interest in boats combined nicely with our mutual interest in art last week as we headed over to Hartlepool for an afternoon out. After a quick look round the marina, we called in at Hartlepool Art Gallery to see an exhibition by local artist John McCracken.

We found an extensive show, filling a large part of the gallery, mainly portraits including several self-portraits of John at various ages (See picture above). We hadn't come across this artist or his work before but that didn't stop us appreciating his varied styles, mixture of subjects and versatility.

A couple of paintings that caught our attention were of people sat on a train. These pictures reflected a favoured style of John's: painting ordinary people in everyday situations. We could almost recognise the people sat chatting, reading the paper and gazing out at the dramatic views along the Durham coastline.

Also on show were paintings by artists who had influenced John's work such as Lucian Freud, Francis Bacon and Frank Auerbach. Some of these pictures had been loaned from the Tate Gallery, MIMA and Newcastle’s Hatton Gallery. It was interesting to compare the styles of all four artists in one place.

Originally from Belfast, John later settled in Hartlepool and came to have a wide involvement in the art scene in and around Hartlepool. He lectured at Hartlepool College of Art and was a curator at the Gray Art Gallery and Museum. He acquired a number of important modern works of art for the town’s collection including Lucian Freud’s ‘Head of a Woman’ and Frank Auerbach’s ‘Shell Building Site’. His friendship with Lucian Freud also allowed him to bring a major exhibition of Freud's work to Hartlepool in 1972. This is the only venue outside London to have held such an exhibition.

Apart from art, John wrote poetry and enjoyed jazz music. Sadly, he died in 1982 at the age of 46. We were surprised to discover that he married his wife, Carol, in the church that is now the art gallery where his exhibition is being shown. A very appropriate tribute to this versatile artist who had so much influence over art in Hartlepool.

The exhibition, 'John McCracken – His Work and Influences', continues at Hartlepool Art Gallery on Church Road until 2nd April 2011.

You can read more about John McCracken on Wikipedia.

Vicky and Vince,

Love Your Art