De Stijl

The principles and theories that set a foundation for this movement is known as Neoplasticism, which basically means the new plastic art, or otherwise Nieuwe Beelding when said in Dutch, which translates to ‘new imaging’. This is an extract taken from Mondrian’s essay 'Neo-Plasticism in Pictorial Art', “... this new plastic idea will ignore the particulars of appearance, that is to say, natural form and colour”, and I thought this was a good summary of what the De Stijl art movement. The purpose of De Stijl was to express the new ideal of spiritual harmony and order, breaking away from all the overly decorated, highly stylised kind of art, it was more focused at being simple and harmonic and it was very ordered using rectilinear lines (both vertical and horizontal, completely disregarding curves), as well as squares and rectangles. Like I said, De Stijl makes use of simple principles, and the artwork is purely abstract and the aim for De Stijl was to be universally understood and appealing, hence why it was reduced to the most simple and basic art principles such as the use of the three primary colours in their purest form; red, blue, and yellow; black and white were also added in the De Stijl work.

There is no set or specific type of jewellery that can be traced/tied back to this era. But here are a couple of examples of how it has been applied to the modern world.

On the runway...

Often when I look at ramp pieces, I'm so overwhelmed (for some pieces usually because I'm shocked). This piece, Oyster Bracelet (yellow gold diamond encrusted piece), is one of the few ramp piecse that I really quite enjoyed looking at when I was browsing the net. It doesn't really have the exaggeratted size of a conventional ramp piece, it is quite a big bracelet though, with a differnt organic design and shape, which that alone aids it in still playing a role as a noticable statement piece, with the with the diamonds just bringing it out a bit more with their shimmers and putting it in the spotlight...and that is simply what I love about this particular piece, elegent, yet it's bald.

This would be an example of the type of ramp pieces I am reffering to when I say large ramp pieces. This necklace feels too clustered to me, and seems somewhat impractical for an average being, as if it will constantly be in ones way when wearing it (it sort of feels as though one has to constantly be upright when wearing it so that it deosnt weigh you down or get into your way. Besides that, it is just not an appealing design to me personally, and it feels like it's a messy tangled up piece that needs to be set free. i do however enjoy the random splash of colour here and there.

reference: www.lucidnewyork.com/.../

Runway desses, I always seem to like those, but when it all comes down to it and i have to pick one, i would go for the champaigne dress. Both the looks and designs are appealing, but I much prefer colour to black a lot of the time. I love how the brown, black and champaigne are put together so that they work well together and at the same time enhance the design of the dress. I love the flowy yet fitting effect the design of the dress has. Unlike the other look which uses the conventioal greys and black, which don't really play a role as such in the overall design of the jersey and the skirt. I do however love the saggy look of the jersey, but the thin straps used to hold it up are a bit of a deal breaker for me, I feel it adds a tacky label to the loook...especially when put together with the leather mini skirt.

refernce:examsos.yooblog.gr/2009/08/11/2347

Infecting The City (Design Theory)

Infecting the city...now thats something I'd never heard of before. When I found out that we had to go to the Infecting the City, a lot of things went through my mind. Though I must admit, none of the crazy ideas I had of what it could possibly be about were close. It was quite an interesting and different kind of exhibition.

I was very facinated by it, I though it to be quite clever how the whole exhibition was based on creating art using recycled material, and how they managed to resonate that in all aspects of the exhition (an example of this being the stage that was made from recyled plastic and products made of plastic).

As a jewellery design student, I found that the main focus of the whole exhition was around the art aspect of it, yes there was some theatre (dance and bands playing), but I thought it could've been even more exciting for me had I seen some jewellery made of recycled materials. Maybe looking into getting some jewellery designers, better yet jewellery students, to showcase jewellery in a realaxed art form playing along with the whole idea behind the exhibition. But nontheless, my over all impression was that I loved it, and it was intriguing to see what people can come up with the simplest recycled materials, and also how they viewed certain concepts, an example of this would be that of the artists who put up that whole display of shacks.

refernce for image: google images

embrace yourself, you'll want to grab a chair

I am not really an orange type of person, but the design of this chair grabbed my attention along with the simple mono- tone colour choice of colour used for this design. This design is called Adelta Ball Chair, and what I love about it is the simple design which in it's own way, is also quite a complex and and obscurely elegant because of the spherical idea of it…much like a planet of sorts.

on the other hand, while on the subject of complexity conflicting with simplicity, and mono- tone clours. elements which this design poses, I however can't seem to find it in myself to be in sync with it. it's quite dark and dull, even though the deign is not a simple one. what i don't really enjoy with the design of the

chair is the plain bottom and the frills which look as though they

are being forced to make the whole piece work. the colour along with the general design have an ominous sort of feel to it.

ref: http;//stylecrave.com

www.dezeen.com

while on the topic of chairs, I extended my search a little and looked at jewelry inspired by chairs and what I found was astonishing. this particular pendant is called The pavilion Chair, I happen to have fallen in love with this chair. I love how the white works with the gold, it gives off a very serene vibe and gives and although the chair appears to be quite chunky, the colours of the materials used for this piece give the illusion that it is a light and precious chair.

then there is this piece, I love the martial used, and

the vintage sort of feel it makes, however the two minor details added on to this pendant, make it quite off putting, too old school like for my liking. also the detail put into the casting of this chair have been given very little attention, purely because unlike the first chair, this one looks less believable (unrealistic). though I must admit, the way both chairs hang off their chains work in their own unique ways, and the weights appear to have been distributed quite immaculately.

ref: www.ifitshipitshere.blogspot.com

wwww.cherishedtrinkets.co.uk