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Old July 20th 08, 02:23 AM posted to rec.crafts.jewelry
helen
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Posts: 12
Default Small electronics the a new jewelry form

On Jul 19, 4:06*am, "Peter W.. Rowe,"
wrote:
On Fri, 18 Jul 2008 19:53:17 -0700, in rec.crafts.jewelry gruhn



wrote:
Trying not to start a "what is Art" thread... ;-)


Sweeping generalizations all and your mileage will vary :


I'm going to say "mostly no."
These things are primarily defined by their utility and not their
adornment properties. "What about a nice hair comb?" The utility is
part of adornment.


Pop psych would tell us that they are worn for status display and so
is jewelry. But I think there may be a niggle there : just because two
things are used for the same purpose does not mean they are the same
thing. Necessary and sufficient. Status display is neither necessary
nor sufficient to declare something jewelry.


People want them to look good, chose them based on ideas of design.
But that's "I'm going to wear this, I want it to look cool" rather
than "I want to wear this because it looks cool."


I'd say that they are ripe for treatment as jewelry, for better
integration as adornment items. At this writing, aren't most of these
electronic peripherals designed to be cool/attractive/designy in their
own right as stand alone items? Even an earhook phone has "cool pod"
and "ergonomic hook" and we really think of the item sitting pristine
in the case at Best Buy. Somebody will walk up and say "cool ear slug"
but won't say "that ear slug looks so good on you". That gap is ripe
for exploitation and improvement. No doubt there are people that have
been working on this and related ideas for some time experimentally.
The wearable computer people come to mind.


Doh... there's a well established long history of this exact issue.
It's called "the watch".


Or how would one classify what some of the high end jewelry manufacturers (like
Cartier, and others) are doing with exclusive cell phones. *Custom cases,
encrusted with tens of thousands of dollars in diamonds.... * At what point,
with how many diamonds and what sort of fancy custom metalwork, does that phone
cease to be mostly phone, and become some variant of jewelry, if at all?

I think before fully deciding such things, one might have to backtrack even
further, and decide on a definition of what constitutes jewelry itself. * Does
it need to meet some definition of its function or purpose? *Must it be pretty?
(according to whom?) must it adorn? (adorn what? *Adorning the inside of one's
pockets. *Does that count?) *Is the crude safety pin stabbed through some goth
kids eyebrow count as jewelry? *How bout the purpose made bellbar that looks not
much different in impact, but was made for that instead of holding diapers? How
'bout the similar items worn on genital piercings as much for the sensations
they deliver as for any particular visual effect, especially since they're
hidden from normal public view in most cases.

Or, if the functioning aspect as electronic items is the sticking point, how
about electronic functioning items specifically made to be only decorative items
designed to be worn as jewelry? *They have batteries, a display, do stuff that
looks cool, but don't play your MP3s. *Clearly made as jewelry, purchased as
such and worthy of the title. * My cell phone is also fairly attractive in an
industrial design sort of way, and capable of visually interesting and
decorative video effects. *If I hang it around my neck on a bola cord is that
different from when it hangs around my neck on the neck cord that happens to be
part of one of the wired earplug sets I got for it?

Complex questions, and I'd guess that for many, there are no answers that are
always right in all situations or for all people. *But for me, even if an item
starts out with a purely utilitarian function and is purchesed for it's utility
in that function, when people start designing versions that look cooler, and
those items start being preferentially sold for their decorative value, then for
me, it's crossing into the realm of jewelry. * Certainly, it's starting to at
least impinge on the role and function of jewelry. * I don't think we need to
say such items are either totally jewelry or totally not jewelry. *I think it's
OK for an item to straddle that fence and be a bit of both.

Peter


Perhaps the electronic gadgets in question will gradually become part
of the jewellery world, just as the watch has - as someone else
pointed out. Such timepieces started out having a practical function
and also became an object of adornment over a period of time. The
boundaries between objects of function and objects of adornment blur
over time and with subsequent generations. What is functional for us
may be both functional and decorative for our children and you never
know, our grandchildren or great grandchildren might wonder into a
jeweller's shop years down the line to buy their mp3 players and
mobile phones. Perhaps, as electrical gadgets become smaller and
smaller, they may become incorporated into jewellery - mp3 players and
mobile phones inside decorative ear cuffs. Satellite navigation
devices built into eye glasses anyone?

Helen
UK
http://www.hillsgems.co.uk
http://www.helensgems.etsy.com
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