Todays lesson was based around the idea of "truth to materials", meaning that an objects material should be able to be read easilly. I wondered what on earth this implyed because after all, something like a spoon is obviously a spoon, made of metal, and you can see this quite clearly. Most items can be read. A table cloth is made of fabric, a chair, made of wood...But delving further into this idea I began to see how some materials are not true to what they are made of. Some are made of quirky or unexpected materials in an attempt to fool us.
An example of this that we saw was of the delicately "carved" fireplace. This victorian wonder however, was not of wood at all, it was moulded from cast iron. A deceiving design of which imposed no boundaries on itself. Being cast iron, many items like this could be immensely over decorated, because you can cast virtually anything from iron, exploiting the material for what it is normally used for.As I thought about the idea of exploitation of materials and playing with the use of different substances, an artist that we talked about in our lecture sprung to mind, Lisa Walker.
Lisa's works are composed out of many found items and bits and bobs which are compiled into brooches and jewellrey, which she feels would appeal to someone, changing the items original use, or the
"truth to its material" into something quite different. She quotes something along the lines of "There is a person out there for this piece. I don't know them, but there will be."
When we normally think of a necklace, or any other jewellrey piece, we usually imagine gold, silver, or diamonds. Precious materials with connotations of money and wealth. Her pieces are comprised of items with little money value, having quite different connotations alltogether - of which each individual person looking at her jewellrey may feel, on a quite personal level. Something memorable. This had changed the actual use of each item. What was once junk, has found a heart and home.
Because Walker's work is not true to it's materials, it brings a very interesting element of wonder into it.Each individual piece intrigues the mind to wonder about materials used in the making of each brooch, necklace, or ring. Textured and bright colour draw the viewer in to examine on a much closer note.
Sometimes it may take you a while to figure out what some of her pieces are made out of. This induced feeling of curiosity is something I like about what her jewellery does to people. There is also a sense of unpredictability involved which makes works such as Lisa Walker's interesting. none two are alike. They are purely original and do not suffer the medeocre comodity of comercial jewellery.
-I came across this unusual book made by Stas Bekman of which I feel is also a large representation of being un-true to it's materials. The book has been adjusted and changed in order to work as a lunchbox or case. Like Walker's art pieces, (for example, the broch made of old floor sweepings) it has been made decievingly. you may not see at first that it is a box.
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