In this class with Estela we were all excited to be moving into making something wearable, a ring. Although in our previous classes we were not directly making wearable objects, we each had times where the objects we created moved into that space. It seemed we could not help but to see jewelleryness in objects. In this class it was a directive. Though the journey was not a walk in the park. The ring that was made for Estela was to be inspired by one of the objects we made for the last class, and we had the usual very limited time for creation.
Ring inspiration: paper explosion object.
Like to inspiration object, I decided to explore the idea of a ring constructed from circular elements. Alas, the outcome in class was not what I had pictured. The time limit inspired “just getting something made!” from the first idea that popped into my head. The ring’s elements were fabricated, but the construction of the actual ring was not completed.
Ring elements completed in our session.
After class, from the components, a ring was to be made. On top of that from this ring we spent the following two weeks making four rings that were iterations of the first. For ring two, I added even more elements, and constructed it so the ring shank was circular in form. For the next iteration, ring three, I reintroduced a bend back into the circular components. In this experiment I created the bend so it was ‘’outwards’’ instead of “inward” like in ring one. For ring four, I decided to do the outline of the circular elements. I explored how the ring form would change. Due to a happy accident in ring four, there was a twist in the components. For ring five, I continued to explore the outline forms, but here I straightened the elements. In the images below, from left to right: ring one, ring two, ring three, ring four, ring five.
All of the rings was an iteration of the one/s before it. Each explored the use of circular elements, but did so in slightly different way. I investigated how the “feeling” of the ring changed. The rings each evoked different adjectives and descriptions: Some rings felt “closed”, while others felt “open”; Some of the objects possessed more movement than others. By examining how the ring’s expression changed within the experiments, when designing objects in the future I could explore how they may come across to others. What do I want the object to say? In the same moment, It is not always up to me. Everyone has a different reading of an object. They look at it through the lens of their own experiences and sees something slightly or vastly different than the person standing next to them.