We have had yet another wonderfully thought provoking prompt from Andrea Daly’s Theory and History lecture. We were asked to observe something inanimate over a couple of weeks. We were to pay attention, to see how the inanimate thing changes and evolves, also how it might impact on things around it. I felt like the best chance I had to succeed in dedicated observation was if I carried the thing with me. I chose to don a trial bangle that I made for the Handshake exhibition late last year.
The bangle was made from copper. It is a highly reactive metal, especially in my hands. With prolonged use of copper in the workshop my hands turn a blue green where the contact was made. To begin the observation I cleaned the bangle back to its bright pink surface. This allowed the material to show the most contrasting transition. I documented the progress of the tarnishing with a photo each day I wore the bangle. From the first moment I put the bangle on, its presence was noticeable. I had an awareness of the foreign object – the weight, the movement, and the sensation of encircling my wrist. It also made its presence known when I approached hard surfaces. It would thud against my desk, my workbench, my kitchen bench and my dining table. It demanded my awareness.
It did not take long for the bangle to begin to tarnish. It was less than 24 hours before the surface to show some discolouration. The pink was unevenly replaced by almost metallic blues in parts, before evolving into a purple-pink and then deepening earthy brown. At first it was my fingerprints that could be clearly seen, but then the bright pink began to fade. It was fascinating to watch the flat hammered surface texture turn slightly before the rest of the bangle. As the days wore on the interior of the bangle and the edge of the hammered pattern were the last to deepen in colour. Bangle tarnishing can be seen here.
With the colour change came my body’s acceptance of the habitual wearing of the bangle. It still thudded on surfaces, but I was acclimating to the sensation of it being worn. To my delight the skin on my wrist did not turn blue green. Otherwise, the copper acted as I imagined, the colour evolution was the most obvious of changes. It was a pleasure to watch the piece over the two weeks. Once the observation time had completed I did almost miss it.
*Thought tangent
For the duration of the observation of bangle, I reflected on the idea of “tarnish”. It often has negative connotations. Here, I felt that the tarnish/oxidisation outwardly showed the journey of the bangle. It almost had a life of its own.
tarnish | ˈtɑːnɪʃ | (verb): 1.) lose or cause to lose lustre, especially as a result of exposure to air or moisture: [no object] : silver tarnishes too easily | [with object] : lemon juice would tarnish the gilded metal. 2.) make or become less valuable or respected: [with object] : his regime had not been tarnished by human rights abuses.
