Lygia Clark Sensorial Mask Watch video!
Ligya Clark Hello Everybody
I thought it would take some time before everybody kicked in and post something the first weeks after launching Walking the gray line blog. But no, you really surprised us with your comments and pictures.
I have seen many postings related to travel experiences. It looks like a lot of you have had opportunities to live and travel abroad. Having been raised in one country and then moving to another and yet another to develop personally and professionally has been a trend in artists lives even before passports were invented, some time in the 19th century.
Artists have always been at the antipodes of change. If we think what makes artists look for new horizons we will probably discover what art can do for society.
I like art because of its ability to give one a constant change in references. Creativity leads us into searching for possibilities, waiting for someone to explore them. But, the majority of the people believe that creativity is something only artists and writers are endowed with. Artists will do better bearing in mind that the role of creation is to give people the sense of empowerment, a feeling of being able to renew their lives and themselves.
When thinking creativity in jewelry I am reminded about the importance of the body as language. We move around the world carrying our bodies, clothing and ornaments with us. They tell the world where we are coming from and what we are. Our non-verbal communication establishes our position before the others.
Helio Oiticica and Lygia Clark were two Brazilian artists active in the 60´s and 70´s whose works were inspired by the body. The believed that we are what we wear. They made sculptures that moved around with us. Inspired by the Samba schools Oiticica created a type of clothing he called Parangoles, a wearable object that allows the person to move and dance with the artwork. Lygia Clark also created works from scrap materials, like plastic bags, pantyhose, polyurethane that were meant to be used and played with by the people. One of her works is the Sensorial Mask, with small containers on the nose area where she put clove, garlic or cumin, to stimulate the sense of smell; in the ears she used rattles made of sand and pebbles, and around the eyes she used glass beads and plastic grids to alter the view of the world outside. This, I believe, was a blurring of the limits between concrete art and wearable jewelry. Since then art object were no longer seen exclusively assomething external alienated from the body of the viewer.
Jewelry is a hybrid that takes us further into the realm of creativity. It travels with us and is interchangeable, playful, and significant. It becomes part of our own body and language.
So, look into your travel experiences and tell us what sort of things and experiences you have encountered that made you incorporate them into your creations. Post pictures and tell us where the objects came from. Do they come from home or are they traces of your journeys?
Jose Springer
