Lifelines
23-Sep-2008
The LIFELINES installation has been generated by the students of the MA Jewellery, Silversmithing and Related Product 2008. The students were asked to identify points in their lives, which have been significant and make 10 objects to represent them. They had to focus on the significance of materials and form and the importance of the use of symbolism – what is symbolism?
Many of the objects here tell a story, which we the viewers can easily read and follow, other objects are much more idiosyncratic and use an almost secret visual language. However, all objects are charged with emotions and even though we might not get the meaning of each and everyone of them we can feel the sincerity and pleasure with which they have been made.
LIFELINES is an installation project that has been developed out of the need to explore research concerns, related to narrative structures imbedded in creative objects, in a wider application than my own studio practice. The aim was to transfer already developed artistic strategies to the learning and teaching of students. The objectives were to facilitate and enhance experiential learning through a practical project that viewed design development in a narrative and self-reflective context, and to encourage critical practice in a soft and non-threatening way that feels enabling. The project is based on ideas formulated by Claude Levi-Strauss that regard myths as a system that codifies knowledge based on an understanding of reality, that links fundamental cosmology with everyday experience; a structured system of signifier. He believed that the system of meaning within mythic constructions parallels closely that of a language system, but also in addition exists on the level of the story that myths tell. Considering that a large part of art/design/craft education in Britain is either focused on product development, which by its very nature is geared towards success in the world of trading, or individualised studio practice, the relational and social function of art is often neglected. In that respect, narrative exploration providing the motivation for the making of artefacts, and collaborative projects, like Lifelines, can offer a particularly fruitful strategy to engage with and explore social and relational aspects of artistic production and enhance experiential learning. Apart from the aim to create a visually engaging installation that can be exhibited in a variety of context, the project served to enable students to better position their work with reference to diverse social, cultural and interpretative issues and appreciate the relationship between a subjective artistic position, a wider cultural context and the production of contemporary decorative objects.