The jewelry "experience"

While in Hannibal, Missouri last week decompressing from the Kansas City Plaza Art Fair preparing for my drive home, I got to know photographer Michael Cole more. He shared a copy of "The Sun" magazine with me, an issue from June 2001. I've only read one thing from it so far, an interview with Thomas Moore. This is my first exposure to Moore, and now I'm intrigued to read some of his books. Have you read any of them? Please share your thoughts and recommendations!

In the interview, one of the things that struck me was his ideas on commodity and consumerism (and, of course, how all of this ties into sexuality of a person and society... but more on that later). Moore addresses the ideas of poet Rainer Maria Rilke, who says that the things of the world have souls and want us to notice them. He continues and says that actually they need us to see them, and this turns into a discussion of art and how art and artists can show us different aspects of the world in ways that we aren't able to see it.

Yet I like the idea that it's a two way street. The "things" need us, too, otherwise they wouldn't exist or there would be no reason for their existence. This struck a chord in me, especially when thinking about art... a lot of times defined as something that's not "needed" but "wanted." I disagree with that thinking, although we all know that a body cannot live on art alone... but art feeds the soul in often unknown ways.

Taking all of the swirling thoughts in my head down to a concrete point boiled down to the idea of how to get this message across at an art fair or a gallery. With jewelry, most jewelers display their work in cases. This makes the jewelry an object to be observed. Most of us jewelers know that if anyone looks, it's important to get the jewelry out of the case as quickly as possible to engage the sense of touch... yet to truly experience the jewelry is to wear it, and it can be a tough leap to get someone to engage at that level.

This is also true for 2D or 3D art... people like to observe it and in a sense they can experience it on display, yet the real experience is when the art comes into that person's existence and environment. This creates a level of intimacy and dialogue where the piece has a chance to come alive and develop it's own soul by leaving its creator and starting it's own life, much as we often do as children. Maybe we shouldn't be thinking of selling our work but rather finding adoptive parents who will care for the work and get it out into the world where it can stretch its wings and fly.