“Compass”: An exploration of Bio-composite Jewelry Design
Introduction
This project was completed for a course entitled Second Skin and Soft Wear. The course focused on "developing new tools to critically investigate creation of sensing interfaces through
materials and technologies, centred on research of Indigenous methodologies of relationality between people, land, place and things." (Smitheram)
materials and technologies, centred on research of Indigenous methodologies of relationality between people, land, place and things." (Smitheram)
My final bio-composite jewelry series is a reflection of the personal process I went through during the course of the semester and highlights indigenous ideologies that I have learned about.
The series is meant to remind the wearer who, what and where they are through the physical experience of the pieces.
Works cited
Smitheram, M. (2020, September to December). Course Lectures for Dart 339. Concordia University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
Set 1: Kombucha leather & bioplastic.
Set 2: Bioplastic rings set.
Set 3: Bioplastic chocker, 4 pendants.
Set 3: Bioplastic chocker, 3 pendants.
Set 1: Bioplastic chocker, 4 stones.
The Inspiration
The course taught me the beauty of diversity of knowledge, of community and of cyclical design. Through the curriculum and with the help of my personal explorations, I was able to better understand that I can never be fully respectful and bias-free because my life experience will always be tainted by the socio-cultural environments I am surrounded by. More importantly, I learned that I could release the shame associated with my biases and teach myself to be more inclusive as an adult and designer.
The Research Process
To begin my design process, I chose to read about the original dwellers of the country and city I call home. I read about the Mohawk creation story, about the cultural distinctions of the Haudenosaunee Confederation, about the Indian Act, about the basics of Canadian Aboriginal Law, about different land acknowledgements and about cultural appropriation.
Through this research, I learned about the deep respect this group has for nature, their creation story and the humility they strive to show to nature on a daily basis. I also learned that their culture is one of deep gratitude to their creator, one of community and reciprocity of knowledge.
The Results
In my research on the Haudenosaunee coalition, the two most striking points I was inspired by were the absence of ownership in the philosophy and their earth-centered spirituality. I wanted to embed these points in my project, so I began exploring the symbolisms of the Haudenosaunee coalition’s cultures and thinking of ways I could include them in non-appropriative manners.
After much exploration, I decided to focus on creating a wearable reminder that would physically interact with the wearer, that would celebrate nature’s beauty and that would honour the earth’s elements. As a result, each of the jewelry pieces have different elements but they all have common themes. Some of them include:
- The circle as a symbol of community and relationality
- The collar as a symbol of ownership and identity
- The rope as a symbol of strength in numbers
- The handcrafted trait as a symbol for co-designing with nature
- The number four as a symbol of situatedness on the earth (four cardinal points, the four elements, the four seasons, etc)
- Adjustability as a symbol of inclusivity
- Imperfection of the materials as a symbol of nature and humanity
The pieces are also embedded with dualities and comparisons. These are meant to invite critical thinking and their meanings are up to interpretation. Some of these include:
- The human wearing a collar made of organic materials
- The plastic-like look of the organic materials
- The resemblances of biomaterials to jewels
- The decomposing nature of the jewelry
Thus, in wearing the jewelry, the wearer is encouraged to embody their own versions of the philosophies of these themes and to think critically about how they look at the human relation to nature
