The first issue of Current Obsession Magazine will be presented
during Schmuck 2013 week 6-12 March in Munich.
Current Obsession Magazine will be available on several locations around the city.
Here is the list of locations where the magazine will be presented and sold during Schmuck:
Inside the 'Handwerk&Design' Fair at Messegelände Munchen our magazine will be sold by Chrome Yellow Books
at the Hall B1, located at the FRAME project
6th of March
12.00-13.00 We will be presenting at the Chrome Yellow Books stand at the Messegelände Munchen Hall B1, located at the FRAME project
19.00-22.00 We will be presenting and selling at the Schmuck-Show at
Goldbergstudios Müllerstrasse 46A
7th of March
Current Obsession Magazine Launch Party!
8th of March
9th of March
16.20 We will have the opportunity to present our magazine on stage of the 'Handwerk&Design' at the Messegelände Munchen. We will tell a bit about our project, present the team and share our plans for the future!
10th of March
11th of March
12th of March
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Our launch in Munich will be created in collaboration with Hanemaai and her project
My Infinite Home Tool
Our launch in Munich will be created in collaboration with Hanemaai and her project
My Infinite Home Tool
For me the work is about the wearability, because something happens in the wearing.
U.R.: Its interesting that you chose these three, because they all mark a period of time: one was the first after Idar-Oberstein, second one was my first after Sandberg, and the third is my first solo show. It shows what I'm looking for in the collier: its a closed circle, like a movie or a symphony: you starting somewhere, you give the introduction, then you develop the theme, you come to the main part and then you let it clean out – that's a collier. And of course in each work I make, I try to emphasize one story. Sometimes I mess up and tell three. But if I manage, I tell one story. In “Hope” its about two families, mama, papa and a daughter. You are raised by parents and now its time you are pushed out, suddenly you start waking on your own. That is how I felt at the time. I started to study at Idar-oberstein because I wanted to work with stone, but after two years the amount of stone work decreased and the amount of wood carving and sculptural elements increased. So here I have a big sculptural part that is wood and around it there are these stones, with hope that one day I'll come back to the stone. Also, the concept of hope is always identified with the color green, but I'm not sure its correct, so I made a black collier with pink stones.
C.O.: I think it is a heavy piece. In many ways. When I first saw it, I thought carrying such a heavy story on the body is somewhat groundbreaking.
U.R.: There is a constant discussion in our field on when does a piece of jewellery become unwearable by carrying too much of personal information. And I'm very aware of that. Because the second piece is so fucking personal I don't even want to talk about it..! But I was lucky that there is a certain element to it that made it more general.
C.O.: But I don't thing its luck or magic, its actually quite logical that if you are working with something highly personal and strong for you, the viewer can relate to this high concentration on emotional level without having to know the original story.
U.R.: Its like Mozart's Requiem. He is so emotionally wrecked by the death of his father, that Salieri knows he will die making this piece. And no matter when and where you hear this piece, it no longer relates to Mozart, it relates personally to you.
C.O.: So you feel that you have achieved that somehow?
U.R.: I'm working on it. Which means I create, I pile things up, and then I start to cut away, in the process I try to stay as communicative as possible and then show work to the people I trust. And they tell me what they see. Sometimes it does not tell the story, but sometimes HA..! It does not tell my story, it tells THE story! “Conspiracy” was made in time of crisis. Its about the few big ones that tell us how we are so little. But the minute we create a group we a stronger. And that is what I see happening in our field. We don't now where are we going, its because there is no compound, no group development, no manifestos. There is no giving up personal achievements for the sake of common achievements in order to understand what is important for the field. Instead we see individual points of view, personal understanding of certain problems. Up until the beginning of the twentieth century as a painter you were a part of a movement. And we are a part of a big movement, but no one knows what it is because no one can define it as a whole.
C.O.: It happens because of the fact that there is no critical discourse in the field?
U.R.: There is no hierarchy. No one is busy with analyzing facts as, for example: “ So-and-so started this movement then and there, these people have followed, and made this development, and thats why this piece has certain significance”. It hardly ever happens in this way. And I feel that in fine arts of fashion the popularity of the field is so high that certain people instead of making start writing about it. And as a maker you are busy with communicating with the work, rather then communicating with words.So if one wants do dedicate himself to writing, he learns the skills and begins writing. But I'm not giving up my career, and it happens in all the jewellery schools. There are so many talented people there, but no one wants to swap over to the verbal, intellectual part. And thats why they founded the “Academia Del Disegno” in Rome, the first school dedicated to teaching art. They wanted to create a verbal language to the language of art. They wanted to find a verbalization of what is happening visually.
C.O.: Manifestos and writing about your position within the field made people like Herman Junger and Otto Kunzli more important and weighty.
U.R.: Exactly. So if you had a manifesto you would be more appreciated. Its like the impressionists have put down into words that they want to paint outside because they are sick of the studio light. And people who perceive art through verbal language first will always dig something where they are more intellectually stimulated. So the Impressionism becomes immediately successful because there was a clear manifesto, where they stated their ideas. And thats the moment when it becomes more open to “mixing with other colors”. I start painting and I immediately call my writer friend to come over, drink some wine and talk about my work. We shall step out of our circles and deal with other people. We have to start involving others in order to grow. The future is bright. The field is infinite. You can learn and apply any science, craft, philosophy to jewellery making. The beauty is in these infinite possibilities and openness. You have Shcmuck in Munich, where you see latest developments of the contemporary jewellery, but few weeks before that there is Inhorgenta1, a huge fair of craft jewellery, and it is also valid, it has its place.
C.O.: What is a perfect piece of jewellery?
U.R.: Perfect Jewel. For me the first perfect jewel I saw was a “Tear Bucket” by Dinie Bessems.
It was a very simple shape. A black ring. On top of it sits a little black cup. And this cup is to contain a tear. And because of water's qualities to round up due to its surface tension, the top becomes a perfect bead : on the bottom - metal, on top – water. “Tear Bucket”. The title and the picture make you cry when you see it. For me it is a perfect jewel.
____________________________________________________
Marina Elenskaya for Current Obsession.
04.03.2011
Amsterdam
Athenaeum Boekhandel
Spui 14-16
www.athenaeum.nl
Gallery Ra
Nes 120
www.galerie-ra.nl
Eindhoven
You Are Here Conceptstore
Kleine Berg 32a
www.youarehere.nl
You can purchase the magazine online from our webshop
If you would like to become our retailer, please contact us: magazine@current-obsession.com
Images by Hanemaai (thumbnail), Chris van der Kaap, Kellie Riggs
We like to destroy and to create. We like to seduce and to attack.
We love our audience and want to trigger their thoughts.
S.O.A.P.P. - Shredded Obsession Addictive Pleasure Piece
- is a collaboration between Atelier Ted Noten
and Current Obsession Magazine.
S.O.A.P.P. is a performance about destroying and simultaneously creating something new.
Current Obsession Magazine – a publication entirely dedicated to jewellery - will be taken apart page by page and slipped into a golden shredder and transformed into raw material base for S.O.A.P.P. - a fetishist three-dimensional object/jewellery.
S.O.A.P.P. from Current Obsession on Vimeo.
http://current-obsession.com
http://www.tednoten.com
Concept by Marcel van Kan
Photography/Viedo by DAN/NAD
We hope you'll enjoy Schmuck 2013 with our Guide
content: Kellie Riggs
editor: Marina Elenskaya
design: Sarah Mesrtiz, Anna Hennerdal, Linda Beumer
Chain bracelet GIFTED
Japan is no exception to many new movements going on in the world of jewellery today.
Take a look at the new galleries specializing in art jewellery along with the emerging network of brands and it's clear that art jewellery is finally starting to gain recognition in Japan.
Hiroki Masuzaki was the first part of this new movement to catch my eye. Up until now, people aspiring to play an active role in the international scene usually established their base overseas, or displayed their works at international exhibitions while staying in Japan.
Hiroki chose a path less familiar.
In his search for a uniquely Japanese form of expression taken from a fresh perspective, he decided to establish his own show room in Japan, something that had never been attempted in the Japanese jewellery scene.
He enrolled in the Art Jewellery Course at Hiko Mizuno College of Jewellery with aspirations to study abroad. His efforts paid off for the first time in 2004 when he was selected as a participant in Three Schools Project. This prestigious exhibition is held irregularly every few years and features selected student works from three rotating international art colleges—in this case, the Sandberg Institute in the Netherlands, the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich, and the Hiko Muzuno College of Jewellery in Japan.
Hiroki toured three countries, learning by experimenting with new ways of presenting his works as he gained new international friends. On the other hand, it also taught him the negative aspects of the jewellery scene in European countries.
In 2009 he was accepted into Gerrit Rietveld Academie in the Netherlands, though by that time his motivation had plummeted. He felt that “the scene in Europe no longer had a promising outlook. I knew that I had to visit firsthand specifically to find what kept the artisans motivated, how they continued to create amidst the naysaying.”
Arriving in the Netherlands, he found that the artists had similar questions and fears about the jewellery scene. They couldn't take a step back to judge it objectively, must less step out of it.
Just a short month after enrolling, Hiroki went back to Japan.
Here he shifted his attention to the art jewellery scene in Japan that he had ignored for so long, only to find that there was no clearly defined scene or proper history. This brought him to think that, if European artists were stuck in an established art jewellery scene, then Japan could be a place for pioneers.
In doing so, he could not ignore how commercial jewellery permeates the public sphere in Japan.
For him, commercial jewellery entails meaningless jewellery that resorts to commercialism—rings sold with candy to children, fancy silver jewellery for young boys, accessories made of gold, silver, and other materials for young girls. Jewellery is available for every age group and for both sexes—a Japan-only phenomenon according to Hiroki. And nobody, at least in the field of art jewellery, has ever tried to work with commercial jewellery. This helped him think of a new method, where working on both commercial and artistic jewellery might allow him to reveal the reason why contemporary jewellery has failed to secure a foothold in Japan. Presenting this truth could be his way to suggest a new paradigm for jewellery.
Where others would use commercial jewellery as an inspiration for art, Hiroki is unique in the strategic way he clearly differentiates between commercial jewellery and art jewellery, while at the same time considering both as equivalent medias for his artistic expression.
Hiroki chose silver jewellery for his commercial jewellery line in launching the brand GIFTED with Masao Takahashi, a friend and longtime associate from his student days. Pieces from GIFTED maintain the size and style of conventional silver jewellery and are designed for everyday use. While they look different than his previous artistic pieces, they still share a connection. For example, some feature past designs, while others are conceptual, such as the combination of silver and iron to call up images of life and death. The matte finish of these works create an aura of tranquility. Hiroki likens the GIFTED collection to a tabula rasa—a fitting description for jewellery that changes its appearance as it spends time with the wearer.
Emptyframenecklace oval GIFTED
Emptyframenecklace square GIFTED
All created under the name of GIFTED
Material: Silver
Year: 2011
Their artistic line is much more conceptual. One item is a ring with a single word, “TODAY,” engraved on the surface. This piece was inspired by the March 11th 2011 Japan earthquake and nuclear accident that caused intense human and physical tragedy, along with intense shock and confusion across the nation. Having lived through the event, we, the people of Japan, must questions what 'today' means to us everyday when think of the present, the day of the earthquake, and the days after it. We can no longer live today feeling like we did before that day.
Title：TODAY
Item：Ring/Object
Material：Silver,Soil,Sample bottle,（Paper,Ink）
Year：2013
Title : Memento
Item : Brooch
Material : Iron,Paint
Year : 2009
The inside of the ring contains engravings of the edition number, Hiroki Masuzaki's, and the text “MADE IN JAPAN.” To Hiroki, the earthquake gave this phrase a new meaning. Just as the March 11th earthquake changed how Japan thinks of 'today,' it also drastically changed how to world thinks of Japan.
Hiroki has another project—one to establish a unique voice for Japan in the world of art jewellery. He thinks that the late Kazuhiro Ito’s work had the potential to realize this goal, but his sudden death cut this possibility short. As some readers may know, Ito was an artist and teacher who played an important role from the late 1970s to 1990s and impacted many artists, including Jun Konishi, but not enough to set a trend for later generations. Ito's pieces are characterized by their strong modern art influence, especially Japanese modern art, which shows the inner power of its materials in a subdued manner. Hiroki, having studied under Ryuichiro Nakamura, one of Ito’s students, has positioned himself along Ito's lineage.
This project aims to create comprehensive documents of Ito’s activities that currently exist only as fragments.
Jun Konishi
Title : Skull Teddy
Item : Necklace
Material : Plastic,Silver
Year : 2005
Jun Konishi
Title : the best in japan
Item : brooch
Material : silver,plastic,rubber,lacquer
Year : 1998
Ryuichiro Nakamura
Title : Hurt
Item : Brooch
Material : Iron
Year : 2001
Ryuichiro Nakamura
Title : King Of The Sun
Item : Necklace
Material : Silver
Year : 2008
All of these activities are based in the city of Kokura, a five-hour bullet train ride from Tokyo. Hiroki had his reasons to move from Tokyo. It's the hometown of his wife, Akiko, but more importantly, far removed from the Fukushima nuclear power plant, which experienced a partial meltdown after the cooling system failed due to the March 11th tsunami. Tokyo and Fukushima are about 200km apart, but who can say how far is safe enough when it comes to radioactive contamination? He chose to desert Tokyo with his wife, rather than risk the danger of growing complacent beneath the shadow of Fukushima.
Most recently, he opened the show room HOLIC last November, which exhibits jewellery by Japanese artists, including GIFTED, his personal brand.
HOLIC is located on a recessed street corner, so you can't see inside unless you open the door. It's cramped quarters can barely squeeze in three people. There is a workbench on the left and a glass case on the right. Customers chat with Hiroki over this counter.
Dialogue is his driving force.
He talks with customers to build solid relationships, the kind he couldn’t find in Tokyo. He hashes out ideas with Akiko to develop concepts or find viewpoints within himself that he would never have thought of otherwise. He listens to the stories of artists he is dealing with to understand their ideas and personalities.
All these conversation will fuel his future projects.
Hiroki's next step is to expand his activities to the international scene. Have a chat with him—be part of this new movement.
Hiroki Masuzaki
Title : SELFPORTRAIT
Item : Brooch
Material : Photograph,Silver,Paint
year : 2009
Makiko Akiyama for Current Obsession
Translation assistance and editing by David Kracker
HOLIC | JEWELLRY & REFABRIC THINGS
103 SENBA ESTATE BLDG.7-14 Senbamachi Kokurakita-ku Kitakyushu Fukuoka 802-0007 JAPAN
www.gallery-holic.com
info@gallery-holic.com
For the #1 issue of the Current Obsession magazine we collaborated with a visual artist María Aparicio Puentes, Santiago de Chile. María's work consists of embroidery on images, mainly black and white. Despite the two-dimensional medium, her work has a lot to do with a relationships between a human figure, body extensions and space. We've asked María to work with selected vintage images that had significance to the team of the CO. Please see more works here.
The full interview with Chen & Williams is featured in the Current Obsession Magazine #1
The collection of tableware is inspired by my own joy for functional things. And it is this joy I want to pass on to others. E.g. I have found a great spoon for eating my oats in the morning, which has the perfect cup size for the ideal mouthful of oat. This is a good example of a spoon that is not just a spoon, but a utensil underlining and enhancing a dinning experience. Hence, a specific dish should be delivered with the right utensil; the food, its texture and taste should be incorporated in the design of a utensil.
I try to adopt a problem solving approach to my design: I have found it annoying not being able to get all food from a ceramic plate; you keep on scraping with a spoon or fork but there will always be leftovers on the plate. Thus my idea for the plate “Lick it clean” appeared to help you scoop up all the food.
Simultaneously, the idea for the glass “shake that booty”, emerged to help aerate spirits during the drinking experience whilst the rubbery egg cup is inspired by the annoying one-size-fits-all egg cups you normally buy at shops. Eggs come in different sizes, but industrially produced eggcups do not and the rubbery eggcup allows for different egg sizes. At the same time, when I initially pushed an egg through the silicone, I found the movement to reflect the way a hen lays an egg, which for me was very satisfying.
In addition to having graduated from Royal College of Art, I have a background in Silversmithing and have produced expensive silver tableware for many years. I have experienced people acquire tableware only to put it in a cupboard even though it has been produced carefully to serve a function. Due to this experience, I decided to produce objects people want to use or objects that attract people to use them.
Most of the tableware we use today has had its look since the 17th century. E.g. the fork as we know it today, has had its looks for 300 years. Compared to the evolution of food, the evolution of tableware is protracted and needs to fit the current food trends. Who says the design of knife and fork are the most efficient for our contemporary society, when it has not been challenged for so many years? Everyone knows the feeling of having a spoon in their mouth or the sound of a fork against the plate; these are experiences we have known since we were born. However, most of us do not question the function of these everyday life utensils and what a simple change can do.
Thus the design needs innovation and development in order to activate people eating. The dinner experience has been passivated, neglected and appears mechanical without social context. New and innovative eating tools can challenge the eaters and the traditional perception of tableware.
I create functional objects for the tabletop that surprise and manipulate people’s normal actions or conceptions to enrich the experience of dining. I challenge the traditional way we eat or pick up food but at the same time consider the food and its consistency in a playful way. My intent with this series of tableware is not to give the users an experience, but hopefully a better dinner experience, different from what they are used to.
