craft knowledge for the digital age - how the jeweller can
TRANSCRIPT
Craft Knowledge for the Digital Age- How the jeweller can contribute to designing wearable digital communication devices.
Jayne WALLACE*, Mike PRESS**
*Sheffield Hallam University, Art and Design Research Centre, Sheffield S11 8UZ, UK.
** Sheffield Hallam University, Art and Design Research Centre, Sheffield S11 8UZ, UK
Abstract: When designing devices that enable communication between individuals using technology, the significance
of how the device relates to the user as an individual, rather than a member of a collective, is of great importance. This
paper draws on practice centred research into the integration of digital technologies within contemporary jewellery
and focuses on opposing notions of jewellery and the gadget within the conception and design of wearable digital
communication devices.
As computing and technology become more ubiquitous in their conception, there is evidence that designers are
looking for methods of bridging technology with the human form (corporate examples include IBM, Philips and
Nike). The technology of the large corporate companies is about mass-produced changes in our personal experience of
the world. Mass-production is by its nature detrimental to intimacy and the sense of individual experience. Jewellery
is about an intimate relationship between an individual and an object, and often forms a link in the relationship
between one person and another. This paper illuminates the contribution that contemporary jewellery design can make
to the design and conception of digital communication devices, illustrating a creative methodology for creating new
objects embodying technology. The method acts to bridge the areas of HCI, contemporary jewellery and other design
disciplines.
This research is not about inventing new mobile phones or PDAs, which are worn in a novel way on the body, but is
about the design and application of wearable digital technology using the methods and perspective of a Contemporary
Jeweller. The results include a new model and perspective for viewing objects, in particular wearable objects
involving computer technologies. This paper has significance both directly within design and craft as well as wider
implications outside of this field.
Key words: Contemporary Jewellery, Wearable Technology, Emotion, Communication, Individual Experience.
1. Introduction
The desire to make the human form the locus for digital devices is increasingly evident in the proposals and
developments of digital device designers. This motivation is often technology led as a result of the increasing
ubiquitous and miniaturised nature of computing and technology. However, the body, as a site for interactive
devices, has much wider possibilities. This paper explores the contribution and perspective of Contemporary
Jewellery in the design and conception of wearable digital devices, reflecting the awareness of jewellers to the
person/object relationship and notions of personal significance.
The research arises from a practice-centred doctoral research project within a Department of Metalwork and
Jewellery – supervised by specialists in design, jewellery and Human Computer Interaction. The project itself is
undertaken by the principal author who is a contemporary jewellery practitioner. The key objective of the research
is to define methods that are rooted in craft knowledge and practice that can be applied to the design of digital
communication devices, as a means of developing product concepts that are more desirable, relevant and
significant to users.
We begin by providing an introduction to the specific nature and concerns of contemporary jewellery
explaining how contemporary jewellers seek to imbue objects with emotional meaning, and use these objects to
communicate with wearers and viewers. Following an overview of theoretical perspectives of craft and
technology, we then present the notion of the gadget, highlighting the limitations of this form of device in terms of
personal significance. The paper continues by presenting the methodology adopted, suggesting how it will
develop in future, concluding with a brief discussion on the wider significance of the research
2. Jewellery as communication
Randall White, professor of anthropology at New York University suggests that any discovery of collective
human coexistence can be described as a society if there is evidence of jewellery in that collective. He states that
"What people wear, and what they do to and with their bodies in general, forms an important part of the flow of
information - establishing, modifying, and commenting on major social categories.”[1] This perspective provides
a view of jewellery, which establishes it as a defining signifier of society and the power relationships within it.
There is evidence throughout history that objects have been worn or attached to the body to symbolise status,
difference and a way of asserting individualism. These first connections between purpose and self-adornment
form the precursors of what we now know as jewellery. Traditionally jewellery has followed in these footsteps. It
has been used to symbolise wealth, social status and cultural positioning. However the power an object has,
particularly one worn on the body, to exemplify and express many broader concepts has advanced the medium of
jewellery from this traditional role.
Figure 1 – Jewellery by Gijs Bakker Figure 2 – Jewellery by Emmy Van Leersum &
Gijs Bakker
Pieces by Dutch jewellers Gijs Bakker & Emmy Van Leersum (figs. 1 and 2) were made in 1967 and 1971
respectively and represent pieces, which went far to establish the basis of how the breadth of the potential role of
contemporary jewellery is perceived today. They protested against the traditional qualities of jewellery relating to
expensive materials, limited translation, and conservatism of form and placement on the body.
As Dormer and Turner (1985) argue, Contemporary Jewellery is the term used to describe a certain genre of
jewellery dating from the 1950s, which in general terms express concepts other than those communicated by the
function of the object [2]. Makers of Contemporary Jewellery have questioned the aspects of its history, process,
method, value systems and legitimisation to redefine its role in current cultures.
Figure 3 – Jewellery by Susanna Heron Figure 4 – Jewellery by Caroline Broadhead
Pieces by British jewellers Susanna Heron (fig.3) and Caroline Broadhead (fig.4) are from collections of work
from the 1980s made from non-precious materials such as nylon, they were made to explore notions of
wearability, the relationship of jewellery to the body, and the space around it. Contemporary jewellery is a three
dimensional language of form which questions and explores beliefs and concepts indicative of being human and
as such forms one strand of human communication.
Through reflective analysis and development of the researcher's own practice, the aim of this research is to
explore the possibilities, methods and motivations for an integration of technology with contemporary jewellery to
form a mutually beneficial partnership which will contribute to the evolution of both disciplines.
3. Interpretations from product design
While jewellers have dealt with issues of wearability, the relationship between objects and the body and
personalised communication with worn objects since the dawn of human society, product designers have really
only grappled with such issues since the dawn of the Sony Walkman. A review of current work in this field
suggests that they have some catching up to do.
As computing and technology become more ubiquitous in their conception, designers are looking for methods
of bridging technology with the human form (corporate examples include IBM, Philips and Nike) [3-5]. IBM
research at their Almaden site has been working on the development of digital jewellery (figs. 5 and 6). Cameron
Miner, the founder of the design lab and lead scientist on the Digital Jewellery project states that "If you have
something with you all the time, you might as well be able to wear it.”[6]
Figure 5 – IBM – digital jewellery Figure 6 – IBM – digital jewellery
IBM’s design approach can be characterised as a 'problem solving' one, and has led to solutions of equivalent
quality to high street, commercial accessories, with a predictability of form and function. Turning to jewellery
because "if you have something with you all the time, you might as well be able to wear it." shows a narrow
interpretation of what jewellery is and a naivety in this case of the problems which are in need of solving. In
allowing function to lead the concept the perceived issues or problems are potentially shallow and the resulting
designs will only echo this. The more important, significant problems of why such devices should be made, or
how such devices can enhance communication between people are not evident in these pieces.
Research and Development at Philips has produced concepts for the integration of technology in our
communities, homes and clothing. Philips is an example of a company with a number of approaches to the design
of digital devices. They take a user centred approach stating "The traditional design disciplines are integrated with
expertise from the human sciences and technology through a multi-disciplinary, research-based approach that
makes it possible to create new solutions that satisfy and anticipate people's needs and aspirations” [7]
Philips suggest that "As new technological developments advance they become better and smaller as we use
refined, miniaturised technology. But there are limits to miniaturisation. It can help make products smaller and
easier to use, but the ultimate dream is not to have easier tools: it is not to have to bother with tools at all! The step
forward then is the integration of functions into objects that we do not feel clutter us, which are part of our
life."[8] Philips approach shows an openness to form and mode of interaction, their proposed devices often
suggest playful ways of interacting with the systems, but in terms of wearable devices their suggestions echo
qualities of 'products' rather than 'jewellery'.
Figure 7 – IDEO design concepts Figure 8 – IDEO design concepts
Product Design Company IDEO has produced proposals for wearable digital appliances, which intimate
notions of jewellery (figs. 7 and 8). The ideas consist of: Cell phone rings, where the ear piece and mouth piece
telephony are embedded in finger jewellery, 'Toe Jewellery', which facilitates navigation around a city, through the
use of satellites and a PDA powerplant on a belt, a Sports watch which supplies data of your performance, to
upload to your PDA for analysis and a low powered ear mounted phone. The forms still resemble products, rather
than jewellery, but they show a more imaginative interpretation of how to wear digital devices than many product
design companies.
As these examples illustrate, the majority of digital devices to date using the body as their canvas and locus
are from a functionalist led standpoint. Craft theorists such as Greenhalgh (2002) [9] discuss the relevance of
technology for makers of craft objects and there is a recognisable shift in the embrace of such notions. However
there are very few contemporary jewellers going beyond the expression of ideas and aesthetics attributed to digital
technology in their work.
4. Interpretations from Goldsmiths and Jewellers
Examples of goldsmiths and jewellers, who are exploring digital technologies in their practice can be found in
the work of Ira Sherman, Nicole Gratiot Stober and Christoph Zellweger.
Figure 9 – Ira Sherman – ‘The Arbitrator’
Sherman made a collection of wearable technological devices in the 1990s highlighting the changing role of
technology in our everyday life. 'The Arbitrator' (fig. 9) holds an arguing couple together for a set period of time,
encouraging discussion to rectify the problem, while all conversation and terms of agreement are recorded and
documented. The devices he made frequently took the role of 'authoritarian' in the lives of human relationships.
The objects and roles proposed for the technological devices suggest how the evolution of wearable technology
could play out. The devices are only several stages along this evolution time line from the role of organiser which
technology currently plays in many of our lives.
Figure 10 & 11 – Nicole Gratiot Stober
Technology was used to express ideas of human communication by jeweller Nicole Gratiot Stober (fig. 10 &
11). Her Jewellery reacts to interaction between people through sensors, which illuminate when the object is
touched: "The body responds to the jewellery and the jewellery responds to the body" (cited in Gilhooley and
Costin, 1997) [10]. The way the pieces react to the touch of an individual or collection of people shows a very
human centred handling of the technology used. The functionality of the work echoes how humans communicate
to one another through touch. To touch is to be touched; by the glow of a light in response to a touch it is as if the
object is returning your gesture.
Figure 12 – Christoph Zellweger
Christoph Zellweger in collaboration with industrial designer Peter Russell Clark was asked by London based
company Scintillate to develop a new category of jewellery; light jewellery (fig. 12). Zellweger states "In
designing these pieces we wanted the 'softening' of technology…any technology needs a housing which is
meaningful to that technology…we used precious metals in this project to add to the preciousness of the work, but
rejected the use of precious stones; the light was superficial, so therefore the stones should reflect this” (interview,
Jan 2003). He sees this project as progressive because technology has not led the process; the ultimate goal was to
"make the light itself the jewel, the focus and therefore the element of beauty” (interview, Jan 2003). He defines
one motivation for working with digital technologies as "Unearthing the future - building on the past to reveal the
future” (interview, Jan 2003).
The examples detailed here illustrate the different perspective of a jeweller to the design of wearable digital
devices. Zellweger describes jewellery as always being supported by a concept; this frequently means a
questioning of purpose and relevance. Communication between humans can take many forms. A product designer
may have a brief to design a wearable digital communication device and the poetic treatments of jewellers such as
Gratiot-Stober may seem far removed from this task. However by approaching the issue through an attempt to
understand different modes of communication and the very intimate link these have with a device worn on the
body, new ways of treating the design of wearable digital devices may be possible.
5. Gadgets, non-gadgets, jewellery and significance
This section describes the formulation of a hypothesis, which the research is aiming to prove. Following the
research investigating current wearable digital devices and motivations for the production of these devices a clear
distinction between what this research is aiming to achieve and what it is not was developed, this distinction
involves the notion of the 'gadget'.
Figure 13 – Kiss Communicator, IDEO
The 'Kiss Communicator' by IDEO (fig. 13) "…is a hand held device which allows lovers to blow each other
kisses across distance. It works by blowing into the central ‘mouth’ of the object, where electronics translate the
impulse into a series of randomly lit LEDs, which are then transmitted as a slow glow to your partner’s equivalent
device far away" [11]. "If picked up and squeezed, your partner’s device will repeat the message in
complementary colours, but if left untouched, the glowing message will fade quickly.” This piece answered some
of the issues in the research question, but not completely. Why is this?
Two quotes that seem very important to this question are from The Practiced Digitised Hand by Malcolm
McCullough:
"…Researchers seem unable to formulate much beyond the mechanical aspects of manual behaviour. Science
has trouble explaining a caress”. [12]
"The great paradox of computing is that the better this thinking apparatus becomes, the more we appreciate
the value of a conscious human being". [13]
The significance of these two quotes is that they recognise that technology and the functionality of current
devices fail to reflect human sentiments. Intimacy is a very important aspect for this research project. The
research is exploring ways of enabling communication between humans mediated and enhanced by digital
jewellery.
Most if not all electronic, or digital appliances have a lifespan, governed not by a technological defect of the
appliance, but by its function or usefulness becoming usurped by another, newer, faster, 'better' one. Such
appliances are often referred to as gadgets. Gadgets do not feature highly or endure on our list of objects of
personal significance. They are replaceable, therefore meaningless. Any meaning they may have once had for us
is fleeting, replaceable, and transferable.
Figure 14 – Gadgets and Non-gadgets
Figure 14 compares the qualities of gadgets and non-gadgets. The qualities possessed by a gadget seem to be
present in much of the product based design investigated in this research and are to be avoided in this research.
How can an object, which uses digital capabilities to perform communication functions between individuals,
avoid becoming just another gadget? It is the proposal of this research that the word jewellery could take the place
of 'Non Gadget' here.
In order to make an object, which represents elements of an individual's identity and personal significance it
was important to establish how an object has meaning for an individual.
Research by Downs and Wallace [14], which employed Kelly’s Repertory Grid Technique [15] to analyse
perceptions of jewellery, led to the following key findings:
i. Jewellery still represents ‘traditional properties of jewellery’ to the majority of non-specialists i.e.
notions of social status and wealth.
ii. Significant meaning is the result of individual experience, not collective, i.e. a personal history often
informed by memories.
This informed the hypotheses defined below.
6. Research design
6.1 Hypotheses
If an object embodies elements of personal significance for an individual, attachment with that object may
occur. Attachment through form and function will lead to an enduring relationship between individual and object.
The qualities of a future digital jewellery device were separated into those of form and function following the
claims of the hypotheses. From these two terms three strands were established, which would act as avenues of
enquiry for the next stage of the research:
• Strand one - The exploration of significance and attachment achieved through personal use.
• Strand two - The exploration of significance and attachment achieved through personal
symbolism.
• Strand three - The exploration of significance and attachment achieved through the unique
communication afforded by the digital function of the jewellery.
These strands and avenues of enquiry were devised to investigate how attachment with a digital jewellery
device can be created which would lead to the device embodying elements of personal significance for the user(s),
which would lead to an enduring relationship between individual and object.
6.2 Strand One - The exploration of significance and attachment achieved through personal use
Following this first strand of establishing significance between individual and object through use. The activity
needed to involve two individuals in order to establish comparable data and to form a basis for research involving
a communication device for two individuals.
At this stage the 'use' action and object needed to be a non-specialised technique to avoid discrimination i.e.
jewellers or non-jewellers etc. In their text 'The meaning of things', Csikszentmihalyi and Rochberg - Halton,
described the ball as a good example of an object, which serves to develop a sense of self for us in our early years
[16]. As a form of naturalistic research, in order to fully understand how the methods used are operating and how
the process is opening up avenues of enquiry, which will feed back into the researcher's practice, it is necessary
for the researcher to be involved in person in the methods being used.
Figure 15 – Exploring significance through bouncing balls
The researcher and another individual were each given an identical bouncing ball (figure 15). Each person had
a period of two weeks in which to play with the ball. During which time it became scratched, cut and dented.
After the two-week period the two forms looked different from each other. Each had on their surface evidence of
separate periods of use, events and experience. The experience of the individual user and elements of difference in
experience between both users.
The aspects of importance at this point were the physical manifestations of experience and meaning, so to
crystallise these; the balls were cast in clear resin and the scratches, cuts and dents were filled with a white opaque
primer. The forms were then cast in blocks of clear resin. The elements of use and visual scars of an event, action
and experience were shown as three-dimensional entities within the block.
The activity yielded positive outcomes in several ways. During the exercise 'play' was actively encouraged.
The 'use' part of the equation was therefore an enjoyable activity and perceived as an easy task to be engaged in.
Although the ball was a metaphor for a future device it acted as an object with which to bond and diaries of use
suggest an attachment taking place. This exercise illustrates how a mass produced object such as the ball can
become unique through use.
The exercise could inform the design of digital communication jewellery by setting an example of positive
methods of encouraging enjoyable connections with objects and actions. Activities involving 'play' would
encourage informal, enjoyable participation in other exercises or methods. By using a simple exercise, which
could act as a metaphor for a communication device, questions can be asked indirectly. Questions about how the
activity is changing the user's perception of the object, for example. The exercise suggested that it is possible to
become attached to or bond with an object through use.
6.3 Strand Two - The exploration of significance and attachment achieved through personal symbolism
The first objective was to express a memory of someone by making an object, which represented this personal
significance (fig.16). Through undertaking this activity the researcher was able to focus on the aspects of the
object, which had specific resonance for her, what was informing these decisions, and how does she perceive a
memory and its representation?
Figure 16 – An object of personal symbolism
The resulting piece is a representation of a memory of the researcher's grandmother. It is made from a fine,
embroidered material and is stiffened into the form of a cup. The shape suggests a certain kind of cup, a certain
taste and period of design. The fabric used is embroidered with rosebuds and is descriptive of a certain kind of
ceramics. The piece is very delicate, expressive of the fragility of age and the transience of a person and a
memory. All of these qualities of the form are encoded representations of the sentiment of the piece, the form is
representational of the sentiment, intended to be decoded by the viewer.
Examples of how memory is represented or referenced by other makers of contemporary jewellery were then
investigated, demonstrating how artefacts can act as triggers, creating a sense of familiarity in the viewer,
referencing another place, person or time.
6.4 Strand Three - The exploration of significance and attachment achieved through the unique
communication afforded by the digital function of the jewellery
Research into attitudes towards developed and developing technologies suggests that technology has three
main qualities needed to achieve whatever it is programmed to achieve:
1 - Quickly - Speed is perceived as a fundamental advantage of technology and each consecutive development
is faster than the last.
2 - Right here, right now - immediacy and ubiquitous connection are thought to be essential to developing
technologies, people can communicate with one another temporally if not spatially almost immediately from the
most remote areas on earth.
3 - Repeatedly - Technology has to be repeatable. This quality is championed as one of its main advantages.
This research argues that if technology were perceived as a 'precious commodity' these three facts would be
redressed and challenged. This could lead to a communication device, which could be personal, individual and
respected:
• A device which would use technology for a particular, individual and personal purpose.
• A device, which would respect what that technology affords rather than focusing on how fast,
immediate, ubiquitous or repeatable it could be.
• Possibly a new way of thinking about technology.
• A technology which would perform a function either only once or where the function evolved
with use.
As a result of the formulation of the hypothesis, which has driven research through three avenues of enquiry
the emergent themes can be described as transient technology, play and use, and symbolism involving personal
memories.
The direction suggested for the following stages of research are to pursue strand two (the exploration of
significance and attachment achieved through personal symbolism) through practice based investigations
involving the exploration of memories. These investigations will be informed by strands one and three; play and
use in the methods employed and regarding technology as a precious commodity.
6.5 Future Progress
The researcher will continue a ‘naturalistic’ methodological approach in this research. The rationale for using
‘practice’ as the core of the methodology is to produce and record data relevant to analysing and understanding
the impact of integrating digital technologies with Contemporary Jewellery Practice. An understanding of such
integration can only be achieved through engaging fully with the tacit basis of practice itself. These investigations
are firstly intended to look at the notion of significance, then significance in interactive objects and aim to show
that there are possibilities through the use of contemporary jewellery knowledge to enable interactions that are
unusual and new.
Through methods involving cognitive processes of recognition on an individual level identifying elements of
personal significance a series of practice based investigations will be undertaken exploring memory and
significance.
7. Conclusion
The role posited, through this research, of a contemporary jeweller is not how to add an aesthetic to a
technology, or how you wear something, but that a jeweller can force much bigger questions and issues, which
involves questioning motivations, relevances, and forms of digital appliances and interaction. As a result of this
next phase the aim is to use the findings to develop a reflective review of the researcher's own practice. The
research will generate empirical data for mainly qualitative analysis. In this way the activities will inform one
another and allow refinement and development of the research methodology and in turn the researcher's own
practice. It is anticipated that the research will test the appropriateness of Contemporary Jewellery as a creative
strategy in the further development of such technologies. Furthermore it will define new design methodologies,
which will bridge the roles of Designer and Jeweller. If successful this research will enhance the relevance of
Contemporary Jewellery and establish its value as a source of knowledge in a post-industrial age. The researcher
will produce a thesis and a series of jewellery objects, which will be presented in the form of one or more
exhibitions, which will address the issue of transparency and communication of content. As stated by Professor
Randall White Jewellery is a defining signifier, it was in the Middle-Upper Palaeolithic age and this research can
demonstrate that it still is today.
References
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