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The New Jewelry: Trends and Traditions
The New Trends and Traditions by Peter Dormer and Ralph Turner
192 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1985
22 people want to read
About the author
Peter Dormer
24 books4 followersPeter Dormer’s writings embraced art, architecture, design, technology and education; and his critical and curatorial work helped to promote the crafts into the freeflowing currents of postmodern visual culture.
Peter Dormer (1949–96) trained in art at Bath Academy of Art and in philosophy at Bristol University. After a short career in education he joined the staff of Crafts magazine under the editorship of Martina Margetts. By that time he had already started writing about the applied arts. He later left Crafts to become a full time writer and exhibition curator and developed his thinking in applied art, design, and architecture, the connections between them and their role in society. Among his exhibitions were Fast Forward (ICA, 1985) and Beyond the Dovetail (Crafts Council, 1991), both polemical exhibitions on the nature of the new and the traditional in crafts and the search for critical criteria. For Thames and Hudson he wrote the New series – starting with The New Jewelry (with Ralph Turner) and including The New Furniture and The New Ceramics. One of his last books was also on jewellery — Jewelry of our Time: Art, Ornament, and Obsession — written with Helen W Drutt-English, the Philadelphia collector. He also wrote about and curated exhibitions on design and architecture, writing The Meanings of Modern Design in 1990 and Design since 1945 in 1993. Peter Dormer was notable among critics for being appreciated by makers, and one of his persistent interests was in understanding the nature of skill and how it is learnt, used, and judged. This is the theme of The Art of the Maker (1994), one of his most important books, based on a PhD he did at the RCA.
Peter Dormer (1949–96) trained in art at Bath Academy of Art and in philosophy at Bristol University. After a short career in education he joined the staff of Crafts magazine under the editorship of Martina Margetts. By that time he had already started writing about the applied arts. He later left Crafts to become a full time writer and exhibition curator and developed his thinking in applied art, design, and architecture, the connections between them and their role in society. Among his exhibitions were Fast Forward (ICA, 1985) and Beyond the Dovetail (Crafts Council, 1991), both polemical exhibitions on the nature of the new and the traditional in crafts and the search for critical criteria. For Thames and Hudson he wrote the New series – starting with The New Jewelry (with Ralph Turner) and including The New Furniture and The New Ceramics. One of his last books was also on jewellery — Jewelry of our Time: Art, Ornament, and Obsession — written with Helen W Drutt-English, the Philadelphia collector. He also wrote about and curated exhibitions on design and architecture, writing The Meanings of Modern Design in 1990 and Design since 1945 in 1993. Peter Dormer was notable among critics for being appreciated by makers, and one of his persistent interests was in understanding the nature of skill and how it is learnt, used, and judged. This is the theme of The Art of the Maker (1994), one of his most important books, based on a PhD he did at the RCA.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
April 2, 2011
Feedback on the following review would be very helpful. I read and reviewed this book for an assignment for my MA studies in Contemporary Design. Thanks,
Ariella
Evidence of new developments in jewellery design began to dominate the field of jewellery design in the 1960’s as artists started exploring the nature of adornment through new materials and concepts. In The New Jewelry: Trends and Traditions, Peter Dormer and Ralph Turner survey these trends, the artists who initiated them as well as the artists likely to continue this trajectory into the future. Dormer and Turner focus mainly on artists in Europe and America.
The book is divided into three main chapters categorising the new designs and concepts in jewellery and exploring these through an in depth look at the work of the important jewellery artists of the time. The book also includes a biography of makers; a list of established and up and coming jewellery artists with a short paragraph describing each artist, a list of important independent galleries and museums sorted by country, a selected list of important exhibitions with catalogues from 1961-1984, and finally a list of publications related to jewellery; magazines and books with a high standard of editorials, critical assessments and illustrations/ photographs.
By the mid-1970’s, jewellery had evolved as an art form in itself, and there were an abundance of artist jewellers who viewed jewellery, and certainly their own work, as much more than adornment. These professionals had graduated art school, highly skilled and full of innovative ideas. By virtue of their creations, jewellery quickly claimed status as fine art. This claim was based on both egotism and survival. The jewellers, reacting to the dull commercial jewellery displayed in most shops, created interesting new designs and demanded status as artists. Their medium was jewellery. Furthermore, their growing customer base had a growing interest in art and design, and they wanted these new exciting jewellery designs. Most importantly, these artist-jewellers were forging their own individuality. The bottom line, says Dormer is distinctiveness. Jewellers as artists articulate their unique voices through the jewels they produce. Customers who wish to express individuality will purchase and wear these extraordinary pieces.
The first chapter, ‘Expression and Design: Mainstream Abstract Jewelry’ highlights artists such as Hermann Jünger, Claus Bury, David LaPlantz, David Watkins and David Tisdale, and describes work that is familiar to us as traditional jewellery, even if the materials and designs are uncommon. The authors lament that on occasion ‘during the last ten years… it has been fashionable to set “craft” on one side… [in the assumption that craft] prevents the Phoenix of creativity from rising. ’ While they caution that expressiveness in jewellery could come at the expense of craftsmanship, they also note that ‘it is a part of the spirit of the 1980’s that a concern for quality of manufacture and design is uppermost in the purchaser’s as well as the maker’s mind.’
In the second chapter, ‘Jewelry as Image: Mainstream Figurative Work’, the authors investigate figurative work, or jewels with a meaning attached. Artists such as Richard Mawdsley, Bruce Metcalf and Ron Ho are leaders in creating innovative jewellery that has a narrative. However this is not an easy task; the work by nature is small in scale which could easily diminish the value attached to figurative jewellery and dismiss it as ‘cute’. The authors praise the figurative jewellers as artists who take risks and suggest that the realm of figurative jewellery will advance jewellery in the future.
The final chapter, ‘Jewelry As Theatre: Radical Departures’ describes artists such as Otto Künzli and Pierre Degen who explore the boundaries of jewellery, the way in which it is worn as part of a private expression within the public space. These jewels are created not as ‘mainstream’, wearable jewellery, but rather more like artistic or theatrical wearable sculptures. Their goal is to explore ideas and concepts, and to spur criticism and debate.
Dormer and Turner’s three chapters will seem incomplete to today’s reader, and the book leaves many avenues unexplored: What are these new and interesting materials that the jewellers work with? How do techniques affect the new jewellery? Why bother making figurative jewellery; do people actually wear jewellery as a statement?
Furthermore, The New Jewelry focuses narrowly on Europe and America, ignoring innovative jewellery, designs and techniques from other parts of the world. The accompanying photographs are vivid; large images on glossy paper, however too many images in black and white (115 of 231), especially given the colourful visual nature of jewellery. Also, the book feels slightly choppy, and it was difficult to connect an image of a piece of jewellery with a specific text.
Nevertheless, even as The New Jewelry could be considered insufficient today, the book opened the discussion of a topic still much underexplored, and it remains an important book for a contemporary jewellery library.
Ariella
Evidence of new developments in jewellery design began to dominate the field of jewellery design in the 1960’s as artists started exploring the nature of adornment through new materials and concepts. In The New Jewelry: Trends and Traditions, Peter Dormer and Ralph Turner survey these trends, the artists who initiated them as well as the artists likely to continue this trajectory into the future. Dormer and Turner focus mainly on artists in Europe and America.
The book is divided into three main chapters categorising the new designs and concepts in jewellery and exploring these through an in depth look at the work of the important jewellery artists of the time. The book also includes a biography of makers; a list of established and up and coming jewellery artists with a short paragraph describing each artist, a list of important independent galleries and museums sorted by country, a selected list of important exhibitions with catalogues from 1961-1984, and finally a list of publications related to jewellery; magazines and books with a high standard of editorials, critical assessments and illustrations/ photographs.
By the mid-1970’s, jewellery had evolved as an art form in itself, and there were an abundance of artist jewellers who viewed jewellery, and certainly their own work, as much more than adornment. These professionals had graduated art school, highly skilled and full of innovative ideas. By virtue of their creations, jewellery quickly claimed status as fine art. This claim was based on both egotism and survival. The jewellers, reacting to the dull commercial jewellery displayed in most shops, created interesting new designs and demanded status as artists. Their medium was jewellery. Furthermore, their growing customer base had a growing interest in art and design, and they wanted these new exciting jewellery designs. Most importantly, these artist-jewellers were forging their own individuality. The bottom line, says Dormer is distinctiveness. Jewellers as artists articulate their unique voices through the jewels they produce. Customers who wish to express individuality will purchase and wear these extraordinary pieces.
The first chapter, ‘Expression and Design: Mainstream Abstract Jewelry’ highlights artists such as Hermann Jünger, Claus Bury, David LaPlantz, David Watkins and David Tisdale, and describes work that is familiar to us as traditional jewellery, even if the materials and designs are uncommon. The authors lament that on occasion ‘during the last ten years… it has been fashionable to set “craft” on one side… [in the assumption that craft] prevents the Phoenix of creativity from rising. ’ While they caution that expressiveness in jewellery could come at the expense of craftsmanship, they also note that ‘it is a part of the spirit of the 1980’s that a concern for quality of manufacture and design is uppermost in the purchaser’s as well as the maker’s mind.’
In the second chapter, ‘Jewelry as Image: Mainstream Figurative Work’, the authors investigate figurative work, or jewels with a meaning attached. Artists such as Richard Mawdsley, Bruce Metcalf and Ron Ho are leaders in creating innovative jewellery that has a narrative. However this is not an easy task; the work by nature is small in scale which could easily diminish the value attached to figurative jewellery and dismiss it as ‘cute’. The authors praise the figurative jewellers as artists who take risks and suggest that the realm of figurative jewellery will advance jewellery in the future.
The final chapter, ‘Jewelry As Theatre: Radical Departures’ describes artists such as Otto Künzli and Pierre Degen who explore the boundaries of jewellery, the way in which it is worn as part of a private expression within the public space. These jewels are created not as ‘mainstream’, wearable jewellery, but rather more like artistic or theatrical wearable sculptures. Their goal is to explore ideas and concepts, and to spur criticism and debate.
Dormer and Turner’s three chapters will seem incomplete to today’s reader, and the book leaves many avenues unexplored: What are these new and interesting materials that the jewellers work with? How do techniques affect the new jewellery? Why bother making figurative jewellery; do people actually wear jewellery as a statement?
Furthermore, The New Jewelry focuses narrowly on Europe and America, ignoring innovative jewellery, designs and techniques from other parts of the world. The accompanying photographs are vivid; large images on glossy paper, however too many images in black and white (115 of 231), especially given the colourful visual nature of jewellery. Also, the book feels slightly choppy, and it was difficult to connect an image of a piece of jewellery with a specific text.
Nevertheless, even as The New Jewelry could be considered insufficient today, the book opened the discussion of a topic still much underexplored, and it remains an important book for a contemporary jewellery library.
May 9, 2012
Para el 2011, este libro de 1985 luce muy disparejo. Algunas ideas y piezas conservan su encanto, otras documentan una época pasada. El capítulo más radical para la época (la joyería como teatro) se queda, con muy pocas excepciones, corta.
Lo que salva al libro es su espíritu abierto, exploratorio y ecléctico: esto significa que siempre es posible encontrar algo interesante en sus páginas para un nuevo punto de partida.
Lo que salva al libro es su espíritu abierto, exploratorio y ecléctico: esto significa que siempre es posible encontrar algo interesante en sus páginas para un nuevo punto de partida.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews