Saturday 17 March 2012

Sun 18th March: CSM Jewellery - Neutopia

Since going to the new Central St Martins campus for the opening in November, I made a second trip back on Friday night for the 1st Jewellery Runway Show at the Granary Building. The 2nd year BA students worked on a project named "Neutopia" using sustainable materials to create large scale accessories rather than their usual smaller fine jewellery pieces. With Naomi Filmer and Hannah Martin as guest tutors, the course couldn't be in better hands for inspiration and mentorship. Each of the 39 students had designed a unique piece with no visible cross pollination or two visions appearing the same which made for a fascinating run of looks. Being an accessories designer who shows in this way myself, I know its not an easy task - the battle of dressing the body as a neutral backdrop to the focal sculptural adornment.
I went backstage after the show to get some more detailed shots which you can see here -
1) Go Un Lee's architectural threaded spiral, partially covering the face like African tribal masks.
2) Toto Dian Luo's densely looped backpack based on a bundle of fire wood
3) Xue Dong's collage collar of rolled paper tubes layered like a honeycomb
4) Rachel Trattle's wire structure formed like crystals on a rock, referencing the growth of new life

It's brilliant to see jewellery being approached from this angle with an assignment dedicated to addressing proportion and mixed media materials (in particular ethically sourced). Perhaps being at a new campus sharing workshops with other disciplines will be beneficial and bring about trading skills and collaborations. If you are an undergraduate investigating degrees, this one looks like an absolute corker - the facilities are incredible!
In addition to compiling the show, the group have also made a website for the programme which you can read furthur background here to see all the designers........ including Beatrice Bongiasca, Sarah Narici, Percy Lau, Go Un Lee, Toto Dian Luo, Xue Dong, Rachel Trattles seen above.

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