SCHMUCK 74
Kinetic brooches, Schmuck 74 | aluminium, Plexiglas, ball bearings, steel, 60 x 0.5 cm, 1974-1976
During this period, I had a business partnership with Beatrice Liaskowski in Winterthur, Switzerland, designing and manufacturing small series of aluminium and Perspex jewellery.
We aimed to make avant-garde jewellery incorporating modern design and materials at affordable prices. Our prime concerns were the ideals of stimulation and liberalisation in the field of jewellery design.
An engraving/milling machine and a lathe in our studio enabled us to produce in series. Our primary materials were partly manufactured Perspex and aluminium in sheets, rods, tubes and industrial profiles.
For the brooches, we designed a unique, standard locking device in stainless steel. An essential element was the kinetic effect achieved by mobility and/or optical distortion.
We organised our project professionally and even had stands at trade shows. At that time, still the era of romantic, hippie-like adornments, our jewellery proved to be too “avant-garde”. Galerie Sieraad in Amsterdam, representing Dutch artists, was the only gallery with a similar alignment, and Galerie RA only opened in 1976.
