Shock Tactics

Day 11:
Between all the gallery visits, openings and exhibitions it would be dishonest to say everything I've seen at Schmuck was brilliant.

There has also been a lot of shit.

And today, I literally saw shit, in Nicola Scholz's exhibition, 'Tete a Tete'/Caution!Fragile!Handle with care!' in the form of clumps of cow and horse manure, strung on gold wire to create neck pieces. The manure pieces, along with necklaces made of spider's legs, fangs and silk, were displayed in the window of the gallery. According to the artist's statement, the pieces aim to make your skin crawl, and to make you think. The choice of materials, in particular, the manure and its presentation as jewellery within a gallery context intends to push the limits of acceptability within the contemporary jewellery world.

Image from Nicola Scholz's exhibition Tete a Tete. 

Now...I'm all for pushing boundaries, but Scholz's manure necklaces reeked of shock tactics as opposed to a legitimate statement regarding the constricting, conservative nature of the jewellery world...

I think it is important to distinguish between the use of shock as a tactic to challenge traditional boundaries and the use of shock that becomes in itself voyeuristic, and empty of meaning.

I have seen pieces of jewellery that question contemporary jewellery making and philosophy that have stuck with me, and impacted on the way I work, materially and conceptually. These pieces have made strong, memorable comments through subtlety or humour; I didn't need to be shocked to gain something from them.

Regardless, I'm sure I will always remember the manure necklaces....as a gimmick. And maybe the artist intended nothing more than that.

V.