Syftet med studien är att genom en jämförande studie skapa förståelse för hur verksamma smyckekonstnärer i Sverige tänker kring bärbarhet och hur deras smycken påverkar kroppen. Jag har genom kvalitativa intervjuer med fem smyckekonstnärer lyft fram deras åsikter och tankar kring bärbarhet och jämfört detta med aktuell litteratur. De frågeställningar som behandlas är följande: Hur resonerar verksamma smyckekonstnärer kring bärbarhet i förhållande till kroppen, i deras arbete? På vilket sätt är bärbarheten viktig i uttrycket? Hur vill konstnärerna påverka kroppen med sina verk? Vem skapar de för? Resultatet visade att bärbarheten inom smyckekonsten inte är svart eller vit utan i relation till smyckets koncept och syfte. Både bärbarheten och kroppen är centrala element för de verksamma smyckekonstnärer som medverkar i studien men den kommer in i olika skeden i deras processer. Detta återfinns även i litteraturstudien vilket understryker att detta är en generell företeelse. Det finns även en uppdelning mellan kunder med mer traditionella förväntningar och kunder med mer konstinriktade förväntningar vilket gör att många smyckekonstnärer skapar både unika föremål till utställningar och mer gångbara smycken till butiksförsäljning för att nå ut till en bredare kundkrets. Även begreppet bärbarhet visar sig ha flera inriktningar; bärbart som kommersiellt gångbart och bärbart som funktion. Respondenterna i studien är enade om att de inte kommersialiserar sin konst men att säljbarheten är viktig för att verksamheterna ska gå runt. Bärbarheten är djupt rotad i smycketraditionen i Sverige vilket kan ha med säljbarheten att göra. Det finns en enad åsikt om att svensk smyckekonst är på väg upp och att många svenska smyckekonstnärer tänjer på gränserna vad gäller både form- och materialval. Ju fler som vågar bära smyckekonst desto mer accepterat kommer det att bli, också därför är bärbarheten central för smyckekonstens utveckling.

Den här uppsatsen handlar om smycket som kommunikatör. Dels vad ett smycke berättar om sin bärare men även på vilket sätt fem yrkesverksamma smyckekonstnärer/konsthantverkare förhåller sig till sina smycken som kommunikatörer. Genom att jämföra svar från intervjuerna med litteratur i ämnet belyses likheter och skillnader mellan hur författarna beskriver smycket som kommunikatör och hur smyckekonstnärerna/konsthantverkarna gör det. Empiri till uppsatsen har samlats in genom kvalitativa intervjuer med fem konsthantverkare/smyckekonstnärer. Svaren har sedan tolkats och analyserat. Undersökningen visar en rad olika aspekter på smycket som kommunikatör.

I am interested in humans, bodies, movements, directions and how they affect each other. How we move towards each other or away from each other, inside a home or outside. How we relate to each other and to what people say and do. Co-operations between people that occasionally, possibly, do not work; how certain relationships, like certain materials, can have various breaking-points; that materials can be laden with numerous preconceptions, for instance what they should be used for. Beginning from the perspective of a feminist commune, I have explored the concepts of family, belonging, and loneliness. I have interviewed, observed, photographed, and through living in the commune during shorter periods of time, I have taken part in their every-day life. Through this investigation I have become more aware of my view on loneliness and belonging, regarding both myself and others. Can we as humans stand alone, or is interdependence necessary to reach our full potential? Can we experience loneliness in spite of co-existence? And can we feel togetherness in our loneliness? I have created objects in which I hope the observer can recognise themselves, in the emotions I wish to communicate. It may be about shame; shame for not fitting in; not belonging; a nagging sensation that you are not “right”. It may be the dark side which can arise through togetherness; like being situated in an environment where you are surrounded by people but still do not feel you belong; but also the feeling of release that a self-imposed seclusion can give. Through my jewellery I want to show that the way in which something or someone is decorated can raise standards, values and preconceived ideas. / <p>Har tagit bort bilder av upphovsrättsliga skäl</p>

My journey starts off using photography as a tool to investigate materiality, body, object and space. During my trip I constructed a photo, or as I see it, translated a 2D photo into a 3D form. I travel through material values and the relationship between material and form, encountering questions on legitimacy and hierarchy: Why does some material become more real? What charachterizes these material and gives them more credibility? Why do we value material differently? The path I follow consist of fused material: digital, traditional and unknown. My expedition challenges craft, the definition of the handmade, and the concept of the final piece.

During a major part of modernity the concept of identity was something that in many ways was predetermined for the individual. People in general remained in the same social spheres as the generations before, shared common religions and beliefs and where more or less bound to a geographic area. Identity and lifestyle was something that was adapted quite unreflected from habit and tradition. Though, during the cultural modernisation process that took place in the twentieth century, previous shared patterns of interpretation vanished and became individual.  Finding references, constructing an identity and establishing a self became individual. There was also a shift in the relationship to the objects that surround us. Instead of seeing the objects from a functionalistic view, objects and commercial goods also became representations of ourselves that sent out signals of who we wanted to be as individuals. The globalized media society that we have today gives an opportunity where we can pick up elements from different phenomena in society to create an eclectic blend of references as a way to construct our own lifestyle and unique identity. This essay deals with the question of how jewellery can function as a mark of identity. I have investigated three different jewellery practices to see what possibilities jewellery have as a potential communicator of identity. The jewellery practices that I investigated are Bling Bling jewellery within the Hip-Hop culture, jewellery in the Black Metal community and contemporary jewellery art in Sweden. What I found in common between these, at the surface very different cultural expressions, is that they mix different cultural references in a way similar to collage. By doing that they create new patterns of interpretation and codes that can be read by the ones initiated, which creates a sense of belonging and identity. Another aspect of jewellery within these practices is that the wearer or the maker charges the artefact with a meaning. To state either by making or wearing a piece of jewellery that this object stands for or talks about this and then communicate that to the surrounding. And if others accept these values it creates a common code of identity. / <p>Upphovsrättsskyddat bildmaterial har tagits bort från orginalet.</p>

We live in a world constructed by predeterminations, divided by gender. It’s a masquerade that we’re all taking part in, men by their gaze and women by embodying it. I’ve investigated spaces where feminine attributes are interconnected to a female body, and aspects that shape the misleading mask. In my research I discovered that there are three areas where a woman and female attributes are merged: In media where the stereotype image of a woman is confirmed in glossy magazines and in reality shows. In the bathroom, a room that represents the starting point of the masquerade. And last in typical feminine rooms, beauty salons, where make-up and nail polish is applied to female bodies. By researching spaces I discovered that bodies are shaped by the exclusion of the other sex and by gender specific norms. Out from my own bodily perception I have investigated the feminine surface in the borderland between corpus and jewellery. In my process I shifted the perspective by creating wearable pieces that illustrate the undressing of femininity and by dressing traditionally masculine corpus in feminine materials. All together the objects make up a burlesque staging of a feminine scenography. It’s first when an object loses its initial function that we can create new reference points. It’s when lipstick is casted in the shape of soap and when a high heel is separated from the shoe that they become disconnected from the female body. / <p>The full thesis contains copyrighted material which has been removed in the published version.</p>

I feel something on the INSIDE of my body, a feeling of nagging worry. It is an emotion equally important as every other emotions we humans have. But the feeling of worry is very complex as it may come in different shapes and sizes, and how much it affects us differs from person to person. For some people thoughts of worry escalates and becomes overwhelming which causes an emotion of anxiety which in turn could lead to a panik attack. In my exam project and my artistic presentation I focus on that emotion of anxiety when you panic and you loose control. The reason for this emotion could be many but I am interested in how expectations and demands both from ourselves, others and society leads to us trying to keep it all together, stay in control and/or wanting to show an OUTSIDE that everything is fine.  Through social media, internet and commercials we are all exposed to information which tells us how to achieve ”the perfect life” and images of people having an eventful life. All of this creates expectations. In society today worry and anxiety are emotions that are connected to something negative and is often seen as a weakness. In our attempt to hide the emotion of worry and anxiety we communicate to the people on the outside that everything is fine, by for example using jewelry, make-up and clothes to show a beautiful facade almost like putting on a shield before we go outside to meet the world. Why do we do that? And for whom? I chose the necklace as the traditional piece of jewelry to symbolize beauty, stability and to communicate to people that you have everything under control and that everything is fine. The necklace  becomes part of the facade that will stand for beauty, tradition and a measure of prosperity. This is what you show on the outside of the body but on the inside that is where you hide away your worries and anxiety which is built up due to expectations. Expectations which in time will be too many and too much for you to handle, the same as with anxiety. One part of my artistic presentation is to try and visualise how these expectations are put upon you while you are trying to control them and at the same time show off a stable and beautiful outside. But no matter how hard you try to communicate that everything is fine and trying to keep everything together, in the end, what you feel on the inside of the body will seep out to the outside. I am making a attempt to show how this eventually makes you loose control. The beautiful necklace is impossible to sustain which also makes me question my own traditional view of what a necklace is. Another part of my artistic presentation is about value and to make objects that could be used as conversation pieces to start a dialog about worry and anxiety. The materials I am using symbolises the feeling when anxiety takes control of your body and staines the individual. The aim of this exam project is to raise thoughts about a complex emotion, norms in society, and to investigate what a necklace is or could be. Jewelry is a way of communicating with other people and one way to show who you are or whom you want to be. As a contemporary art jeweller I am exploring my topic in a conceptual way.

Through collecting, gathering and transformation I look at themateriality in bodies of human and animal. The asymmetricalrelation rules we have created to approve our behaviour oftoday. I write this paper with the contradicting approach ofbeing scientific yet sentimental to the meanings of physicalmatter.

Using dirt and cleaning as a point of departure, I have examined how categorization and intentionality affects our perception of value. The work is partly performative in its nature where this performativity sets the limelight on the transition between categories: From dirt to craft, from irrational behaviour to art. In the artistic process, I have used coffee rings on table cloths, shoeprints on wallpapers and  the act of mopping as a means of questioning. Through this, I also reveal and question hierarchies in society. The essay discusses and theoretically relates to the artistic work. / Med utgångspunkt i smuts har jag underökt hur kategorisering och intentionalitet påverkar vår uppfattning av värde. Arbetet är delvis performativt till sin natur, där denna performativitet sätter fokus på övergången från en kategori till en annan: Från smuts till konsthantverk, från irrationellt beteende till konst. I den konstnärliga processen har jag använt mig av kafferingar på dukar, skoavtryck på tapeter och moppande av golv som medel för ifrågasättande. PÅ detta vis blottlägger och ifrågasätter jag hierarkier i samhället. I uppsatsen diskuterar jag och relaterar teoretiskt till det konstnärliga arbetet.

I am part of and dependent on a bigger unit – humanity. I am one of the small parts that build up this organism. Being human is an identity that I cannot choose, sometimes it is heavy to carry this role but it is also a support – and necessary for my survival. – My text describes some of the experiments I have performed, a few pages from my journal and some thoughts on which I base my making. My method has been an ethnographic exploration with myself and some objects I created as tools for researching my own body in relation to public spaces, using similar methods as Gösta Arvastson and Billy Ehn describe in their book Etnografiska Observationer (Arvastson &amp; Ehn 2009).  I noticed unconscious synchronised patterns of movement performed by people inhabiting public spaces. After some experiments I realized that I feel insecure when I break those patterns. It became clear to me that my body is programmed to, and does its best, to fit into certain norms. However, sometimes I am incapable or don´t want to conform.