Modern jewellery making techniques can be very seductive, not least the ease with which an artist can design a piece on a computer and forego the time-consuming, and often frustrating, process of manufacture. But, the question needs to be asked: is something being lost by the artist who absents themselves from that part of the process? In this essay, I argue that such artists are subjected to a truncated creative process. Their design doesn’t come up against the limits of the material, and that of their own abilities. They aren’t forced to modify or refine their design in the face of such obstacles. By contrast, the artist with a handmade approach, such as Peter Bauhuis or Karl Fritsch, continues to have input by physically participating in the manufacture of the piece. The hurdles they must overcome in realizing their idea stimulate and extend the creative process, and the result can be a superior piece. But it doesn’t always turn out that way. The nature of the process is such that the artist can hit a brick wall and have nothing to show for their efforts other than wasted time and material. But it’s worth the risk. The increasing homogenization of culture has lead to a reaction of individuality, and a return to some old ways: the artisanal approach. Adorning one’s body with jewellery is part of a person’s attempt to define and express that individuality, and nothing can express that uniqueness like a custom, one-off piece. A handmade piece. This isn’t a new idea, of course, and it finds expression in ancient aesthetics, such as the raw beauty of wabi-sabi, right up to the work of more contemporary practitioners, whose work is discussed here.

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An unhealthy reliance on vision alone, fed by pervasive, doctored, hyperreal imagery in the mass media, suppresses a more balanced use of other senses, reinforcing superficial beauty standards. Trapped by an uncritical preference for the visually “perfect” and harmonious, people increasingly seek to remove physical attributes they consider “imperfect,” without first considering how these “imperfections” benefit and distinguish them as unique individuals. This thesis addresses superficial beauty standards by shifting focus from singularly visual experience to a more nuanced sensory aesthetic that also considers haptic qualities. Through a combination of research writing and targeted making, my work examines society’s understanding of flaws and imperfections by strategically embedding natural qualities of texture and randomness—blemishes—into ceramics, a medium treated as analogous to human skin. The resulting tools and objects, designed to support a healthy, ritualized daily skincare routine, examine beauty through the lens of wabi-sabi—the philosophy of things imperfect, impermanent, and incomplete.

Aware, as generally conceived in Japanese aesthetics, refers to the felt content within a particular work of art that drives the aesthetic value of that work. In this thesis presents a theory of art that places aware as central to the aesthetic experience in the Japanese as derived from Shinto and Buddhist ontology, as well as the aesthetic theories of Motoori Norinaga. This theory is then contrasted with the aesthetic theory of Susanne K. Langer as presented in Philosophy in a New Key, Feeling and Form, and Problems of Art, to provide a full explication of what it means to have an aesthetic experience or create art in the Japanese context.

Refletindo sobre uma sensação de leveza e dilatação da passagem temporal, a pesquisa elabora a expressão \"tempo suspenso\" e analisa de que maneira essa singular percepção pode ser transmutada em códices. Para sua compreensão, dialoga sobretudo com duas produções artísticas: Em busca do tempo perdido (1908-1922), de Marcel Proust, e A última tempestade (1991), de Peter Greenaway. A primeira foi escolhida por discutir uma sensação como estopim para a elaboração de uma poética. A segunda, por colocar o códice artesanal como receptáculo de um assunto. O campo formado pelas duas referências aglutina a temática levantada e representa princípios geradores e norteadores no desenvolvimento de uma sintaxe visual composta de referências históricas e formais da estrutura do códice. Ademais, para a compreensão da dilatação do tempo foram analisadas obras clássicas japonesas onde se encontram características próprias dos termos wabi-sabi e ma. Elas são a representação estética de um método no qual a práxis poética é um momento decisivo na estruturação do objeto final. A partir dos diálogos estabelecidos, foram realizados sete livros de artista, chamados de códices, cada um apresentado separadamente em capítulos formados por registros fotográficos e textos contextualizadores dos assuntos elaborados. / Reflecting upon a soft and expanding sense of the passage of time, this re- search elaborates the term \"suspended time\", analyzing how this singular perception is possibly transformed into codex art. It dialogues mainly with two artistic works for further comprehension: Marcel Proust\'s In Search of Lost Time (1908-1922) and Peter Greenway\'s Prospero\'s Book (1991). The first one has been chosen for debating a sensation as the trigger for the elaboration of poetics. The second one for setting the handicraft codex as receptacle of a subject. The field formed by both works ties together the presented topic and represents the generative and guiding principles of a visual syntax made up of formal and historical references from the codex structure. Furthermore, in order to comprehend the expansion of time, classical Japanese works in which specific characteristics of the terms wabi-sabi and ma appear, have been analyzed. They are the aesthetic representation of a method in which the poetic praxis has a major role in the final object construction. Seven artists\' books named codex have been created out of the established discussion, each one is presented separately in chapters formed by photographic records and guiding texts about the formulated topics.

Refletindo sobre uma sensação de leveza e dilatação da passagem temporal, a pesquisa elabora a expressão \"tempo suspenso\" e analisa de que maneira essa singular percepção pode ser transmutada em códices. Para sua compreensão, dialoga sobretudo com duas produções artísticas: Em busca do tempo perdido (1908-1922), de Marcel Proust, e A última tempestade (1991), de Peter Greenaway. A primeira foi escolhida por discutir uma sensação como estopim para a elaboração de uma poética. A segunda, por colocar o códice artesanal como receptáculo de um assunto. O campo formado pelas duas referências aglutina a temática levantada e representa princípios geradores e norteadores no desenvolvimento de uma sintaxe visual composta de referências históricas e formais da estrutura do códice. Ademais, para a compreensão da dilatação do tempo foram analisadas obras clássicas japonesas onde se encontram características próprias dos termos wabi-sabi e ma. Elas são a representação estética de um método no qual a práxis poética é um momento decisivo na estruturação do objeto final. A partir dos diálogos estabelecidos, foram realizados sete livros de artista, chamados de códices, cada um apresentado separadamente em capítulos formados por registros fotográficos e textos contextualizadores dos assuntos elaborados. / Reflecting upon a soft and expanding sense of the passage of time, this re- search elaborates the term \"suspended time\", analyzing how this singular perception is possibly transformed into codex art. It dialogues mainly with two artistic works for further comprehension: Marcel Proust\'s In Search of Lost Time (1908-1922) and Peter Greenway\'s Prospero\'s Book (1991). The first one has been chosen for debating a sensation as the trigger for the elaboration of poetics. The second one for setting the handicraft codex as receptacle of a subject. The field formed by both works ties together the presented topic and represents the generative and guiding principles of a visual syntax made up of formal and historical references from the codex structure. Furthermore, in order to comprehend the expansion of time, classical Japanese works in which specific characteristics of the terms wabi-sabi and ma appear, have been analyzed. They are the aesthetic representation of a method in which the poetic praxis has a major role in the final object construction. Seven artists\' books named codex have been created out of the established discussion, each one is presented separately in chapters formed by photographic records and guiding texts about the formulated topics.

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