GOOD NEWS
gold rush
We scream we are more aware than ever, but are we really? Whenever we stand for a choice between ourselves and anything else we’ll most likely choose the selfish road. I do not think we are doing it deliberately, but we are sticking our heads in the sand for the choices we make. Would we still if we realized what consequences our so called “aware behaviour” would have?
Gold Rush is a conversation piece made from e-waste that puts unaware behaviour on the table as a subject to talk about. The contemporary jewellery collection is a project by Beatrice Brovia and Nicolas Cheng who are very interested in the material story behind design. Moreover, for this particular project they weren’t looking for the exceptional, for cosmic beauty or extraordinary materials, they were inspired by the unsettling amounts of waste resulting from the overproduction and overconsumption of electronics.
“E-waste is the aftermath of which is oftentimes one of profound environmental, political and social upset”
The two young and ambitious designers mined electronic waste and other precious metals as the basic material for their pieces. Although most of the material they used now was donated by people from their own network and completed with corporate waste, gold plated debris from NASA’s space shuttles for example, in the future their wish is to fully focus on domestic mining. This literally means mine waste from consumer products in our daily surrounding.
With their pieces Beatrice and Nicolas hope to drive disruptive questions to the surface such as, “What are the narratives that appear when jewellery talks about our desire of technology and interconnectedness?”. Even more important for these visionaries is the different revelations on the loaded character of Gold as a tête-à-tête. This material is known for its complex history, for its cultural meaning and for the human suffering it has caused.
Today the material is mainly used in consumer electronics, products we use on a daily base but clearly do not know the concrete background of.
Those who might think that a jewellery designer just designs aesthetic pieces should definitely talk to this duo, they see themselves as makers with a mission. Jewellery is a form to get their message across but definitely not the goal, materials are. “We should be more aware about what we are working with, we can’t be care free anymore”. A research into craftsmanship, process changes and the future of resources with as main message no judgement but knowledge sharing.
Gold Rush is the embodiment of our good choices trend which is focussed on participating in the journey for betterment of our world by making choices that simulate this. Nowadays consumer is searching for meaningful decisions, for utility in the most convenient way they may find. The first step in change is getting aware of the consequences our behaviour might have and Gold Rush is the perfect tool to achieve this greater goal.
Cécile Cremer
Commissioned by Current Obsession and Stedelijk Museum ’s Hertogenbosch for the CULT exhibition, still on until Februari 2017
Extremely curious and always searching for little weak signals that tell us things are changing. Cecile is a trend researcher and creative concept developer with the wanderlust of a cosmopolitan.Her aim in life is to develop things that matter to others and to help others change their strategy to be ahead of the future. Because she believes “The future is ours”.
