Essay

A husband came to Ted Noten, gave him a price and requested that Noten could make something for his future wife to be presented on their wedding day. Noten named the work 'Ageeth's Dowry' due to Ageeth being the name of the wife. Yet what I found interesting was the dowry part of the name as it was quite an unconventional way of using that word, as dowry is normally a gift from the wife to the husband, yet this was opposite. Another important aspect this piece has is the involvement Noten created through the husband and wife's family and friends which helped capture Noten's audience. Also something Noten does really well is his unconventional designs he makes in jewellery.

'Ageeth's Dowry is a very special piece, not only to the husband and wife to which it belongs, but also for me' wrote Noten in his book Ch2=C(CH3)C(=O)OCH3 enclosures and other TN's (2006). Through this statement Noten identifies that even though it was made for someone else Noten still had his artist touch and made it his own at the same time, which makes it special to Noten as well since he was apart of it. Also it was special to the owners through the previous connections the jewellery had to their loved ones. Therefore it is special to the husband, wife, Noten and the loved ones of the couple, which I feel is mostly due to the personal memories and emotional connection through the jewellery, this seems quite touching as it seems as if all those people would feel a very strong connection to 'Ageeth's Dowry'.

'They are attached to jewellery, but no longer to the stuff we think is interesting' wrote Noten in his book Ch2=C(CH3)C(=O)OCH3 enclosures and other TN's (2006). Noten has grasped the natural connection of his audience; the coupes loved ones and the couple which Noten feels most contempoary jewellery designs do not do. As Noten got his audience involved through using their jewellery to put into Noten's jewellery piece. Yet Noten's jewellery was not the only outcome, as through the involvement of the couple's loved ones Noten got anecdotes from them about the specific piece of jewellery that they gave to contribute into Noten's design. Therefore the other outcome from this was a book of the personal/emotional connection each jewellery had to the couple's loved ones. Noten collected over 50 different unique stories for each piece of jewellery. I like how there were two outcomes, from the piece of jewellery, to the stories behind it, I would feel this would make the audience not involved in this piece to understand it more especially with the anecdote book, to help give a greater understanding of how much the couple's loved ones felt connected to the artwork.

'Ted Noten creates compelling, high profile jewellery that strays from the beaten path of accessories design' wrote JC Report on facebook. As Noten does have very unconventional designs like 'Ageeth's Dowry' he is pushing the boundaries of what jewellery can be, as handbags are normally considered as an accessory, but Noten made 'Ageeth's Dowry' as a handbag with the strap, even though it can not be opened it would still be considered as a handbag, yet it is a jewellery piece. Therefore the function of the handbag has been changed in this piece, from being commonly known for it's practical use of carrying belongings to becoming more of a display. Most art is normally made for a display, that is why this piece inparticular is so unconventional as it is used as a handbag yet without the normal handbag function. I find this fascinating as the handbag is rendered useless yet still an intriguing sight to look at. Noten seems to be able to create beauty in the obscure.

I can conclude that Noten has interesting unconventional designs that grasp the natural connection of his specific audience; the couple's loved ones and the couple, as they understand what he is doing and them themselves have a connection to his jewellery through their own jewellery being involved. It also helps, especially in this jewellery piece, with the other outcome of the anecdotes in the book for the outside audience to understand and feel the connection the couple's loved ones would of felt to the jewellery piece, therefore Noten is very capable in grasping the attention of all audiences. I am interested in these certain aspects that Noten has displayed as I love the idea of people, other than just the artist, get involved in the artwork aswell. It also interests me in the way the jewellery looks in the handbag as it looks quite elegant and mystical and intriguing which are aspects that I admire and look for in all art.

Joanna Campbell

Joanna Campbell's cooper alloy, gold plated shakudo ring has an adornment texture to it. As Joanna has had experience in the past with textile design and clothing production, she has now become interested in the relationship between fabric and metal. There is a clear technique used with impressing the fabric onto the metal, which came out with a nice black and gold pattern. It makes it quite an interesting ring to look at, aswell as the scale being so wide and long.

My favourite part of the ring is the composition of the pattern from the fabric onto the metal, as to me I feel it looks like there is a lion face on the ring with it's mouth open. As it looks like this same pattern is not anywhere else on the ring therefore I feel this is why it has a very interesting composition to me.

Mario Movie Review

Gary Arcangol and Paper Red made 'Mario Movie' in 2005 it was a non-narrative film and was made from a Super Mario Brothers Cartridge. This was a low production film with the main character being Mario and him having to get through obstacles. Mario doesn't speak but text does appear briefly in some points, which    I found quite random and the text does go a bit too fast for the viewer to read. My favourite part was how the sound corresponded to the actions happening in the game with the patterns and colours constantly repeating. Most of the transitions were in patterns and changed with the music/sound which was very interesting.

Different Positions On Copyright

The 'Girl Talk' musician has an un-agreed position with copyright laws. As he samples music and makes his own music with the samples, however he does acknowledge the people who he sampled from. He just thinks he would love to pay royalities and make no money as it would still be 'cool' to do. Yet if he had the money he would but he doesn't and it is just absered with the legal hassle you have to go through, it could take him too long just to do that. So thats why he samples without permission, as not enough money and the legal hassle would take too long, it is obvious he has this particular position as he samples music himself to make his own music. Another person in the film who had some similar beliefs was Lawerence Lessig, Creative Commons. He gives artist, if they need to make something with music in a commercial sense, the right to be able to do so. Lawerence has interesting points referring to books, how some books are just lying around for years after they are done and made all the money they can, so wouldn't it be a good thing if these books could get to kids and people to learn from. I feel he has this position as he writes books and helps artists to use sampled music, he related books to sampling music and feels it would be a good thing for the world to be able to have all this to them so much closer at home.