Product Description

Sustainability is foremost in the minds of many designer-makers at the moment; there has been a surge of environmentally-sustainable developments in the collections shown recently at Origin, New Designers in Islington, Pulse and Collect. Jewellers are very aware of sustainability issues, as such a large proportion of their traditional materials come from non-sustainable sources (precious stones and metals) and they have traditionally used acids, dyes, and other techniques not renowned for their eco-friendliness. This book will encourage makers to recycle and show how 'pre-loved' or traditionally throwaway materials can provide new inspiration. Includes stunning photos of the work of established and experimental jewellers from around the world.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #186035 in Books
• Published on: 2009-05-30
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 128 pages

Review
'...full of imaginative ways to re-use everyday items.'
--karenplatt.co.uk (June 2009)

About the Author
Julia Manheim originally trained as a jeweller, and became well-known in the 1980s for her large-scale but light sculptural bodywear, made from materials such as painted newspaper and plastic. She is also a sculptor and installation artist with a passion for sustainability and recycled materials. She often uses discarded paper, glass, plastic, wood and metal to make her own work, and then reuses them again to create new work. Julia is Senior Lecturer on the BA Jewellery Programme at Middlesex University, where her students are encouraged to explore the concept of jewellery broadly, using materials appropriate to the idea they want to express rather than purely for the sake of convention.

Customer Reviews

not very good.
I was very disappointed with this book. The cover looked interesting and the topic I thought would be an interesting look at techniques of recycling, incorporating etc.. As it happens its about numerous jewellers who use odd, found or recycled stuff in thier work. Some of it is interesting but in my opinion a lot of it is not - a lot of it, again only in my opinion, is highly conceptual and more in the realms of student experimentation art - not anything that would actually be worn or sold in a realistic market.
There are pieces in here that are beautiful and well made, but not enough to warrent my purchasing this book.(If I had flicked through it in a bookshop I wouldn't have bought it)
Some people will like this book, but for those who are looking for substance and technique or material reference, I'd imagine they'd be as disappointed as I was.
I am at uni at the moment, so conceptual work and "thinking outside the box" is very much within my current interest and research - and I still didn't like this book.
The pages are lovely matte bound with an attractive cover but the contents are just not worth it - I'm sorry, I hate giving bad reviews, but this book was kind of pricey.
For those seeking unusual materials and ideas I would recommend the new design & make books - "mixed media jewellery" "non precious jewellery" "jewellery with found objects"....etc.. these books were much more satisfying and informative and also had the all important eye candy that just adds the extra yum factor in a good book like this. (O:
I haven't sent this book back, but I would have done if the postage was refunded! (and if I wasn't a book collector - even ones I don't like that much I find hard to part with)
I don't see the point in beads set in soap bars or human hair wrapped around thread that looks like a mangy string that the vacuum cleaners cloughed up, or shadows that are projected onto the body via an OHP - again, its more sculpture or art that, isn't it?
A child can string macaroni cheese onto a bit of hemp -that doesn't make it clever because its so "avante" - or stringing leather through neon bottle caps and hanging as a pendant.... I just don't think its that creative.
Anyway, only 1star from this reviewer.

Multiple Lives
I think this is wonderfully witty and intelligent book. It has a huge number of innovative works fully illustrated and with very informative descriptions detailing what the works are and how they were made. The chapters are well thought out and bring the topic into focus for professional as well as casual readers.

The design of the book is obviously important and from the elegant cover (for what could have been a jokey book) to the matte paper and high level of image reproduction. I think this book will be an asset to any library on the topic - whether for students, collectors or fellow artists/writers. It is also made from very PC paper grown in sustainable forests - which it obviously should be for such a book.

It brings together work from across the globe and includes young practitioners and well-known names (in museum collections). I like seeing the various concerns of the different generations and applaud Manheim for mixing them together so well. I also liked the inclusion of related installations that touched on the topic or had it at core like Richard Wilson's Butterfly.

Perhaps the only thing I would have liked was a longer discussion of what is sustainability, though the topic is certainly covered. This is a topic artists of any medium are going to have to address in the future. Will we really be able to make works that have no regard for the environment, cost, scale or future? Perhaps it is not the job of the artist to incorporate those concerns into the content of their work. But I know we all have a duty to live as sustainably as possible, and that should include how we make our work, materials we use, and energy needed to manufacture it. This is a great start to the debate.

Michael Petry
Artist and co-author of Installation Art, Installation Art in the New Millennium