Bite Me
Body as Material
Body as Material
I find myself veryintrigued by the ways in which I can use my physical body as a medium toformulate my work from, such as using it as a stamp or brush-like object.However, I never thought of actually using my body, or parts of it, as tangiblematerial to do so. This piece allowed me to explore this concept.
I used my own setof wisdom teeth, which were removed about a year ago, as material to make apair of earrings. I kept the teeth in remembrance of the surgery I hadundergone. However, over time I began to ponder their existence in my jewelrybox, I began to ask myself why I still kept them. Why was I interested inholding, touching, and looking at them? They somehow reminded me of jewelry formy own mouth, an item I previously wore. Therefore, when I was given a projectassignment called, “Body as Material,” and viewedMona Hatoum’s “Hair Necklace” in class, I was inspired to once again, thinkabout my teeth as jewelry.
In creating the piece, I liked the juxtaposition of wherethe teeth would hang when worn as earrings, along with how the pairing ofearrings paralleled each set of wisdom teeth: an upper and lower pair. Theyhang relative to where the wisdom teeth actually sit inside your mouth.However, instead of inside the warm, moist mouth, they are on the outside,hanging out to dry, age and decay. On the earrings, they are positioned so thatthe lower set of teeth hang slightly lower than the upper set. I used adark patina on the wire that holds the teeth to play into the aging quality andprovide visual interest. The patina worked well with an uneven coloring of thewire, which gives it a time-based look. The wire is wrapped in a specific waythat securely holds the teeth in place, yet leaves the majority of each toothbare and exposed, just as the gums in your mouth would hold them. While thewires act as a constraint, with enough force they could be cut or opened toremove the tooth, as a surgeon would do to the gums in the extraction process.
Overall, increating this piece I looked at the relationship formed between interior bodyparts worn as exterior adornments. These earrings were created to allow theviewer to discover this connection as they begin to scrutinize their existence.However, not only did I want to reach the viewer on a conceptual level, butalso on a level of shock value. I love the idea that from far away, the viewerdoesn’t yet have a sense of the material make-up of the earrings, but ratherjust views them as “pretty” and fit into the style of jewelry I general wear.But when he/she comes closer to observe them, he/she realizes that the earringsare made from my very own body and immediately steps back. I enjoy the push andpull relationship I have created between the audience and the piece.
I used my own setof wisdom teeth, which were removed about a year ago, as material to make apair of earrings. I kept the teeth in remembrance of the surgery I hadundergone. However, over time I began to ponder their existence in my jewelrybox, I began to ask myself why I still kept them. Why was I interested inholding, touching, and looking at them? They somehow reminded me of jewelry formy own mouth, an item I previously wore. Therefore, when I was given a projectassignment called, “Body as Material,” and viewedMona Hatoum’s “Hair Necklace” in class, I was inspired to once again, thinkabout my teeth as jewelry.
In creating the piece, I liked the juxtaposition of wherethe teeth would hang when worn as earrings, along with how the pairing ofearrings paralleled each set of wisdom teeth: an upper and lower pair. Theyhang relative to where the wisdom teeth actually sit inside your mouth.However, instead of inside the warm, moist mouth, they are on the outside,hanging out to dry, age and decay. On the earrings, they are positioned so thatthe lower set of teeth hang slightly lower than the upper set. I used adark patina on the wire that holds the teeth to play into the aging quality andprovide visual interest. The patina worked well with an uneven coloring of thewire, which gives it a time-based look. The wire is wrapped in a specific waythat securely holds the teeth in place, yet leaves the majority of each toothbare and exposed, just as the gums in your mouth would hold them. While thewires act as a constraint, with enough force they could be cut or opened toremove the tooth, as a surgeon would do to the gums in the extraction process.
Overall, increating this piece I looked at the relationship formed between interior bodyparts worn as exterior adornments. These earrings were created to allow theviewer to discover this connection as they begin to scrutinize their existence.However, not only did I want to reach the viewer on a conceptual level, butalso on a level of shock value. I love the idea that from far away, the viewerdoesn’t yet have a sense of the material make-up of the earrings, but ratherjust views them as “pretty” and fit into the style of jewelry I general wear.But when he/she comes closer to observe them, he/she realizes that the earringsare made from my very own body and immediately steps back. I enjoy the push andpull relationship I have created between the audience and the piece.
