Is luck something we need in our world today? If so, how do we create it? While most objects in our consumer world are for private use, there is a class we might call "social objects" whose purpose is to maintain the fabric of our relations with others. This fabric includes our offerings, promises, welcomes, apologies and well-wishes. This fabric has been weakened by neoliberalism, particularly in the West with a focus on individual consumption. By looking back to the pre-industrial world, we can learn how to recover the lost functions that are still necessary in our world, such as "luck". We look at the exhibition project Joyaviva, which includes proposals for contemporary amulets, leading to a strategy of "luck by design" that has important applications today.
Biography
Dr. Kevin Murray is editor of Garland magazine, a platform for sharing the stories behind objects made by hand today. He is Secretary of World Crafts Council - Australia and board member of World Crafts Council - International. 2000-2007 he was Director of Craft Victoria where he developed the Scarf Festival and the South Project. He has curated many exhibitions, including 'Water Medicine: Precious Works for an Arid Continent'; and 'Seven Sisters: Fibre Works from the West'. His books include Craft Unbound: Make the Common Precious (Thames & Hudson, 2005) and with Damian Skinner, Place and Adornment: A History of Contemporary Jewellery in Australia and New Zealand (Bateman, 2014).
https://garlandmag.com/
Images above
- To the left: Luck by Design (2012), illustration by Ishan Khosla
- Upper right: Alice Whish, “Amelia with smart charm”. Smart Charm (2012), mild steel, vitreous enamel, enamel pencil, pacific sand, silk string, pearl shell.
- Lower right: Jacqui Chan, “Brooch being hosted in Christ Church after earthquake”. Host a Brooch (2011), brooch, river stone, rubber, silver.
External project partner
Four Gallery, Gothenburg
Funding institution
- IASPIS / The Swedish Arts Grants Committee
ZADAN – Hopes and Protections on the Body
The ZADAN series Hopes and Protections on the Body explores if new amuletic and talismanic immaterial protections have emerged that replace magical objects worn directly on the body, or if the digital space is unable to translate the talismatic qualities held in material objects. The series investigates the hopes, desires, and fears that prompt jewellery makers to create amulets/talismans/charms as adornments and objects today. Find out more about ZADAN and register for forthcoming lectures, visit here: https://craftlaboratory.org/zadan-2021-2022/
