Topic of the ZERO NEGATIVE competition:
0-
ZERO NEGATIVE
IS IT POSSIBLE?
ARE YOU?
0-
GENEROUS
UNSELFISH
HUMANITARIAN
0-
BLOOD TYPE
THE FIRST AID.
LIFESAVER
0-
SIGNED ZERO
ERROR
IEEE 754
0-
ZERO NEGATIVE
IS IT POSSIBLE?
ARE YOU?
0-
GENEROUS
UNSELFISH
HUMANITARIAN
0-
BLOOD TYPE
THE FIRST AID.
LIFESAVER
0-
SIGNED ZERO
ERROR
IEEE 754
Jewelry statements of the central exhibition Zero negative:
1.
Aimee Howard-Clinger (United States)
Uneasy Adornment
Material: Silver, Medical Gauze
Concept: For this exhibition, I chose to interpret the theme of 0- in relation to blood type/first aid/lifesaver.
Few things in life have the power to conjure up fear and require faith like sudden illness. Historically and culturally, many have found comfort in the use of amulets - wearable ornaments thought to provide protection against evil, danger, or disease. This piece, titled Uneasy Adornment, is from a series of contemporary amulets which address notions of faith, protection, and healing. Inside this fabricated silver brooch are layers of medical gauze, used for wound care, bloodwork and in lifesaving medical procedures. The form of the brooch is inspired by cathedral blueprints, referencing notions of meditation, reflection, and contemplation; subjects which often arise in conjunction with illness.
2.
Anja Eichler (German)
SIGNED ZERO
Material: Aluminum, acrylic mirror, silver, rubber band
Concept: SIGNED ZERO, EVERYTHING IS POSSIBLE, HUMANS CAN BE, o-, AND MUCH MORE, o-, THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS, WHAT DO YOU SEE?, o-, UNKNOWN UNIVERSE, C-OI-D, MACHINE, RATIONALITY?
3.
Anna Börcsök (Hungary)
NEGATIVE MASK
Material: Silver plated Brass
Concept: NEGATIVE MASK is like the jewelry inside yourself. It can be painful, but is is who you really are. The piece is like a hidden face which you always try to escape, but it’s there you can’t deny it.
We live a strange lifestyle in this pandemic situation. We need to develop new habits and live in our intimate world, we live our social life in a virtual platform. My brooch is only exists fully when worn on the back of the dress. The shape is like a skeleton, and the textile can give it meaning, it hides it and it becomes an intimate secret. The needles create the illusion and the jewelry appears to be in parentheses.
(Is it possible to find the most important thing in this situation? Can we find a way to see the real ourselfs?)
4.
Merıstėma Lab (Annarita Bianco) (Italy)
U|01 (from 3020 collection)
Material: Sterling silver, epoxy resin, e-waste
Concept: 3020 project is a possible scenario that depicts a future 1000 years from now. It tries to imagine how e-waste, the physical debris of the immaterial digital era, interferes in geological processes. The synthetic rock is made up of epoxy resin and includes oxidized usb cable waste. Graphical patterns, laser engraved on a silver sheet, represent an attempt to put together digital features and natural rock texture: a symbiosis of natural and post-digital fascination. In U|01 brooch parallel layers inspired by sedimentary rock are translated into a corrupted signal error, a glitch noise pattern.
5.
Balázs Botos (Hungary)
Iceland brooch
Material: Porcelain, iron, wood
Concept: For me, the iceberg is a symbol for: the danger, the unknown and actually, for the climate change. Indicates how big the problem is. The "zero negative" is what underneath the iceberg: from the top it is invisible and larger what we think. I would like to draw a paralell with this phenomenon and the climate change. We experience direct effects, but don't want to see the real size of the problem. Where we are heading, what's the truth, how irreversible what we do.This is my brooch’s what about.
6.
Caterina Zucchi (Italy)
ZERO Bracelets
Material: Murano Glass, elastic string and pvc sections
Concept: The ZERO number represents the Void, total absence of anything. The Void brings the whole with it, because it is the prelude to all things and the possibility of doing anything, it is the necessary space needed to create and give life.
The ZERO represents the beginning of the journey, and therefore in full is the metaphorical representation of a path. The fact of not having numerical value is very important, it tells us that it is not measurable and as such it has great potential, infinite possibilities of action and unlimited energies, in a few words it has no limits, if it has no limits it is infinite.
ZERO is the Nothing and the whole of the Whole, absolute emptiness and absolute perfection, total absence and completeness.
Taken from the text written by Sara Spolverini.
7.
Dóra Rea Kövér (Hungary)
Chaotic Neutral
Material: copper, steel, silk cord
Concept: Let’s say you are at a neutral point in your life. Now it is your turn now to choose from growing or falling. And you have to repeat that again every day.
8.
Emilie LE DEZ (France)
I WONDER
Material: Mixed material of wood and paper, straw, oxydised silver sterling, painting
Concept: THE universal donor blood group. It represents only 7% of the world's population and embodies in a symbolic way : generosity, the capacity to save humanity and the giving.
I am wondering where all the O negative blood type in this world are? Is it an endangered species listed between the gorilla and the rhinoceros by the International Union for the Conservation of nature (IUCN) ?
Will our ultra-liberal system forced them out ? What meaning does the power of giving have for our societies ?
Do we live in systems that suit us?
I’m calling all the O negative blood type sleeping in us as well as our humanitarian feeling to come out our over conditioned mind and realize that to give is to plan, to commit and ensure a link with the other one.
In a world where barter and economic exchange represent a logic of good and selfish interests, the one that gives, gives out of empathy because the act of donation doesn’t imply getting something in return.
This jewelry tends to explore what place does our society give to humanitarian and free action in a world ruled by money, capital and algorithm. With no pretension at all, these are reflection that have been reinforced on the one hand by the crisis that is currently affecting the world and on the other end by the consequences of the political choices we have made up to now.
This necklace is made of three disks. Each of them has two faces. On face A is written „ Human more gift“, and on face B « 7% why I wonder ». Each word dialogue with one another. This is why the necklace opens, folds, face up, turns around and question itselves. But that’s not where the dialogue ends: here the materials used contradict themselves and discuss together. The silver dominates the straw which is questioning and claiming it’s low economic value and it’s belonging to a natural cycle which enable the subsistance of the living species. This material confrontation represents the metaphor of population towards their leaders and the growing gap between the two.
{The original text has been written in French. The words money and silver are spelled the same way in french : „argent“ which enabled a play on words}.
I decided to add to little experience to my comments. There is a surprise packet added to this object. The packet contains an jewel that is a gift to its future owner. This is a start to the donation chain. He will then make a donation himself and so on.
This will hopefully do some good to the sick world we are leaving in.
9.
Fanni Vékony (Hungary)
ZERO, I Love Math
Material: copper, corian, steel, fishing line
Concept: Art and mathematics share that they are both an abstraction.
What could be more perfect abstraction than zero? Humanity had to wait until a.d. 900 before this concept could be expressed.
Zero holds sublime qualities:
– Zero is an even number.
– Zero is the smallest not negative and the largest not positive even number.
I want to express the above two concepts though form and material. The object’s centre holds a doubled (made up of two halves) zero, which spirals in one direction though dark and in the other through light shapes towards negative and positive infinity.
10.
Fruzsi Fekete (Hungary)
NO NEGATIVITY!
Material: porcelain, sponge, stainless steel
Concept: 0- Zero negative
Zero negativity
NO NEGATIVITY!
What if, we get rid of our negative thoughts which suroound us, and we focus on our positive thoughts?
11.
Han Soonin (South Korea)
gift of self
Material: Silver, glasses
Concept: Humans are born with unique and diverse talents, environments, and personalities.
It only begins with being given and grows by someone's care and sacrifice-love.
In other words, our lives are sustained by the generosity of the people.
These good means come as gifts in my life. When I share these gifts with others, I experience fullness and abundance.
Through this work, I wanted to express the joy of exchanging gifts.
It expressed the happiness of sharing cake, the most common gift.
12.
Hansel Tai (China/Estonia)
Nude Jade Pierced – Coffin
Material: Myanmar jade, Surgical Stainless Steel, Thread
Concept: Nude Jade Pierced - Coffin takes on the sacred material: jade. Celebrated as the ultimate symbol of perfection and purity and valued for its translucent, skin like glow, jade is often carved into intricate mythological and religious forms. The shapes I carved out here, Coffin, is not immediate in correlations with its common association. I see it as something more.
Coffin feels more like my response to the world we live in today.
A brutal states, from nothing back to nothing. Zero.
Jewellery has always been bearing monumental signifieds, it feels very natural to reshape the symbol that existed long before.
13.
Joshua Kosker (United States)
Waver
Material: soap, 18K gold-plated sterling silver, 18k and 14K gold
Concept: How do objects shape experiences and, in turn, how can actions imprint meaning on the material world? Separated from or existing without the body, soap serves no purpose and is generally discarded once it reaches a certain state of reduction. Transformed through the daily ritual of bathing, these momentary, mutable forms convey a tactile, intimate relationship between owner and object. By reconnecting this material to the body as jewelry, I evoke a sensual experience—one that connects viewers and wearers alike to their personal and collective experiences—with intentions of a private dialogue.
14.
Holland Houdek (United States)
Device 63B Bone Screw ( Bone Screw Neckpiece)
Material: copper, bone screw, Swarovski crystals (363), powder coat, patina
Concept: Surgical tools of the past have long captured public imagination as objects of intrigue and macabre fascination. Whether featured in cabinets of curiosity or medical museums, these devices evoke feelings of enticement and terror regarding their purposes and what these procedures must have felt like on a living body. This series of hand-fabricated medical instruments explores these devices as objects of art. Each piece draws out the tensions between the macabre and menacing versus the whimsical and alluring, as the playful colors contrast and help to alleviate the terrifying possibilities that you are about to die. They relate to the theme because of the medical industry’s association with humanitarian causes and blood as well.
15.
Katja Toporski (German, resident USA)
Aging Cyborg 11
Material: Ground eggshell, silver, gelatin, polyurethane, optical filters
Concept: On hackernoon: “There is a value for negative zero, separate from regular (positive?) zero. These two zeroes are defined to be equal to each other and yet they are distinct values.”
Or: There is a value for negative future, separate from regular (positive) future. These two futures are defined to be equal to each other and yet are distinct values.
I work with cast copies of a single form: a small apothecary glass flask. I imagine its future: one of technological perfection, smooth and mirrored. Underneath the mirror, only seen from a certain angle, lies another version, this one cast from gelatin and left to dry, its surface wrinkled like ancient skin.
16.
Kinga Horányi (Hungary)
Quarantine set
Material: Ytong block, acrylic paint
Concept:
0
We create a significant part of our limitations.
0+
We live our lives according to our own system.
0-
These coordinates determined my quarantine period.
17.
Kinga Huber (Hungary)
One drop of blue
Material: PLA, 925 silver
Concept: One drop of blue/or a grain of sand got into the machinery. The blood is not only important for us from a biological point of view but also takes part in literature, moving pictures and fine arts.
We visualize life, vim, vitality, mobility, courage, temperament, through blood. We are searching the answer for our otherness in blood. (blue blooded-noble, hot blooded, cold blooded, etc.)
The blood works as a complex organization - even social -, the faulty or considered faulty cells are extruded from the others.
18.
Krisztina Németh (Hungary)
BABEL – Necklace with binary code after a cataclysm
Material: iron
Concept: „...Go to, let us build a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven...” Genesis 11,4
The citation from Holy Bible can be read from the BABEL necklace „written” with binary code. The strands of the jewel mean 8 digits which are the letters of ABC written with binary code. It can be decoded as 0 is signed by a helix and the straight parts mean 1.
The ambitious plan failed, as the well known story says, despite all the intention and artifice of mankind.
The jewel symbolizes a possibility when - despite all the ambitious ideas – there comes the cataclysm when all the modern technologies and all of resources break, and man has to create by ancient methods to make himself remember his cultural heritage.
Inspiration:
The concept of -0 is set by the IEEE 754 standard, and the numbers of the standard are defined only in the binary system which is the „language” of modern computer technology.
19.
Krisztina Stomfai (Hungary)
CELL
Material: Boxwood
Concept: The cell is the base unit of all living organisms. There are creatures consisting of a single cell, and there is a complex organism that contains approximately 5x1015 cells: the human being.
The behavior of cells is wonderful in itself: they have the ability to metabolize, reproduce and also carry information. If they do their job well, we also do our job well. Let's take care of our cells, let’s take care of ourselves!
With my work, I pay tribute to these tiny ”creatures”.
20.
Laura Forte (Italy)
SIMBIOSI
Material: Rubber
Concept: Research for the new as necessary renewal of the expressive codes. We are part of a changing reality, becoming flows in the veins, every change is necessary in a somatic, cognitive and affective state of the human being. We are synthesis. The synthesis of everything.
SIGNED ZERO
ERROR
IEEE 754
21.
Lin Sin-Yi (Taiwan)
Sketch-I
Material: Iron wire, Textile, Spray paint
Concept: Between painting and jewellery. Behind mind and hand. Zero has been unlimited just like a circle, because there is no answer for the start and end.
22.
Marianna Márton (Hungary)
Layers of Time
Material: brass, patina, steel wire
Concept: Are you 0-, generous, unselfish, humanitarian? Are we born with these virtues, or do we later become like this? The layers of the flower symbolizes the length of our lifetime. The fourth layer lying between the layers of the past, the present, and the future is me. The concentric circles indicate the direction of development, the desire for perfection, and opening up.
23.
Martin Grosman (Czech Republic)
TO JE MASO / THIS IS MEAT
Material: Epoxy, plastic
Concept: We decorate our bodies with dead animals. Furs hide so much suffering. And are make us beautiful? No animal suffered during the production of these jewelry. And do they disgust us? It is simple equation: zero suffering = 100 percent animal friendly fashion = zero negativity
24.
Mizuki Tochigi (Japanese)
CURL
Material: plastic water bottles, sterling silver
Concept: CURL is made from plastic water bottles that seeks to readdress the consequences of our actions on the environment. Inspired by the great oceans of the world, I am exploring the poetic beauty and energy of ocean waves to propose a new perspective on a material that is overwhelmingly damaging our environment and ends up washed into the seas. I want to challenge the perception of everyday materials, adding value to it by using my jewellery skills to reassess our relationship with waste - I believe in making a direct change to our actions for sustainability through my jewellery.
25.
Molly Wu (Taiwan)
Time to move on
Material: Copper with red powder coating, wood, acrylic, LED lightball, battery, steel found switch.
Concept: I think romance is like the cycle, start-continue- the end and start the new page again. This piece is about giving and empowering people, for those people who are in heartbroken, want to recharge the hurt. My aim was about using the element of Aid emergence box to create a new meaning, interact to the wearer. This piece brings up a sense of that turning a new change by your self. By turning the switch from the side, it represents the movement of that when people decide to move on. This piece is a love saver pack that gives people the power to be in love and trust love again and again.
26.
Nóra Tengely (Hungary)
Beta chain
Material: copper, stainless steel
Concept: The past and the future is carried in our blood. We either inherit or pass it on. Millions of information that define us. We know some, but there are some that we don’t even know exist. Just like the hereditary blood disease, of which I am a carrier. Beta Thalassemia Minor* is not typical at all in Hungary, it occurs in larger numbers in the Mediterranean region. From my mother’s side, I inherited it from my grandfather, which I don’t know how many decades it has been part of our family. It carries a faraway unknown, of which I am now also a carrier. A brooch of mine, called “Beta Chain” was born from this connection. A stylized hemoglobin with one of its four chains faulty.
*Beta thalassemia is an inherited blood disorder. An inherited blood disorder (usually clinically asymptomatic) resulting from the heterozygous inheritance of beta-thalassemia mutation or deletion in the beta-globin (HBB) gene on chromosome 11. Hemoglobin molecules are made of chains called alpha and beta chains that can be affected by mutations. In thalassemia, the production of either the alpha or beta chains are reduced, resulting in either alpha-thalassemia or beta-thalassemia.
27.
Patrícia Harsány (Hungary)
Sugar Brooch / Quarantine Jewellery
Material: Lump Sugar, Paperclips, Safety Pin
Concept: Can be a piece of sugar as valuable as a gemstone? How can we forget all the things what we knew about objects around us?
Sugar Brooch is part of Quaratine Jewellery Series.
The piece created by using only objects which were found in the creator’s direct surrondings during quarantine.
The main idea is reinterpretating everyday objects and putting them to a new context without changing their characters.
28.
Philipp Spillmann (Swiss)
Black gold
Material: Hi-macs, silver, steel needle
Concept: Black gold. Gold is a noble metal traditionally used for jewelry. Black gold is fossil oil. Both are found beneath the earth’s surface. Exploitation. Selfishness. The planet is bleeding. What blood type? Zero future? 100% negative? Stain yourself with a brooch. Like cartoonlike bullet holes. Splash! Black blood? Shooting ourselves in the foot? Is it possible? First aid?
“Black gold” consists of 3 brooches carved from hi-macs. The hi-macs plates are received as offcuts from a furniture factory.
29.
Quang Li (Chinese)
24 Karat Gold
Material: gold-plated brass, stainless steel
Concept: “24 Karat Gold” is inspired by the line from the 1994 Robert Zemeckis Film ‘Forrest Gump’: “Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you’re gonna get.” It refers to the kitkat chocolate which makes people happy. I am exploring the similarities between the strong emotional feelings associated with both chocolate and jewellery. They are related to love, joy, luxury, romance, satisfaction, treasure, and sometimes you get a surprise.
30.
Rho Tang (United States)
Evolution of Being - Orangutan
Material: Mother of pearl, silver and nickel silver (pins)
Concept: When facing this ongoing crisis, the way we live, love, and communicate has changed. The normal routine such as socialization and entertainment are migrated from physical interaction to virtual experience. Is the new norm regression or progression? We cannot help but raise the question “what is the future going to be”? In the work Orangutan from the series “Evolution of Being”, identical components are assembled to form a “0”, the white mother of pearl creates a cross shape to symbolize the faith in the unforeseeable future for a stronger humanity.
31.
Rita Besnyői (Hungary)
Less than zero
Material: reused silk (ecopainted with rust), tourmaline, nickelsilver, balsawood, steel pin, screw, acryl, silver fixation
Concept: I became a mother five years ago. This changed everything, this is obvious, but when somebody asked me to think about my selfportrait, meat-grinder came into my mind. Maybe this is evident too. I feel gratitude to experience the extremes. I borrowed my title from Bret Easton Ellis, whose caracters could not feel more empty, wandering on the edge of the world, like my soul does sometimes. We grow like weeds. Luckily I have the gift to stend up like nature has the power to rebirth every year. This piece of silk I painted with a rusty grubber I found in our garden. Flowers grow on every grave.
32.
Seong-Ae Kim (South Korea)
the imperfect digital era
Material: Silver, Mother-of-Pearl
Concept: The pandemics of Corona19 has accelerated digital era. These Digital World seems to be a perfect field like 'zero' which is a technology that can connect all mankind in a precarious ecosystem. But if you look inside, this digital world is isolated or divided according to the purposes of the group, such as political ideology and religion, good deeds and crimes, freedom and oppression. This can also lead to adverse effects that cause antisocial behavior. This anti-social digital world is exposed to our lives without being completely controlled by surveillance and systems. I expressed this imperfect digital era as a link to a fragmented 'zero'.
33.
Tara Ko Shunwan (China)
Delightful Stain
Material: Lipstick colours, screen protector, silk cord
Concept: I believe that Zero Negative is the process of a creative practice with positive solution, as simple and powerful as a happy face symbol.
Concept Background: I experienced a continuing emotional depression during the pandemic: plans were placed on hold, projects were cancelled, all arrangements left uncompleted until further notice, all suggested the worse was yet to come. Then there were the online jewellery challenges happening on Instagram, and I realised this is the perfect cure to bring me back to holistic health with positive energy! These challenges became my daily meditation and motivation to reduce anxiety and release pressures. Also, because I was lacking materials at home and was unable to access a work bench either, jewellery challenges became much more experimental, inspirational and most of all, extremely delightful to become involved with. I see this whole experience as a Zero Negative: always searching for Positive direction while we stay on a Negative pathway.
Creative Idea: This jewellery piece was inspired by one of the jewellery challenges on Instagram. My idea is to wear facial makeup as jewellery while masks remain a daily necessity and I have to skip makeup to avoid skin problems. The mobile screen protector is the only physical evidence of the only outside communication channel we depended and relied on during times of lockdown - fingerprints indicating the motions of confused searching online during the pandemic, while coloured lipstick in between the screens illustrates a satisfying solution with positive attitude: The zero negative creates a happy face.
34.
Viktoria Münzker (Slovakia)
Symphonia
Material: sprucewood, beech wood, glas beads and steel, tinted with green ink and covered with 11 layers of transparent lacquer
Concept: I’ve named Symphonia bracelet with the Latin word, meaning harmony, composition, movements. Symphonia – harmony of forms and colours, creating an infinite amount of „calculi” (latin for small pebbles), composed in a cluster with an order. Like the possibility of Zero negative, without the possibility of approaching zero with mathematical analysis. Symphonia is a visual representation of a small place, where + zero and – zero are opulent and unlimited.
35.
Meng-Ju Wu (Taiwan)
Fragmentation
Material: Self-developed metal alloy, silver, copper
Concept: 〝O〞, a sensitive shape symbol for metalworking artists, the metal will naturally turn into a round sphere after melting, and the ring as a form is also "O".
In the process of making the material, experienced the circularity actions several times, and completing it from a circle of metal sheet, and then all of these fragments come from the same round type, and symbolizes that everything is so centralized, even if it's split into countless, it's still a circle, the body, one earth and a world, it's parallel but also overlapping, as the trace, accompanied by the diversification of textures.
36.
Youngji Chi (South Korea)
Pendant Bubble
Material: 92.5% silver, brass, wood, pigment, string
Concept: Zero is a number that indicates a state that is neither overflowing nor lacking. The sense of equilibrium is important. It keeps a tight balance. This attractive number, which is also neutral, is formally void. The empty space contains wind and light. The empty space in the raised unit of my jewelry exists as a space, It emphasizes the shading of ‘pop-up’ shapes and expresses three-dimensional and texture.
It's like a bubble with a lot of ‘C’ cuts on a metal sheet. I wanted to show continued disorder, chaos. The shapes are reflected and twinkled like dancing. Paradoxically, it turns into a device that makes you feel happy.
37.
YU-TZU CHOU (Taiwan)
Who is he/her ？
Material: Newspaper/Transparent plastic bag/Cotton rope
Concept: Zero is…？For me zero is not just sign or figure, it is cycle by cycle like human fingerprint. Everyone's fingerprints is unique, it's an identity. I use newspaper to paste layer by layer and cut. The shaped like a finger, revealed some words and numbers, use this information to identify who he/her is？
38.
Zsófia Gizella Biró (Hungary)
S. O. S.
Concept: In January this year, one of my best friends got ill and needed blood transfusion. I used to donate blood, I don’t afraid of the needle. My friend needed B negative blood, but unfortunately my blood type is A positive, so I couldn’t give it to him. We had to collect blood from others. Many people doesn’t like donating blood, which has made this situation more difficult. I would have been very happy to give him but my blood was not good... This inaction and anxiety is symbolized by the jewelry like an old newspaper ads: “I would give my A positive blood in exchange type 0 negative.”
The design of the object was inspired by the package binding which was used in the post office. The jewelery can be fixed with one hand, referring to the rubber rope used during the blood donation.
39.
Zsófia Neuzer (Hungary)
szívkésfű /heart-knife-herb/
Material: silver, zircons, cable coat
Concept: Capsella bursa-pastoris, folk name: szívkésfű (heart-knife-herb)
pull the hearts - shake it - hear it clanking now you see how it can be donated Capsella bursa-pastoris is a type of herb growing in the grass, having heart shaped leafs. As children everyone was pulling those a bit, while shaking you could hear playful sounds. Also effective with any kind of bleeding, it helps to calm it down, also clears the veins, makes your heart functioning properly.
interesting facts: the plant is flowering from april till june (during the application period of zero negative), second time in september(at the exhibition period at Art Jewelry Night). about the piece: first it is 1 big herb piece, the flowers are zircons, the branches are made of silver. You can rip the leafs off, and can be donated to anyone, adding a red empty cable coat as an ending of the pin.
Aimee Howard-Clinger (United States)
Uneasy Adornment
Material: Silver, Medical Gauze
Concept: For this exhibition, I chose to interpret the theme of 0- in relation to blood type/first aid/lifesaver.
Few things in life have the power to conjure up fear and require faith like sudden illness. Historically and culturally, many have found comfort in the use of amulets - wearable ornaments thought to provide protection against evil, danger, or disease. This piece, titled Uneasy Adornment, is from a series of contemporary amulets which address notions of faith, protection, and healing. Inside this fabricated silver brooch are layers of medical gauze, used for wound care, bloodwork and in lifesaving medical procedures. The form of the brooch is inspired by cathedral blueprints, referencing notions of meditation, reflection, and contemplation; subjects which often arise in conjunction with illness.
2.
Anja Eichler (German)
SIGNED ZERO
Material: Aluminum, acrylic mirror, silver, rubber band
Concept: SIGNED ZERO, EVERYTHING IS POSSIBLE, HUMANS CAN BE, o-, AND MUCH MORE, o-, THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS, WHAT DO YOU SEE?, o-, UNKNOWN UNIVERSE, C-OI-D, MACHINE, RATIONALITY?
3.
Anna Börcsök (Hungary)
NEGATIVE MASK
Material: Silver plated Brass
Concept: NEGATIVE MASK is like the jewelry inside yourself. It can be painful, but is is who you really are. The piece is like a hidden face which you always try to escape, but it’s there you can’t deny it.
We live a strange lifestyle in this pandemic situation. We need to develop new habits and live in our intimate world, we live our social life in a virtual platform. My brooch is only exists fully when worn on the back of the dress. The shape is like a skeleton, and the textile can give it meaning, it hides it and it becomes an intimate secret. The needles create the illusion and the jewelry appears to be in parentheses.
(Is it possible to find the most important thing in this situation? Can we find a way to see the real ourselfs?)
4.
Merıstėma Lab (Annarita Bianco) (Italy)
U|01 (from 3020 collection)
Material: Sterling silver, epoxy resin, e-waste
Concept: 3020 project is a possible scenario that depicts a future 1000 years from now. It tries to imagine how e-waste, the physical debris of the immaterial digital era, interferes in geological processes. The synthetic rock is made up of epoxy resin and includes oxidized usb cable waste. Graphical patterns, laser engraved on a silver sheet, represent an attempt to put together digital features and natural rock texture: a symbiosis of natural and post-digital fascination. In U|01 brooch parallel layers inspired by sedimentary rock are translated into a corrupted signal error, a glitch noise pattern.
5.
Balázs Botos (Hungary)
Iceland brooch
Material: Porcelain, iron, wood
Concept: For me, the iceberg is a symbol for: the danger, the unknown and actually, for the climate change. Indicates how big the problem is. The "zero negative" is what underneath the iceberg: from the top it is invisible and larger what we think. I would like to draw a paralell with this phenomenon and the climate change. We experience direct effects, but don't want to see the real size of the problem. Where we are heading, what's the truth, how irreversible what we do.This is my brooch’s what about.
6.
Caterina Zucchi (Italy)
ZERO Bracelets
Material: Murano Glass, elastic string and pvc sections
Concept: The ZERO number represents the Void, total absence of anything. The Void brings the whole with it, because it is the prelude to all things and the possibility of doing anything, it is the necessary space needed to create and give life.
The ZERO represents the beginning of the journey, and therefore in full is the metaphorical representation of a path. The fact of not having numerical value is very important, it tells us that it is not measurable and as such it has great potential, infinite possibilities of action and unlimited energies, in a few words it has no limits, if it has no limits it is infinite.
ZERO is the Nothing and the whole of the Whole, absolute emptiness and absolute perfection, total absence and completeness.
Taken from the text written by Sara Spolverini.
7.
Dóra Rea Kövér (Hungary)
Chaotic Neutral
Material: copper, steel, silk cord
Concept: Let’s say you are at a neutral point in your life. Now it is your turn now to choose from growing or falling. And you have to repeat that again every day.
8.
Emilie LE DEZ (France)
I WONDER
Material: Mixed material of wood and paper, straw, oxydised silver sterling, painting
Concept: THE universal donor blood group. It represents only 7% of the world's population and embodies in a symbolic way : generosity, the capacity to save humanity and the giving.
I am wondering where all the O negative blood type in this world are? Is it an endangered species listed between the gorilla and the rhinoceros by the International Union for the Conservation of nature (IUCN) ?
Will our ultra-liberal system forced them out ? What meaning does the power of giving have for our societies ?
Do we live in systems that suit us?
I’m calling all the O negative blood type sleeping in us as well as our humanitarian feeling to come out our over conditioned mind and realize that to give is to plan, to commit and ensure a link with the other one.
In a world where barter and economic exchange represent a logic of good and selfish interests, the one that gives, gives out of empathy because the act of donation doesn’t imply getting something in return.
This jewelry tends to explore what place does our society give to humanitarian and free action in a world ruled by money, capital and algorithm. With no pretension at all, these are reflection that have been reinforced on the one hand by the crisis that is currently affecting the world and on the other end by the consequences of the political choices we have made up to now.
This necklace is made of three disks. Each of them has two faces. On face A is written „ Human more gift“, and on face B « 7% why I wonder ». Each word dialogue with one another. This is why the necklace opens, folds, face up, turns around and question itselves. But that’s not where the dialogue ends: here the materials used contradict themselves and discuss together. The silver dominates the straw which is questioning and claiming it’s low economic value and it’s belonging to a natural cycle which enable the subsistance of the living species. This material confrontation represents the metaphor of population towards their leaders and the growing gap between the two.
{The original text has been written in French. The words money and silver are spelled the same way in french : „argent“ which enabled a play on words}.
I decided to add to little experience to my comments. There is a surprise packet added to this object. The packet contains an jewel that is a gift to its future owner. This is a start to the donation chain. He will then make a donation himself and so on.
This will hopefully do some good to the sick world we are leaving in.
9.
Fanni Vékony (Hungary)
ZERO, I Love Math
Material: copper, corian, steel, fishing line
Concept: Art and mathematics share that they are both an abstraction.
What could be more perfect abstraction than zero? Humanity had to wait until a.d. 900 before this concept could be expressed.
Zero holds sublime qualities:
– Zero is an even number.
– Zero is the smallest not negative and the largest not positive even number.
I want to express the above two concepts though form and material. The object’s centre holds a doubled (made up of two halves) zero, which spirals in one direction though dark and in the other through light shapes towards negative and positive infinity.
10.
Fruzsi Fekete (Hungary)
NO NEGATIVITY!
Material: porcelain, sponge, stainless steel
Concept: 0- Zero negative
Zero negativity
NO NEGATIVITY!
What if, we get rid of our negative thoughts which suroound us, and we focus on our positive thoughts?
11.
Han Soonin (South Korea)
gift of self
Material: Silver, glasses
Concept: Humans are born with unique and diverse talents, environments, and personalities.
It only begins with being given and grows by someone's care and sacrifice-love.
In other words, our lives are sustained by the generosity of the people.
These good means come as gifts in my life. When I share these gifts with others, I experience fullness and abundance.
Through this work, I wanted to express the joy of exchanging gifts.
It expressed the happiness of sharing cake, the most common gift.
12.
Hansel Tai (China/Estonia)
Nude Jade Pierced – Coffin
Material: Myanmar jade, Surgical Stainless Steel, Thread
Concept: Nude Jade Pierced - Coffin takes on the sacred material: jade. Celebrated as the ultimate symbol of perfection and purity and valued for its translucent, skin like glow, jade is often carved into intricate mythological and religious forms. The shapes I carved out here, Coffin, is not immediate in correlations with its common association. I see it as something more.
Coffin feels more like my response to the world we live in today.
A brutal states, from nothing back to nothing. Zero.
Jewellery has always been bearing monumental signifieds, it feels very natural to reshape the symbol that existed long before.
13.
Joshua Kosker (United States)
Waver
Material: soap, 18K gold-plated sterling silver, 18k and 14K gold
Concept: How do objects shape experiences and, in turn, how can actions imprint meaning on the material world? Separated from or existing without the body, soap serves no purpose and is generally discarded once it reaches a certain state of reduction. Transformed through the daily ritual of bathing, these momentary, mutable forms convey a tactile, intimate relationship between owner and object. By reconnecting this material to the body as jewelry, I evoke a sensual experience—one that connects viewers and wearers alike to their personal and collective experiences—with intentions of a private dialogue.
14.
Holland Houdek (United States)
Device 63B Bone Screw ( Bone Screw Neckpiece)
Material: copper, bone screw, Swarovski crystals (363), powder coat, patina
Concept: Surgical tools of the past have long captured public imagination as objects of intrigue and macabre fascination. Whether featured in cabinets of curiosity or medical museums, these devices evoke feelings of enticement and terror regarding their purposes and what these procedures must have felt like on a living body. This series of hand-fabricated medical instruments explores these devices as objects of art. Each piece draws out the tensions between the macabre and menacing versus the whimsical and alluring, as the playful colors contrast and help to alleviate the terrifying possibilities that you are about to die. They relate to the theme because of the medical industry’s association with humanitarian causes and blood as well.
15.
Katja Toporski (German, resident USA)
Aging Cyborg 11
Material: Ground eggshell, silver, gelatin, polyurethane, optical filters
Concept: On hackernoon: “There is a value for negative zero, separate from regular (positive?) zero. These two zeroes are defined to be equal to each other and yet they are distinct values.”
Or: There is a value for negative future, separate from regular (positive) future. These two futures are defined to be equal to each other and yet are distinct values.
I work with cast copies of a single form: a small apothecary glass flask. I imagine its future: one of technological perfection, smooth and mirrored. Underneath the mirror, only seen from a certain angle, lies another version, this one cast from gelatin and left to dry, its surface wrinkled like ancient skin.
16.
Kinga Horányi (Hungary)
Quarantine set
Material: Ytong block, acrylic paint
Concept:
0
We create a significant part of our limitations.
0+
We live our lives according to our own system.
0-
These coordinates determined my quarantine period.
17.
Kinga Huber (Hungary)
One drop of blue
Material: PLA, 925 silver
Concept: One drop of blue/or a grain of sand got into the machinery. The blood is not only important for us from a biological point of view but also takes part in literature, moving pictures and fine arts.
We visualize life, vim, vitality, mobility, courage, temperament, through blood. We are searching the answer for our otherness in blood. (blue blooded-noble, hot blooded, cold blooded, etc.)
The blood works as a complex organization - even social -, the faulty or considered faulty cells are extruded from the others.
18.
Krisztina Németh (Hungary)
BABEL – Necklace with binary code after a cataclysm
Material: iron
Concept: „...Go to, let us build a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven...” Genesis 11,4
The citation from Holy Bible can be read from the BABEL necklace „written” with binary code. The strands of the jewel mean 8 digits which are the letters of ABC written with binary code. It can be decoded as 0 is signed by a helix and the straight parts mean 1.
The ambitious plan failed, as the well known story says, despite all the intention and artifice of mankind.
The jewel symbolizes a possibility when - despite all the ambitious ideas – there comes the cataclysm when all the modern technologies and all of resources break, and man has to create by ancient methods to make himself remember his cultural heritage.
Inspiration:
The concept of -0 is set by the IEEE 754 standard, and the numbers of the standard are defined only in the binary system which is the „language” of modern computer technology.
19.
Krisztina Stomfai (Hungary)
CELL
Material: Boxwood
Concept: The cell is the base unit of all living organisms. There are creatures consisting of a single cell, and there is a complex organism that contains approximately 5x1015 cells: the human being.
The behavior of cells is wonderful in itself: they have the ability to metabolize, reproduce and also carry information. If they do their job well, we also do our job well. Let's take care of our cells, let’s take care of ourselves!
With my work, I pay tribute to these tiny ”creatures”.
20.
Laura Forte (Italy)
SIMBIOSI
Material: Rubber
Concept: Research for the new as necessary renewal of the expressive codes. We are part of a changing reality, becoming flows in the veins, every change is necessary in a somatic, cognitive and affective state of the human being. We are synthesis. The synthesis of everything.
SIGNED ZERO
ERROR
IEEE 754
21.
Lin Sin-Yi (Taiwan)
Sketch-I
Material: Iron wire, Textile, Spray paint
Concept: Between painting and jewellery. Behind mind and hand. Zero has been unlimited just like a circle, because there is no answer for the start and end.
22.
Marianna Márton (Hungary)
Layers of Time
Material: brass, patina, steel wire
Concept: Are you 0-, generous, unselfish, humanitarian? Are we born with these virtues, or do we later become like this? The layers of the flower symbolizes the length of our lifetime. The fourth layer lying between the layers of the past, the present, and the future is me. The concentric circles indicate the direction of development, the desire for perfection, and opening up.
23.
Martin Grosman (Czech Republic)
TO JE MASO / THIS IS MEAT
Material: Epoxy, plastic
Concept: We decorate our bodies with dead animals. Furs hide so much suffering. And are make us beautiful? No animal suffered during the production of these jewelry. And do they disgust us? It is simple equation: zero suffering = 100 percent animal friendly fashion = zero negativity
24.
Mizuki Tochigi (Japanese)
CURL
Material: plastic water bottles, sterling silver
Concept: CURL is made from plastic water bottles that seeks to readdress the consequences of our actions on the environment. Inspired by the great oceans of the world, I am exploring the poetic beauty and energy of ocean waves to propose a new perspective on a material that is overwhelmingly damaging our environment and ends up washed into the seas. I want to challenge the perception of everyday materials, adding value to it by using my jewellery skills to reassess our relationship with waste - I believe in making a direct change to our actions for sustainability through my jewellery.
25.
Molly Wu (Taiwan)
Time to move on
Material: Copper with red powder coating, wood, acrylic, LED lightball, battery, steel found switch.
Concept: I think romance is like the cycle, start-continue- the end and start the new page again. This piece is about giving and empowering people, for those people who are in heartbroken, want to recharge the hurt. My aim was about using the element of Aid emergence box to create a new meaning, interact to the wearer. This piece brings up a sense of that turning a new change by your self. By turning the switch from the side, it represents the movement of that when people decide to move on. This piece is a love saver pack that gives people the power to be in love and trust love again and again.
26.
Nóra Tengely (Hungary)
Beta chain
Material: copper, stainless steel
Concept: The past and the future is carried in our blood. We either inherit or pass it on. Millions of information that define us. We know some, but there are some that we don’t even know exist. Just like the hereditary blood disease, of which I am a carrier. Beta Thalassemia Minor* is not typical at all in Hungary, it occurs in larger numbers in the Mediterranean region. From my mother’s side, I inherited it from my grandfather, which I don’t know how many decades it has been part of our family. It carries a faraway unknown, of which I am now also a carrier. A brooch of mine, called “Beta Chain” was born from this connection. A stylized hemoglobin with one of its four chains faulty.
*Beta thalassemia is an inherited blood disorder. An inherited blood disorder (usually clinically asymptomatic) resulting from the heterozygous inheritance of beta-thalassemia mutation or deletion in the beta-globin (HBB) gene on chromosome 11. Hemoglobin molecules are made of chains called alpha and beta chains that can be affected by mutations. In thalassemia, the production of either the alpha or beta chains are reduced, resulting in either alpha-thalassemia or beta-thalassemia.
27.
Patrícia Harsány (Hungary)
Sugar Brooch / Quarantine Jewellery
Material: Lump Sugar, Paperclips, Safety Pin
Concept: Can be a piece of sugar as valuable as a gemstone? How can we forget all the things what we knew about objects around us?
Sugar Brooch is part of Quaratine Jewellery Series.
The piece created by using only objects which were found in the creator’s direct surrondings during quarantine.
The main idea is reinterpretating everyday objects and putting them to a new context without changing their characters.
28.
Philipp Spillmann (Swiss)
Black gold
Material: Hi-macs, silver, steel needle
Concept: Black gold. Gold is a noble metal traditionally used for jewelry. Black gold is fossil oil. Both are found beneath the earth’s surface. Exploitation. Selfishness. The planet is bleeding. What blood type? Zero future? 100% negative? Stain yourself with a brooch. Like cartoonlike bullet holes. Splash! Black blood? Shooting ourselves in the foot? Is it possible? First aid?
“Black gold” consists of 3 brooches carved from hi-macs. The hi-macs plates are received as offcuts from a furniture factory.
29.
Quang Li (Chinese)
24 Karat Gold
Material: gold-plated brass, stainless steel
Concept: “24 Karat Gold” is inspired by the line from the 1994 Robert Zemeckis Film ‘Forrest Gump’: “Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you’re gonna get.” It refers to the kitkat chocolate which makes people happy. I am exploring the similarities between the strong emotional feelings associated with both chocolate and jewellery. They are related to love, joy, luxury, romance, satisfaction, treasure, and sometimes you get a surprise.
30.
Rho Tang (United States)
Evolution of Being - Orangutan
Material: Mother of pearl, silver and nickel silver (pins)
Concept: When facing this ongoing crisis, the way we live, love, and communicate has changed. The normal routine such as socialization and entertainment are migrated from physical interaction to virtual experience. Is the new norm regression or progression? We cannot help but raise the question “what is the future going to be”? In the work Orangutan from the series “Evolution of Being”, identical components are assembled to form a “0”, the white mother of pearl creates a cross shape to symbolize the faith in the unforeseeable future for a stronger humanity.
31.
Rita Besnyői (Hungary)
Less than zero
Material: reused silk (ecopainted with rust), tourmaline, nickelsilver, balsawood, steel pin, screw, acryl, silver fixation
Concept: I became a mother five years ago. This changed everything, this is obvious, but when somebody asked me to think about my selfportrait, meat-grinder came into my mind. Maybe this is evident too. I feel gratitude to experience the extremes. I borrowed my title from Bret Easton Ellis, whose caracters could not feel more empty, wandering on the edge of the world, like my soul does sometimes. We grow like weeds. Luckily I have the gift to stend up like nature has the power to rebirth every year. This piece of silk I painted with a rusty grubber I found in our garden. Flowers grow on every grave.
32.
Seong-Ae Kim (South Korea)
the imperfect digital era
Material: Silver, Mother-of-Pearl
Concept: The pandemics of Corona19 has accelerated digital era. These Digital World seems to be a perfect field like 'zero' which is a technology that can connect all mankind in a precarious ecosystem. But if you look inside, this digital world is isolated or divided according to the purposes of the group, such as political ideology and religion, good deeds and crimes, freedom and oppression. This can also lead to adverse effects that cause antisocial behavior. This anti-social digital world is exposed to our lives without being completely controlled by surveillance and systems. I expressed this imperfect digital era as a link to a fragmented 'zero'.
33.
Tara Ko Shunwan (China)
Delightful Stain
Material: Lipstick colours, screen protector, silk cord
Concept: I believe that Zero Negative is the process of a creative practice with positive solution, as simple and powerful as a happy face symbol.
Concept Background: I experienced a continuing emotional depression during the pandemic: plans were placed on hold, projects were cancelled, all arrangements left uncompleted until further notice, all suggested the worse was yet to come. Then there were the online jewellery challenges happening on Instagram, and I realised this is the perfect cure to bring me back to holistic health with positive energy! These challenges became my daily meditation and motivation to reduce anxiety and release pressures. Also, because I was lacking materials at home and was unable to access a work bench either, jewellery challenges became much more experimental, inspirational and most of all, extremely delightful to become involved with. I see this whole experience as a Zero Negative: always searching for Positive direction while we stay on a Negative pathway.
Creative Idea: This jewellery piece was inspired by one of the jewellery challenges on Instagram. My idea is to wear facial makeup as jewellery while masks remain a daily necessity and I have to skip makeup to avoid skin problems. The mobile screen protector is the only physical evidence of the only outside communication channel we depended and relied on during times of lockdown - fingerprints indicating the motions of confused searching online during the pandemic, while coloured lipstick in between the screens illustrates a satisfying solution with positive attitude: The zero negative creates a happy face.
34.
Viktoria Münzker (Slovakia)
Symphonia
Material: sprucewood, beech wood, glas beads and steel, tinted with green ink and covered with 11 layers of transparent lacquer
Concept: I’ve named Symphonia bracelet with the Latin word, meaning harmony, composition, movements. Symphonia – harmony of forms and colours, creating an infinite amount of „calculi” (latin for small pebbles), composed in a cluster with an order. Like the possibility of Zero negative, without the possibility of approaching zero with mathematical analysis. Symphonia is a visual representation of a small place, where + zero and – zero are opulent and unlimited.
35.
Meng-Ju Wu (Taiwan)
Fragmentation
Material: Self-developed metal alloy, silver, copper
Concept: 〝O〞, a sensitive shape symbol for metalworking artists, the metal will naturally turn into a round sphere after melting, and the ring as a form is also "O".
In the process of making the material, experienced the circularity actions several times, and completing it from a circle of metal sheet, and then all of these fragments come from the same round type, and symbolizes that everything is so centralized, even if it's split into countless, it's still a circle, the body, one earth and a world, it's parallel but also overlapping, as the trace, accompanied by the diversification of textures.
36.
Youngji Chi (South Korea)
Pendant Bubble
Material: 92.5% silver, brass, wood, pigment, string
Concept: Zero is a number that indicates a state that is neither overflowing nor lacking. The sense of equilibrium is important. It keeps a tight balance. This attractive number, which is also neutral, is formally void. The empty space contains wind and light. The empty space in the raised unit of my jewelry exists as a space, It emphasizes the shading of ‘pop-up’ shapes and expresses three-dimensional and texture.
It's like a bubble with a lot of ‘C’ cuts on a metal sheet. I wanted to show continued disorder, chaos. The shapes are reflected and twinkled like dancing. Paradoxically, it turns into a device that makes you feel happy.
37.
YU-TZU CHOU (Taiwan)
Who is he/her ？
Material: Newspaper/Transparent plastic bag/Cotton rope
Concept: Zero is…？For me zero is not just sign or figure, it is cycle by cycle like human fingerprint. Everyone's fingerprints is unique, it's an identity. I use newspaper to paste layer by layer and cut. The shaped like a finger, revealed some words and numbers, use this information to identify who he/her is？
38.
Zsófia Gizella Biró (Hungary)
S. O. S.
Concept: In January this year, one of my best friends got ill and needed blood transfusion. I used to donate blood, I don’t afraid of the needle. My friend needed B negative blood, but unfortunately my blood type is A positive, so I couldn’t give it to him. We had to collect blood from others. Many people doesn’t like donating blood, which has made this situation more difficult. I would have been very happy to give him but my blood was not good... This inaction and anxiety is symbolized by the jewelry like an old newspaper ads: “I would give my A positive blood in exchange type 0 negative.”
The design of the object was inspired by the package binding which was used in the post office. The jewelery can be fixed with one hand, referring to the rubber rope used during the blood donation.
39.
Zsófia Neuzer (Hungary)
szívkésfű /heart-knife-herb/
Material: silver, zircons, cable coat
Concept: Capsella bursa-pastoris, folk name: szívkésfű (heart-knife-herb)
pull the hearts - shake it - hear it clanking now you see how it can be donated Capsella bursa-pastoris is a type of herb growing in the grass, having heart shaped leafs. As children everyone was pulling those a bit, while shaking you could hear playful sounds. Also effective with any kind of bleeding, it helps to calm it down, also clears the veins, makes your heart functioning properly.
interesting facts: the plant is flowering from april till june (during the application period of zero negative), second time in september(at the exhibition period at Art Jewelry Night). about the piece: first it is 1 big herb piece, the flowers are zircons, the branches are made of silver. You can rip the leafs off, and can be donated to anyone, adding a red empty cable coat as an ending of the pin.
