| I try to analyze the "non-jewelry" of jewelry from the symbolic and ritual natures embodied in contemporary art jewelry. First of all, two questions need to be made clear:1. Does symbolism of jewelry belong to part of its concept? 2. What is the meaning of symbolism? The answer to the first question is no, for jewelry’s symbolism and the ritual stemming from repeated use of forms are all subject to "non-jewelry nature". For the second question the answer is given in Cassirer’ Philosophy of Symbolic Form, which states that "we perceive the world through symbolic forms and value judgment". That’s because the social relevance and collective consciousness of everything are implied in their symbolism. Jewelry is intensively symbolic in history, but its existence is confined to the decorative function of the wearables of human bodies. Exhibiting contemporary art jewelry as artworks extends the functionality of jewelry from a spatial sense, thanks to improvement of people’s artistic appreciation at present. The uncommon behavior of exhibition itself boasts strong symbolism, which, considering the original closeness of jewelry and human bodies, is deepened by the spatial sense and awe brought by exhibition. Analyzing from the perspective of "behavior", ritual itself implies repetitiveness of behavior. When it comes to creation of contemporary art jewelry, the creation state can become a part of the artwork and jewelry itself can also imply behavior guidance, both of which go beyond the purely decorative and wearable functions. The aim of such ritual does not lie in the requirement of social rules, but the method people deploy to achieve inner satisfaction and reflect on life, a kind of spiritual mind-training and self-sufficiency. I summarize the symbolic and ritual natures of jewelry, or the "non-jewelry" of contemporary jewelry, under contemporary background from the two aspects of space and behavior, or exhibition of artworks and behavior pattern of the existence of jewelry. |
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