Sticky Trap
925 Silver and Embroidery Thread
Beginning Statement
I’ve been staring at these metal pieces on my desk all week and am, in all honesty, uninspired!
I think that they are parts from an assembly line, to be made into something else, something functional and beige. The shape of the metal pieces do evoke some imagery though. Nat G said that they look like bones and I have to agree. They resemble the shape of a bone and emote something old, cold, fragile and dead. Wether that be the remains of a body or the leftovers of an abandoned assembly line factory, I’m not sure. What I do know is that I am going to be looking at the text I received a lot more, to get some better ideas on what to make!
Mid-Point Statement
I still have bones on the mind.
However, the text is sparking more ideas.
“Promise me Nothing”
I google’d this phrase (as you do) and the first search result was a fan made video about Justin Beiber. Hmmph.
Then I began thinking about how those words link to a specific way of living, without promises and without ties. I believe that it’s about independence and living without any emotional debt to yourself and the people that surround you.
What is the value of a promise? It’s a powerful thing to say, that you will “promise” something. Even if the earth stops spinning, I promise you that I will do this thing. Or I will die trying. I’ve made promises to myself and others that I am proud of, the ones that have been successful. I’ve achieved life goals and made friends with promises. I’ve been disappointed and hurt when a promise isn’t carried out. They carry responsibility and emotional burden. Is this what the author of this quote is avoiding? Are promises more like traps than anything else? Traps that can’t physically harm you, but leave the ability to play on your emotions, perhaps.
I’m thinking about trap imagery now, and ways I can make something of it. Mouse traps, cages, nests, boxes, wombs, webs, springs, caves…
End-Point Statement
The ring that I have made for this project is about the fragility of a promise, based on the text I received which stated “Promise me Nothing”.
I thought that this statement may have been written by someone hurt by a promise, who has reflected on this and decided to never be bound or trapped by them again, thus stating, promise me nothing.
My material was an assortment of thin metal parts which had a bone-like structure, and whilst I found it difficult to incorporate these into my final design, I wanted to capture the fine, fragile quality of the metal in my finished piece.
I ended up creating a ring, based on a spiders-web pattern, saw cut from silver. I chose a web because I wanted to choose a symbol that demonstrates the feeling of entrapment within something fragile – which is what a promise is. It can make you feel bound to something, though there is no strong physicality to this feeling of entrapment. I then bound the piece in embroidery thread, a laborious act, which I hope further emphasises this feeling of being stuck within something and wishing to break free one day.
