Precious Material in a Digital Age

I have been a practicing silversmith for a decade, making singular objects using traditional metalworking processes. The last 10 years has also seen the proliferation of digital culture and an increasingly weightless economy. This practice-led research project aims to reconcile the ostensibly archaic discipline of silversmithing, with a prevailing digital culture. An increasingly dematerialised world economy, focused on information and experiences, has led to a reduction in physical interactions and unique commodities. For film, music, software and many other products, the digital sphere has made it possible for an unlimited number of consumers to access the same item without the need for physical reproduction or distribution. Many of the most desired material goods are dependent on the fetishisation of brands over more tangible qualities. There are of course many great advantages to the super connected society. We are able to globally share information and ideas more efficiently. Access to ever cheaper or open-source technology has enabled previously marginalised people to participate in a collective progression of ideas. The democratisation of creative production, be that through digital photography, image manipulation, film or rapid prototyping, has established the notion that anyone can do it. The speed and ease with which making now occurs, from an unprecedentedly large portion of society, produces a vast amount of physical and virtual things. This provides great potential for innovation, but often tends toward speed and limited depth of enquiry. It could be posited that more is possible but less is known. In contrast to many products of the digital sphere, hand crafted objects made with traditional materials and processes are widely perceived to have an aura of authenticity. The act of physically shaping a material, of labor, is seen to imbue the artifact with substance and authority. The field of silversmithing holds a particular reverence. Silver is tangible, elemental and strongly material. It has physical, cultural and historical weight. Along with connotations of domestic, ornamental and ceremonial use, silver is a physical manifestation of financial wealth. However, there is a sense that as a discipline, silversmithing belongs to the past. It is the stuff of pre-war grandeur, heirlooms and sporting trophies. There are certainly instances of vital contemporary silver, but typically it is viewed as an antiquated field. This exploration is centered around the creation of physical, traditionally crafted objects inspired by a digital vernacular. More specifically, using hand-engraving techniques unchanged for centuries, to interpret digital images from the photo sharing application Instagram. Images are carved into found antique silver objects. It is an attempt to give a physical presence to some of the immaterial and ephemeral information that makes up much of contemporary interaction. At the same time seeking to create works with layers of history and a resonance with the present.