On performing art jewellery: identity play as leisure activity

ABSTRACT

Although the wearer is central to the understanding of jewellery of all kinds, the ways in which art jewellery is consumed as a leisure activity has received little critical attention. This paper seeks to situate the socially meaningful practices of art jewellery, with reference to social psychology [Markus, H. R., and S. Kitayama. 1999. “Culture and Self: Implications for Cognition, Emotion and Motivation.” In The Self in Social Psychology, edited by R. F. Baumeister ] and the sociology of Giddens [1991. Modernity and Self-identity: Self and Society in the Late Modern Age. Cambridge: Polity Press] and Goffman [[1959] 1990. The Presentation of the Self in Everyday Life. London: Penguin Books], as well as Butler's [[1990] 2006. Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity. Abingdon: Routledge Classics] concept of performativity, in order to explore how jewellery is used to articulate aspects of the self. The paper draws on a small-scale primary research project, in which participants – new to this kind of adornment – wore, discussed and responded to both their own precious, traditional jewellery and a range of pieces of art jewellery. Whereas discussion of the participants’ own jewellery illustrates how it serves to lock them into place within their network of family and friends, their experiences of engaging with the art jewellery exemplifies their status as autonomous, bounded individuals. Trying on and responding to the art jewellery serves as a kind of identity play, extending the range of embodied practices available to the participants and allowing them to engage with non-normative performances of the self. This suggests that wearing art jewellery may serve as a form of performative leisure, disrupting the range of corporeal experiences open to women and creating the potential for change. The novelty of this approach stems from interrogating data derived from creative research methods using a conceptual framework that examines the mechanisms by which the self is constituted, establishing this as a new contribution to the fields of both leisure research and art jewellery.

KEYWORDS:

• Art jewellery
• conventional jewellery
• play
• self
• embodiment
• performativity

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the women who generously gave their time for the ‘Strange Pleasures’ study, our colleagues at the School of Jewellery for the loan of their adornments and Toni Mayner for her support and assistance.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was disclosed by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Sian Hindle's practice-led Ph.D. explores the role of jewellery in creating embodied identity, using drawing to explore the embodied experience of wearing a broad range of jewellery items. Her background is in English Studies and she has a Master of Research degree in which she explores the nature of the self portrayed in Modernist fiction. She lectures in Contextual Studies at the School of Jewellery, Birmingham City University and supports the development of a vibrant research culture through her role as convenor of the School's Talking Practice lecture series.

Rachael Colley is a Lecturer in Jewellery Design and Related Products at the School of Jewellery, Birmingham City University. She is a member of the Research Centre for Creative Making (S.T.U.F.F) and the Fashion and Textiles Research Group (FTRG), based in the Faculty of Arts, Design and Media. Her practice-based research explores the fleeting and complex nature of human existence, using jewellery and regalia as modes of expression. Her wearables seek to defamiliarize everyday organic materials, to resemble precious gemstones and objects of value.

Anne Boultwood is Reader in the Psychology of Fashion at Birmingham City University. She approaches the study of fashion from the perspective of psychology, taking account of its cognitive, social and individual foundations. Her primary research focus is the role of fashion and clothing in the construction and maintenance of self, and their social and psychological impact. She has extended her early work on body boundary to address its broader implications for self and body awareness, including cultural and gender differences, social interaction and notions of control. She supervises a number of students in related areas. Anne established and leads the Fashion and Textiles Research Group within Birmingham City University. Current research projects include historical fashion and costume, jewellery and its relation to self, sustainability in fashion and cross-cultural fashion, particularly China and India.