Insight. Pforzheim University School of Design Degree Show 2020

Statement: Tzu-Yun Hung has dealt in her graduation project with questions about her own identity as a Taiwanese woman living in Germany. The creation of the jewellery series was preceded by an investigation into questions of life in linguistic and habitat foreign communities. To what extent can one change and adapt one‘s own identity? And what kind of consequences may adaptation have for one‘s own self? Tzu-Yun collected materials from her home region in Taiwan and her new home in Germany, transformed them, and connected them with each other. The results are objects for the body whose homogeneous surfaces reveal nothing about the diverse origin of their parts.

Statement: jenastyca deals with the current image of women in Germany, exposing patriarchal structures and inviting us to rebel against them. The atypical material choice for jewellery – earth-related clay – is a counterpoint to the conventional view of jewellery, which often serves the purpose of increasing the value of its wearer in association with its precious materials. Women do not need enhancement, but rather a reminder of their innate value. The wearers are encouraged to internalize the positive declarations that have been integrated into the jewelry through repeated touching, so they become strengthened from within. enastyca is a plea for self-love and attentiveness and is intended to encourage women in particular to set themselves apart and stand up for themselves.

Statement: Valentina Michaelis deals with the sorting of mental disorder and the process of resolving confusing situations. Due to social demands and personal expectations, people often face tasks that are difficult to reconcile. The focus of exploration is on what she calls intermediate noise, a moment of reflection on external and internal circumstances. It acts as a point of decision and helps to direct energies towards positive directions. Thus it is a necessary state in order to bring about a general problem solving. The jewellery series deals with the inner struggle and the process of resolution. The result is a series of brooch-like pieces which, through a change of posture or through conscious activity, undergo a transfor- mation from an apparent chaos to something more structured and flowing.

Statement: misappropriate sees itself as a method dedicated to the ordinariness of life, in order to create absurd and uncanny images of reality from it. The work focuses on the alienation of the door handle, which is an essential part of our everyday life. However, because of its ordinariness, it is less noticed. Here it appears isolated, without a clear function, seeking a different relationship with the body, guided by intuition. The door handle appears as a fragment of the body, like fingers that take on a life of their own. Human qualities have been breathed into this banal form, which we reach for unconsciously every day, and it suddenly seems more familiar and at the same timeless familiar than ever. Through an invisible force, the door handles can connect with each other and finally reach for the hand. The ordinary shape of the object in combination with the elasticity of the material causes irritation which can lead to heightened awareness and new body movement.

Statement: In the process of experimenting and creating the pieces, Lingjie Wang explored the hidden power of the conscious and unconscious. Hidden power is a power of transfor- mation, capable of transforming a 2nd dimension into a 3rd dimension, the abstract into the concrete, waste into treasure. The connections between things, such as materials and environment, thoughts and forms, jewellery and the wearer, are reconstructed by hidden power. It is a pulling force that connects the separate front and back sides of jewellery and allows the objects to be attached to clothing and become jewellery. Hidden power is also a power of integration. Causality, as a means of connection, includes not only regularity, but also indeterminacy, randomness and non-repeatability. With the cooperation of the materials themselves and the environment, water and heat, the works are transformed. The properties of the material itself and the textual information of the word inherent to each piece, unite to create a new surface texture.

Statement: The main material in Bo Zhang’s graduate work is discarded stockings, which transform into unique forms through heat. Working with fire on the one hand represents destruction while on the other hand symbolizes new life. It can destroy everything and give the object a new look and colour. Different materials were melted in initial experiments. The effect seems to be best with polyamide. Various flame strengths were used in order to work with different colours and thicknesses of polyamide. The final pieces show how artificial materials can imitate natural materials in an amazing way. Chameleons can adapt to their environment through camouflage. In nature, they are considered to be masters of imitation. Not only animals, but also humans have always had the desire and the habit to imitate nature - art is always the first reaction by humans to nature.