Sefiroth

Artist list

Ruudt Peters

Reflection

Many of the pieces of jewellery in the Sefiroth series are very delicate, and thus unsuitable for use. But they have all been made as brooches, and in principle can be used as such. Worn on the person, jewellery reaches far and wide. The pieces are thus not limited by the walls of the gallery or museum, but can reach all the different places where people roam. This makes jewellery an interesting means of communication. Through the references to the cabbala in the titles as well as in the motifs, these brooches tell us that they wish to break with conventional perceptions of jewellery as purely decorative objects. Instead, these brooches present themselves as both communicative objects and objects of reflection, and their beauty lies as much in their inner qualities as in their outer effects.

Re-enchantment has recently become a key term in contemporary art. While the sociologist Max Weber in his day characterised the modern world as disenchanted, the time has now come to restore what has been lost. Disenchantment is about the process of rationalisation that resulted in the world being revealed and demystified. Magic and belief in the supernatural were replaced by scientific explanations; the secretive alchemist was transformed into a predictable chemist. Re-enchantment is about giving the world new spiritual or holistic meaning, in which there is more room for feelings, desires, dreams and mysticism. Ruudt Peters‚ jewellery pieces are very much in line with this tendency in contemporary art. By using features from the cabbala, he opens for mysticism as a possible path to greater wisdom, and this is further emphasised by the way in which the pieces are displayed. Instead of plinths, each object is displayed on a meditation cushion and in the background hang transparent lengths of grey fabric in three layers as references to Ain, Ain Sof and Ain Sof Aur which are the designations of the „negative existence‰ which eternity manifests itself as in the cabbala. But as art objects, the pieces in the Sefiroth series also point to art as an enchanted field. In secularised, Western societies, art has taken over the place of religion to a great extent. The power to change is attributed to it, and it has an aura of magic about it. It is not surprising, therefore, that many artists see a structural kinship between the creation of art and alchemical processes aimed at transforming baser materials into pure gold. Ruudt Peters‚ earlier jewellery series contained several references to alchemy, and in his laboratory all kinds of prosaic materials are transformed into elevated poetry. Seen in this context, the Sefiroth series is about the constant struggle to reach a higher level. As a medium, jewellery is seldom used to express such a wide range of feelings and bodily experiences as is the case here, and perhaps Ruudt Peters‚ foremost achievement is that he shows that jewellery too can be used to perform one of the prime duties of art: to make visible what would otherwise be invisible.



Jorunn Veiteberg