~e; EM jewelry

[bc <human@electronetwork.org>]

  I was going to wait to write about this, but it has
been several weeks away from the idea and today
has been my attempt to get back into the groove,
and part of that is sharing my excitement about a
few discoveries related to EM artifacts and making
  things, so that if others are making the same things
  or have made similar or different things, in this case
  EM jewelry, I'd be interested to know more.

  currently taking a class for jewelry, which is more
  advanced than where I am currently at with my ideas,
(in terms of refinement), the idea of making a 'ring' was
something I'd never considered. then, after class the
idea came to me that higher-quality (monetary value,
  too) EM necklaces could be made, in which a stringed
  necklace could have EM gemstones (a name that can
  be used to refer to materials with EM unique qualities).

  thus, the idea of two necklaces came to mind:

1-- one EM necklace:

// lodestone (magnetite/iron ore) // amber / lodestone //

that is, 3 stones, 2 of which are loadstone, 1 of amber
on a necklace. if anyone has seen these stones, they
are quite spectacular in their differences. photos are
available of their qualities at:

http://www.electronetwork.org/assemblage/zone1/

(left column, amber, lodestone, and also silicon...)

the lodestone is probably 5,000 years old in knowing
that it was a magnetic stone (by the Chinese) and also
amber was roughly 2,500 years old recorded knowledge
as an electrostatic stone, in Thales famous experiments.
this is a long-term project, but also open- as an idea, an
open-jewelry project, so should anyone take the idea and
run with it, let me know and I can put photos in a gallery.
the question is, how to make the lodestone's essence
shown, ... i do not know if sandblasting it or if tumbling/
polishing it, or scraping/scratching it would do any good...
the more authentic pieces (real stuff) actually has shards
of magnetic dust that hang off of it and can be quite $$$,
so i wonder how such a necklace could be made on a
budget, available for others to make, and how to do this-
if it requires drilling the stones themselves, or how they
are affixed to a necklace cord, or if it is a total customized
piece of jewelry, in which a custom structure hangs down
for each piece.

2- the second EM necklace that came to mind was that
of a more recent age, with alternating Silicon and Quartz
crystals on a necklace, as both are very important in
today's technologies, especially computing. Silicon is
one of the most amazing looking materials, sand that
is silver and brittle in large chunks. Quartz is so variable
that it is unknown what quartz is most relevant, appearance
not mattering as much as which kind is used in technology.
Thus, another alternating pattern, maybe it would be:
Quartz// Silicone// Quartz, and the thing that is remarkable
(to me) about both EM necklaces is the juxtaposition of these
very different materials and how they are used for everyday
EM applications... it was exciting to consider this, and yet
it is an expensive project and will take a lot longer, as there
are other mini-projects (earrings, etc) that are coming first...

---
so, here's another discovery that I wanted to share, as it is
something very uplifting for those who like to make things,
and may or may not be something previously unconsidered:

I was and am still planning to show some of my proposals for
more intricate work, but which would require a lot of time to
make just one piece (of, say, 20 similarly-complex others, a
portion of the pieces I'd really like to make, etc),... and so I was
thinking, having experimented in a lab settings and with my
own mini-electronics kit, about basic things like transistors
and integrated circuits, and their functions-- to understand
them, as objects, but also as aesthetic objects, icons of a
type of knowledge-- such as when science and technology
experienced a radical shift due to the transistor and, that this
is a known shift, and powerful in that.

so, in a class, reflecting, I brought up the idea of EM jewelry,
asked if anyone knew of any. the teacher said a lot of people
have experimented with such ideas in 'collage jewelry', so
hopefully jewelers who have done amazing work will be
located. but also, an idea popped into my mind-- why not
just get some transistors, integrated circuits, mini-incandescent
lightbulbs (that function like the real thing, only much smaller)
and just knock-off a few demo pieces, like a transistor necklace,
lightbulb earrings, integrated circuit earrings, etc.

And so that is what I decided to do, as of now, and went to one
of these 'bead stores' (after visiting Radio Shack, or, if you have
an electronics store nearby, especially a surplus store like Ax-
man, this is preferable in the extreme) and picked up the 'stems'
and the 'posts' and basically, all that is needed is superglue to
make such items. I plan to photograph and show them online
  once they are completed, and they do cost about the same as
regular earrings, I imagine, if purchasing electronics parts as
some of them are a few dollars a piece. Yet, it is great jewelry
(in my opinion) and is a totally accessible Do-It-Yourself project
and it is very exciting, as transistors, capacitors, relays, and all
sorts of other electronic components _could and _can become
jewelry, and aestheticized, and in this sense, more understood
and understandable by showing them as sculptural objects and
iconographic objects, the things that are never seen.

I've yet to encounter a broken processor, but that would be an
interesting brooch or pendant, say, and some of this stuff is
deadly sickly chemicalized, so I would tend to go with the new
stuff instead of defrocking old circuit boards with lead solder,
etc, floating around in the system. yet, there are magnificent
pieces that could become jewelry, or something else, and if
electronics people were ever interested in going beyond this,
they could be information devices too (keychain flash drive,
in miniature form with USB attachment, for an earring, etc).

so, just wanted to share this excitement. and hope to have
something to show in the coming weeks. the other pieces are
involved with very small pieces of hardwood and handiwork,
and are really more unique/individual pieces, hopefully one
of these can be made too, if it is even possible. but today i
realized these other ones are readily realizable, and anyone
could make them- electronic components are the new beads (!)
this is my own little personal revelation today. so, sharing it...

brian

[PS. here are 3 pieces I found online searching for 'electronic
hardware" +"collage jewelry", which include an interpretative
aspect, it seems. shower-friendly, as is stated on the website,
well, it may be advisable not to with these types of things on
your skin, if only because they're not made waterproof it seems....

http://www.suigeneris.net/images/earrings/Dscn3758%2078100.jpg
http://www.suigeneris.net/images/earrings/Dscn3770%207897.jpg
http://www.suigeneris.net/images/earrings/Dscn3763%2078113.jpg

if it wasn't a flash website, i would have given the main URL instead]

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