Minimalism and adornment: A reconcilation
I recently read "Everything that Remains: A Memoir by The Minimalists" and occasionally drop by the author, Joshua Fields Millburn, and Ryan Nicodemus' site. Now, a film, "Minimalism: A Documentary About the Important Things" spreads the pared-down proposition.
The day after the film's screening, I sat at work surrounded by sapphires and tourmalines, and wondered, Is jewelry necessary?
The attraction to adornment isn't shared by everyone, but by enough people to support a complex global industry. The baubles also serve other needs: for status, for the marking of ritual occasions, and if you're a believer, to impart the healing essences of various minerals. (Not my thing.)
When Minimalists advise getting rid of "trash and trinkets", I understand their perspective, but doubt I would divest my jewellery and feel better for it. Many minimalist exemplars are men, and I wonder if, because of gender bias, they might be less familiar with the pleasure of jewellery; sure, they have their watches, but relatively few wear earrings. Women cluster four deep around a jeweler's booth at a good art or craft show, while 90% of men sail by.
The Minimalist movement asks an essential question; as Vicki Robin and the late Joe Dominguez wrote a generation earlier in "Your Money or Your Life": Is striving mainly to get more stuff a fair exchange for the precious, limited time you have here? And once you fill the trophy case, then what? Millman quotes Chuck Palahniuk in "The Fight Club": "The things you own end up owning you".
I've felt that way about many possessions, from napkin rings to exercise bikes, but regarding jewellery, I feel like a steward of art.
I also feel connected to loved ones; when I wear a piece my mother wore too, in a way she is with me. The other night I dreamed of her. She was reading in a wing-backed chair I'd forgotten we had, and wearing this clip; I awoke savouring the recovered memory.
Am I going to continue collecting jewelry? Yes, in a judicious, limited way, or at least that's my intention.
Would I suggest that others do so? Only if the intrinsic beauty of a piece adds to your enjoyment of life, provides an aesthetic or sentimental burnish, and is within your or the giver's means.
As Sara Teasdale wrote in "Barter",
"Life has loveliness to sell
All beautiful and splendid things,
Blue waves whitened on a cliff,
Soaring fire that sways and sings,
Children's faces looking up,
Holding wonder like a cup."
Though in succeeding stanzas Teasdale says we pay for these things by bartering "many an hour of strife"— hence the title—the best things in life are free, but they also require that we stop doing, and pause to appreciate them.
Jewelry is art which inhabits our everyday lives, becoming almost a part of our bodies.
I don't need to own jewelry to be moved by its beauty. When I see friends in their signature pieces—
Christine in her vintage jeweled charm bracelet, Marla in her vibrant boulder opal ring—it brings me the same frisson I feel in front of a magical painting.
My friend Beth and I recently spent an hour at Galerie Noel Guyomarc'h admiring their Taiwanese jewellery exhibit: ethereal acrylic pieces by Cai Xuan, formed like sea anenomes, were among our favourites. The prices for many brooches and necklaces were not prohibitive—similar to a good pair of shoes—but we did not feel acquisitive.
I did, however, feel that art/beauty frisson and its attendant rush of want when we paused to look at a selection of sterling and gem-set cuffs by Matthieu Cheminée.
What does jewellery do for you? And if we couldn't give you, for example, a cuff bracelet, what is your enjoyable addition to life, minimalist or not?
The day after the film's screening, I sat at work surrounded by sapphires and tourmalines, and wondered, Is jewelry necessary?
The attraction to adornment isn't shared by everyone, but by enough people to support a complex global industry. The baubles also serve other needs: for status, for the marking of ritual occasions, and if you're a believer, to impart the healing essences of various minerals. (Not my thing.)
When Minimalists advise getting rid of "trash and trinkets", I understand their perspective, but doubt I would divest my jewellery and feel better for it. Many minimalist exemplars are men, and I wonder if, because of gender bias, they might be less familiar with the pleasure of jewellery; sure, they have their watches, but relatively few wear earrings. Women cluster four deep around a jeweler's booth at a good art or craft show, while 90% of men sail by.
The Minimalist movement asks an essential question; as Vicki Robin and the late Joe Dominguez wrote a generation earlier in "Your Money or Your Life": Is striving mainly to get more stuff a fair exchange for the precious, limited time you have here? And once you fill the trophy case, then what? Millman quotes Chuck Palahniuk in "The Fight Club": "The things you own end up owning you".
I've felt that way about many possessions, from napkin rings to exercise bikes, but regarding jewellery, I feel like a steward of art.
I also feel connected to loved ones; when I wear a piece my mother wore too, in a way she is with me. The other night I dreamed of her. She was reading in a wing-backed chair I'd forgotten we had, and wearing this clip; I awoke savouring the recovered memory.
Am I going to continue collecting jewelry? Yes, in a judicious, limited way, or at least that's my intention.
Would I suggest that others do so? Only if the intrinsic beauty of a piece adds to your enjoyment of life, provides an aesthetic or sentimental burnish, and is within your or the giver's means.
As Sara Teasdale wrote in "Barter",
"Life has loveliness to sell
All beautiful and splendid things,
Blue waves whitened on a cliff,
Soaring fire that sways and sings,
Children's faces looking up,
Holding wonder like a cup."
Though in succeeding stanzas Teasdale says we pay for these things by bartering "many an hour of strife"— hence the title—the best things in life are free, but they also require that we stop doing, and pause to appreciate them.
Jewelry is art which inhabits our everyday lives, becoming almost a part of our bodies.
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| That bracelet! |
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| Brooch, Cai Xuan |
My friend Beth and I recently spent an hour at Galerie Noel Guyomarc'h admiring their Taiwanese jewellery exhibit: ethereal acrylic pieces by Cai Xuan, formed like sea anenomes, were among our favourites. The prices for many brooches and necklaces were not prohibitive—similar to a good pair of shoes—but we did not feel acquisitive.
I did, however, feel that art/beauty frisson and its attendant rush of want when we paused to look at a selection of sterling and gem-set cuffs by Matthieu Cheminée.
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| Photo: Matthieu Cheminée |
What does jewellery do for you? And if we couldn't give you, for example, a cuff bracelet, what is your enjoyable addition to life, minimalist or not?
Comments
I've gone through "collector" phases in my life (scarves and bags mostly), and have lost that urge. I love looking at all kinds of jewelry, but to make me want to buy it has to be something I'd be able to wear every day. After having worn mostly gold for the last few decades, I'm finding myself more drawn to silver pieces now.
Leslie Milligan: Ohh I would love to see those pearls! And also your re-design of the family pieces. I hope you move forward with the project so you can enjoy the sentiment and beauty.
As for minimalism in general, I love colour and texture and pattern too much to be a true believer. That said, I work at not adding to what I have in the house, no need at this point. Passing what I don't want or need on to a new home is an ongoing process one that I enjoy. Maybe one day I'll arrive at the core and there won't be anything to give away.
Their minimalist travel advice is along the same lines.
Living in smaller spaces, as long as that does not mean crowding, is far more important. It also means one has less room for things never worn or used. That does not necessarily mean living in a chambre de bonne.
As for local jewellery, I like articho on Villeray. Obviously the artisans vary, but it is an interesting space.
Francie: Many minimalist standard-bearers are only in their mid to late thirties, and raising voices against the mindless consumerism of the preceding generations. It may be a time when they do not yet believe that the ties to ancestors are important.
lagatta: Oh, I like articho so much. one of the small local shops I cherish! Especially the ceramics of Loic Therrien.