Simbiosis is a declaration of intent, a conscious look towards the future that responds to the current need for environmental responsibility in the design process, through the application of sustainable elements.
The fifteen brooches that make up the collection, create a link between object and subject through their growth and care, blurring the boundaries between piece and user, while configuring a green and individual space that invites us to reflect on our impact on nature.
During the pandemic, I was able to observe how nature has become a scarce commodity, reserved for a few privileged few. I then began to consider how I could provide a solution through my language, jewelry.
Symbiosis aims to configure a series of objects that are a representation of the natural space itself, projecting a living object where time and action will be actors in its construction. Where the piece will depend on the user's interaction and commitment to stay alive. A piece that in that dependency for life, forces us to become aware of Nature and its fragility.
This project is not like others, an intervention linked to social movements, but rather an awareness raising operation on the part of the users, a conscious solution adapted to the needs of the future, through the commitment to incorporate sustainability into the design process.
We are the first conscious generation to have a clear picture of the value of nature and our impact on it, but we could also be the last that can take action to reverse this trend. Starting today, we live a decisive moment in our history.
Please highlight how the concept/idea can be exemplary in this context
At a time in design where projects that address environmental responsibility are required, Symbiosis tries to be a conscious look towards the future, incorporating sustainability in its construction, both physical and conceptual. This is achieved through the incorporation of recyclable or recycled elements, such as juniper wood, aluminum mesh and the plant elements themselves, which are obtained locally and whose environmental impact in their application it is practically scarce.
Due to the circumstances of the pandemic, the non-outsourcing of processes, as well as the limited automation due to lack of technological resources avaliable, has guaranteed the active monitoring of these objectives, incorporating as an additional value the craftsmanship and unique character of the pieces.
The commitment to the value of design versus the intrinsic value of materials is what makes Simbiosis a systemic example of circularity.
Please highlight how the concept/idea can be exemplary in this context
Time has revealed the development of an appreciation for the beauty of nature that transcends aesthetics
to ethics. We as artists, have the collective responsibility to make accessible to everyone the value of nature, trying to reverse the current trend of environmental crisis by commiting, communicating and incorporating sustainability into the design process.
Symbiosis, not only presents that beauty of nature in its aesthetic value, through the application of gardening systems designed to maintain the quality of the specimen and the piece in the long term, but also offers a progressive change in our relationship with nature through the involvement of the user to keep the piece alive, focusing on the nature and its fragility.
The process by which the user bonds with the piece and becomes aware of their own impact on nature, goes beyond the functionality of the object itself.
Please highlight how the concept/idea can be exemplary in this context
Simbiosis is not a proposal with great commercial strategies, its main objective has always been to focus on communication strategy, trying to make the idea of symbiosis and the value of nature accessible to all.
However, its participatory nature both at a constructive and conceptual level, its originality and its capacity for customization make it a product with marketing possibilities and accessible to every pocket, in a design market that demands sustainable and affordable responses.
My strategy is resolved in cost savings from the use of recycled and non-artistic materials, low cost, which guarantees commercial viability adapted to each consumer, transcending the idea of sustainable jewelry from luxury to an accessible investment.
Please highlight how this approach can be exemplary
Both the formal and constructive part as well as the conceptual part of the pieces are based on the same fundamental values: sustainability, participation and accessibility.
Each piece has been configured with the intention of engaging the user in their care and attention, inviting them to reflect about the importance of nature and its impact.
The involvement and commitment that they require from the viewer generates an impact at different levels that is crowned with the persistence of the living element, while at the same time trying to create a correlation between plants, humans and the environment.
Symbiosis proposes learning, where listening and understanding the needs of nature in the first person.
The development of this project is based on three pillars: symbiosis, growth and environmental awareness:
The term symbiosis, which functions as a unifying concept of the project, tries to make us reflect on the interrelation that we keep with our environment at different levels, whether social due to the piece-user relationship, biological between humans and plants, or conceptual from the point of view of organic and inorganic materials.
Growth, where time becomes an essential parameter in the methodology, is an actor in its construction, both physical and conceptual.
Finally, environmental awareness, through the commitment to incorporate sustainability into the design process.
Therefore, my proposal configures under these parameters, a series of objects that function as a representation of the natural and individual space, trying to make the value of nature accessible through the language of jewelry, and inviting to reflect on our role in the environment actively.
Simbiosis is about causing an impact on current values by adding the factor of time and the involvement of the user to achieve the complete visualization of both the piece and the concept, valuing the process against the purpose of the object itself.
Once my final project was presented, I spread the pieces through different contests with the aim of promoting myself globally.
Several pieces from Simbiosis, specifically Simbiosis 9, Simbiosis 11 and Simbiosis 13, have been finalists in past editions of jewelery competitions of international impact - Precious Collective Online Jewelry Week and Arte y Joya, respectively-, also have been exhibited at the Studio Squina gallery in Madrid
and Mistral 66 Galery in Barcelona, and have appeared in the magazines Contraste, Findings and the Arte y Joya yearbook, all distributed internationally.
Through the promotion and communication obtained and my own development as an artist, continuing with my formation and the investigation of my project, I have established as an artist ant the values that I want to continue building.
My nearest objetives are the creation of a new product line of a more commercial nature, incorporating new materials and characteristics that help its commercial viability -plants with greater resistance and fewer needs, more durable materials-, always focusing on making it economically accessible to all and sustainable.
In the short and medium term, I will develop a web page that presents these pieces, being able to continue with their promotion and physical exhibition through galleries and spaces in strategic areas such as Madrid, Barcelona and Scotland -where I will soon establish my workshop- to maintain and transmit the participatory nature of the pieces.
The results in the communication of Symbiosis have opened doors for me that I must take advantage of before it ceases to be novel and original in a globalized world, changing and highly competitive, which requires an immediate sustainable response in design.
If given this opportunity, I would focus on researching new materials and applications, such as borosilicate blown glass and ceramics, materials that are more resistant to water and external agents, highly recyclable,
that offer variety and adjust to each user, in contrast to wood, with a shorter useful life and less attractive features in terms of functionality.
The craftsmanship quality of both techniques, their resistance and durability, their customization capacity and the high recycling capacity of both materials, make them suitable for further investigation.
With the boost that the promotion of the New Bauhaus would entail, I could continue with my training, investing in the resources, machines, technology and spaces that I need to continue creating, essential for the continuation of my research. I believe that such a large entity with a global perspective of design could give me the tools I need to develop as an artist and make the idea of symbiosis accessible to everyone.
@Fenollar, 2022
Content licensed to the European Union.