Exploring Elastic Movement as a Medium for Complex Emotional Expression in Silver Design

Abstract

Introduction: Elasticity in Silver DesignIn context of traditional and contemporary silversmithing design (Clifford, 1993; Glanville, 2006, Goldschneider & Zapletalova, 1998, Hill & Margetts, 2003; Hund, 1995; Schadt, 1996; Valcke, Weber-Stober, Schwarzinger, Laet, & Janssen, 1993; Weber-Stober, 1992, 1995, 2001), elastic movement has rarely been used in relation to emotional expression, and never been theorised. Indeed, silver is not usually associated with elasticity because it is perceived as a soft metal. For example, Sterling silver is softer than most standard gold alloys (e.g., 14 or 18ct standard yellow gold alloys) or similar platinum or white gold alloys (Wolters, 1996, pp. 44, 62). Silver becomes soft through heating and it becomes hard and elastic through being worked cold. Soldering, which is foremost technique of joining silver, requires heating whole piece during work process, which softens silver. Any design using soldering processes therefore has to use material of sufficient thickness to avoid easy indentation, which not only makes silverware expensive but also structurally rigid.A previous project, 'Exploring Creative Possibilities of Argentium® Sterling Silver', demonstrated a new Sterling silver alloy called Argentium® Sterling silver could be used successfully with laser welding (Niedderer, Harrison, & Johns, 2006; Stern-Leach, 2007). Argentium was developed originally to combat an oxidation process called 'fire scale', which occurs when standard Sterling silver is heated during fabrication process and appears as bluish-grey stains in surface of silver, and which is difficult to remove (Davis & Johns, 2007). In addition to being firescale-free, Argentium also has been recognised for a number of other advantages, including lower heat conductivity: compared to fine silver, heat conductivity of Sterling silver is 96% while it is only 68% for Argentium (Davis & Johns, 2007). This benefits use of laser welding with Argentium, requiring less than half energy to achieve same results compared with standard Sterling silver (Niedderer et al., 2006, p. 18). The benefit of laser welding is in minimal heat application, which allows joining of thin, work hardened silver parts without losing their elasticity. This opens design of silverware to use of elastic movement. The research presented in this article has explored use of elastic movement for creating emotional expression as an alternative way to semiotic language.Elasticity refers to springiness of silver. More specifically, as quality of being elastic, elasticity refers to a material substance that spontaneously resumes [...] its normal bulk or after having been contracted, dilated, or distorted by external force (elastic, n.d.). This is not to be confused with plasticity of silver, which is the quality of being plastic; spec. ability to be easily moulded or to undergo a permanent change in shape (plasticity, n.d.) and which is normally used in form-giving of silver. Elasticity can enable movement as exemplified by well-loved slinky toy: a simple metal or plastic spiral which can be made to 'walk down' stairs due to interplay of elasticity, material weight and gravity (e.g., Figure 1), which is beautifully documented in Slinky Vintage Commercial (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZL6RGkPjws). Elasticity thus offers potential to design movement into otherwise static structures.[Figure omitted, see PDF]Figure 1. Slinky Toy (see http://www.poof-slinky.com/)[original design by Richard James, USA, 1943].Example owned and photographed by author.Building on insights of a previous project (Niedderer et al., 2006), research presented in this article explores how elastic movement can be utilised to achieve emotional expression in silver design, focusing on subject of (fruit) bowl. …

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