Between me 

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Under the supervision: Prof. Vered Kaminsky

Material: Brass and gold plated

Picture: Gabriel Attab
Year: 2017
Size: 450 mm * 250 mm ( largeur * hauteur)

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The goal of the course, led by Prof. Vered Kaminsky, was to create a necklace under the theme of "between you and me".

The “me”, i.e. the "Self", can be regarded as an accessible concept, as it is experienced both continuously and intimately.

The "I of the other" on the other hand, the “You” – that is, does not depend solely on ourselves. Nevertheless, the perception of the other remains most influenced by our own understanding, our proper "I".

Before defining the "You", it seems necessary to correctly define the "I", that is the “Self”.

Socrate's saying "Nosce Te Ipsum" has been intriguing me throughout my studies.

Because knowing oneself is a slow and intricate process that involves defining multiple realities, varied worlds, through which our personality, our thoughts and our feelings, express themselves differently depending on the context. Depending on that particular moment where you are

Moreover, the more we seek to determine this multitude of universes composed of different contexts such as family, school, friends (every friendly relationship being a universe in itself), the more we come to understand the different expressions that the «Self» exhibits, the more “Nosce Te Ipsum” becomes a challenge.
Therefore, given that my «Self» operates with a certain mutism, the perception that the Other has of me (in other words, his perception of the “You”) can be partial at best.

The classic, and often uncontrolled self-questioning of the mind, still numb, is meant to prepare for a new day, to determine our external appearance by the state of our «Self» at that specific moment. This action allows us to begin the day with a first self-definition corresponding to a version of this “I” living in us, that is conscious to some extent.

Therefore, there exists an intimate connection between the expression of our self, the “Self” that I feel and that I show to the outside world, and the expression that the Others captures through the gaze.

This interaction is also reminiscent of what the philosopher Levinas teaches us about the definition of our own identities through the gaze. The “Self” for Levinas is mainly defined by the contemplation of the other’s face.

For me, the subject of this course was therefore the subject of the confrontation between the “Self” that I live and the “Self” whom I deliver to the outside world that is perceived as the "You”.

That was what I wanted to explore.

So I imagined a kind of barrier, a door, a passage through which the inner “Self” (or “Selves”) passes and divides into multiple expressions.

The concept of my necklace was to unify several elements, such links of a chain finally connected to my own body.

 Prof. Vered Kamisky had started the course with a teaching about chains.

Indeed the link is a basic element in a jewel.

My own variation was then to isolate the links and give them random shapes that I analyzed as I created them.

After several sketches I understood that the idea of multiplicity and uniqueness existed through the design of the chain.

So I took my own interpretation of chains  that I explored at the beginning of the semester using a brass wire 5 cm thick and playing with the size, the cumulation, the work of the mill and its unpredictability. 

Building my necklace mesh after mesh, each shape being different, and covering my neck, shoulders and finally the face, the necklace allowed for those different “Self” to manifest themselves.