In Art and Agency Alfred Gell formulates an anthropological theory of visual art that focuses on the social context of art production, circulation, and reception. As a theory of the nexus of social relations involving works of art, this work suggests that in certain contexts, art-objects substitute for persons and thus mediate social agency. According to Gell, an art object is a physical object that is considered to fulfill or have fulfilled an independent and primarily aesthetic function. An art object is often seen in the context of a larger work of art, oeuvre, genre, culture, or convention. An “art object” essence projected from these earrings which I had been searching for quite some time.
An earring by designer Lady J. of J. Jewels Collection
Rena Swetnzell, a Native American scholar and writer from Santa Clara Pueblo in New Mexico, said, “What we are told as children is that when people walk on the land, they leave their breath wherever they go.” Maybe so it was with creating art? The energy lingers through every nook and cranny until another can find the object.
I am an earrings connoisseur. I am often asked where I get my earrings. People are surprised to learn most of my finds come from the streets of New York. On occasion I do purchase my earrings in big stores, but I don’t end up wearing them as frequently as the ones I find at street fairs in Soho or the Upper West Side of New York or small hole in the walls that may appear as dead end entrances if you are walking too fast.
2007 would mark the beginning of my pursuit for something comparable to the pair I had seen on a woman in the subway. The one on the right ear was extra long, a set of intricate spirals, almost touching the woman’s shoulder, coiled within the length hung an oblong shaped turquoise stone. The other earring didn’t quite match–it was shorter and without a stone–yet it was apparent that it belonged to the same set and the mismatch was intentional.
I continued roaming the streets of New York with my peripheral search for anything that looked similar to the two distinct pairs I had now seen on two different people, both unable to provide me any further information on the designer. It appeared this designer was functioning on word of mouth referrals.
Another two years would pass until this March when I would meet a Guyanese woman who believes giving facials is art and we can heal another with a gentle touch. She not only knew where I could find Jamie Philbert , designer of JJewels Collection, but also provided her cell phone number and address. Finally.
I arranged a visit with Jamie in April. She had a display of earrings and other unique accessories–very much akin to walking through an art gallery–set for viewing through the main entry hallway of her apartment in the Bedford Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn. Jamie–who affectionately goes by Lady J. Jewels by her loyal customers–believes the desire to create is inevitable and exists in all of us.
In 2005, catering to this innate force to create, she taught herself how to design and reconstruct jewelry designs. She makes handcrafted jewelry art and accessories generally created from metals such as copper, sterling silver, brass and bronze along with a host of fabrics and precious stones. The pieces created are unique, powerful, healing, and versatile. They hold energy only art from deep within contains. Her hallmark is providing handcrafted designs on the spot, at the customer’s request, in twenty or thirty minutes!
The best part is to watch her hands pour this sparkle of herself into a piece of jewelry custom made for your liking so you can carry around that vigor of creativity as it breathes unto the streets for another to begin their search for the energy that is art. And maybe that is why I like wearing the earrings I find on the streets: I carry the creator’s energy with me. And perhaps that is what another really wants to know: who made these and not where did you get them.
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You can find the designer’s collection on Etsy.
Annie- many thanks for your words and patronage. I really appreciate your sensitivity to art and artists….I really love the article. I wish you continued success with all your endeavors
Love and Light