Thesis: Artist Jewellery in Plastic and Rubber: Application and Longevity

The introduction of plastics and rubber to artist jewellers’ repertoire of materials in the late 1960s marks a significant and permanent alteration to the jewellery discipline. Today museums and private collections continually acquire artist jewellery manufactured from plastic. Some of these artworks are now exhibiting change or deterioration and their preservation needs to be considered. To date, whilst there has been recent research into the deterioration of plastics in cultural heritage, little work has addressed artist jewellery.

My research positions plastic artist jewellery within the expanding discipline of modern materials conservation. Primary research sources include plastic jewellery in museum and private collections along with oral testimonies from artists. To begin with, the dates and some influences for the pioneering application of plastics in artist jewellery are tracked, followed by an analysis into the physical and conceptual possibilities enabled by the most consistently employed materials. This information reveals what is at stake should the properties of the plastics, hence the artworks themselves, alter. Attitudes towards the preservation of plastic artist jewellery by museums, private collections and also jewellery artists are evaluated to determine to what extent preservation is prioritised at present.

The second half of the thesis suggests how change, damage or deterioration may impact on the interpretation of artist jewellery and argues that professional conservation rather than repair by artists is appropriate for the care of such artworks. Finally, it is proposed that artists’ images provide a virtual means by which plastic artist jewellery may be preserved and, importantly, interpreted effectively in the future.