words Anna Bates
Guns, cocaine and a pacemakerare among the items that Dutch jewellery designer Ted Noten has used in his latest collection of accessories, Limited Edition.
The six one-off pieces were commissioned by design shop 20ltd. Although they look like bags they are actually solid blocks of acrylic in which objects have been trapped. “My aim is to deconstruct our preconceptions of jewellery,” says Noten.
A Split Second Before Imploding has fashion design duo Viktor & Rolf’s Flowerbomb perfume suspended in a trolley bag. “It’s about status and showing off,” says Noten. “The fashion and jewellery worlds are absurd. This bag’s 30 kilos – it would be ridiculous to carry.” Paraphernalia – a bag containing pearls, a Kabbalah band, a crucifix and a wrap of cocaine – is supposed to reflect the lifestyle of Madonna. “We associate jewellery with greed,” says Noten. “People can own the objects, but they can’t touch them.”
Back Up – a backpack with a gun inside – references terrorism, gun culture and a need for self-protection. It is one in a number of pieces Noten has designed under the banner “design against crime”. “I want to put the gun in a new context, and make art of it,” says Noten. “It’s a beautiful object, but I reject the function, intimidation and onsequences.”
