Possession - Metalwork

András Szilágyi B.

Applied art objects represent value. The success of an object is when people want to own it. Beyond the fact that virtually any object falls into this category, it is perhaps the creations of metalsmiths that best encapsulate this category. Jewellery, cups, trophies and medals and coins are objects whose acquisition and ownership lend them their true meaning. If we look back into the past, relics, crowns spectres, ceremonial swords and armour also belong here. Today only jewellery and trophies have remained from objects that are also the attributes of their wearers/owners. They are objects that become attributes, interpreting their wearers, through being owned. In other words, these objects are created through a desire to be owned. The same is true for all other status symbols since a fashionable bag, a sleek car and a unique product bear this same quality. Thus, this category entwines the entire world of applied arts, yet it can be most closely associated with metalwork.

András Szilágyi B.

curator of the exhibition