During his residency, Zach Eugene Salinger-Simonson will critically review a jewelry collection he has developed. He will accomplish this by reviewing prototypes and a book documenting the collection, its progress and its future developments.
Zach Eugene Salinger-Simonson was born in Manhattan and raised in Southampton, NY. Salinger has developed a neo-traditionalist body of work. As a product designer, his primary focus is lighting, but his practice extends to jewelry and furniture. His emotive and elegantly simple body of work investigates the process of animating the inanimate through associative connections.
After receiving his B.F.A. from the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), Salinger worked with Mannequin Designer Ralph Pucci for his retrospective at MAD. In addition to the formidable Ralph Pucci, Salinger has collaborated with a number of regarded performers, writers, artists, and designers including Ken Smart, Robert Wilson, Christian Wassman, Adrian Madlener, Jakob Oredsson, Michael Evert and Billy Cotton.
He has also brought a number of products to market, some of which are currently under patent. Currently, Salinger is in the midst of developing a jewelry collection while also working with private clients on limited production pieces.
Salinger’s pieces have been included in The Watermill Center Summer Benefit & Auction and exhibited in the Sol Koffler Graduate Student Gallery. His work for Ralph Pucci and Robert Wilson have been documented in prominent publications such as Architectural Digest, Dezeen, The Wall Street Journal, and The New York Times, among others.
Project Description
A social architecture exists and is able to tie itself to a physical structure like a wall, a door, and a building. A wall can begin to crack in the same way trust can develop. And a building built on those walls and accessible through those openings can fall like any social structure. The kintsugi process and the inherent meaning found in rings, collars, necklaces, and bracelets have enabled Salinger-Simonson to create a unique formal dialogue. By fracturing, shattering, and repairing these pieces of jewelry he will aim to give new life to these traditional forms and empower the wearer.
The traditional Japanese process of kintsugi is used to repair broken and brittle ceramic pieces with gold and silver. This process doesn’t simply emphasize the importance of tradition and its evolution. It is much, much more… By using such valued materials to celebrate the breaking and repairing this process shows there is strength in ones ability to find strength in weakness, by forging a bond in something inherently brittle.
A ring is a symbol of shared faith and a powerful bond. Although a collar, necklace and bracelet can be seen almost as shackles and symbols of ownership in a western patriarchy the shattering and repairing of their forms along with the ring provide a completely different meaning. These new meanings are intended to empower the wearer by acting as a source of strength which will be clarified further with the narratives Salinger-Simonson will write during his residency.
This residency will enable Salinger-Simonson to refine his design intent by critically interpreting these new objects: the ring, collar, necklace and bracelet. In order to accomplish this he will write a narrative from the perspective of the object and then analyze this narrative to understand every moment shared between itself and its wearer. These narratives will inform what other forms of jewelry will be included in the collection.
Click here to make a reservation (required).
Image credit: Wall clocks; wall sconce; all images courtesy of the artist
The Watermill Center is committed to providing accessible programs and services for all patrons and artists with disabilities. For further information about any accessibility issues or needs, please contact us at +1 212 253 7484 or email us at info@watermillcenter.org
We would love to hear from you! Please complete the form and let us know how we can assist you. The information you provide is confidential and will not be used for any other purpose.