Beneath the Skin: Revealing the research that underpins the object

Beneath the Skin brought together eight academic researchers working within the field of contemporary metalwork and jewellery in order to reveal the research that underpins the object. When it is the Object which embodies the research, the two fundamental questions are. How do we elicit this information? How do we record and make accessible? The aim of the exhibition was to visualise and articulate the complex, multi-faceted and often non-linear creative journey that individual researchers make to get to the final object. It built upon and extended the enquiry started during the KeyPiece exhibition and research event in 2009 where the exhibited objects devoid of any textural explanation provided the basis for intensive critical discourse between participants in order to reveal the embedded knowledge. By presenting a range of tangible textual and non-textual material, Beneath the Skin aimed to elicit and reveal the knowledge embodied by the object and proposed that there are intangible aspects within creative research that are not possible to quantify. The curator of this exhibition is Maria Hanson, Reader in Metalwork and Jewellery at the ADRC (Art and Design Research Centre), Sheffield Hallam University. She presents the work of leading academics, showcasing their practice-led research; combining philosophical, esoteric, material and process based projects.