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Shining DESPAIR
Maria Konschake
Belgium

Body-related object “41°54’08.5 »N 12°27’14.1 »E » from the series « Prägung », 2020
Fine silver, lead, 260x75x15mm
3D printed, casted

« Prägung » is part of the series « About Space and Identity » which I developed during my Master studies at PXL-MAD School of Arts (BE) in 2020. It is a visualization of European cultural memory within the field of jewellery and objects and deals with the rooms, areas, zones and districts of European history. For the visualisation, 5 points of view were developed. They show not only the plurality of the cultural memory, but also visualise the European struggle between unity and diversity. Furthermore, they illustrate the different facets of the history of the continent.

In this context, « Prägung » deals with the role of the church in shaping European history. The external material of the jewellery-like object created here, is fine silver and thus reflects (historically) the splendour and glory of the Roman Catholic Church. It is pure and fragile also referring to believe itself. However, the interior of the object is filled with cast lead – an apparent contradiction and contamination.
Not only is the object far too heavy to ever be worn, also the chain was made without a clasp and is too short to fit around the head.

The number of chainrings refers to the number of beads in a rosary.

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