I make mechanical brooches that incorporate geometric forms. Simple mandalas inspire the geometric forms. Mandalas are isometric forms constructed from circles triangles and squares. The brooches are self-centering. They use springs to apply equal and opposite force, which keeps the central geometric form centered inside the outer geometric form.
This body of work received its impetus from a poem,
This poem is reminiscent of the way I thought until the time I was twenty-one. My egotistic self-centeredness gave me a narrow view of the world that kept me in an emotionally developmental stasis. I have spent the last twelve years escaping from that extended adolescence, moving past it, and finding a useful and productive raison d'etre. It has been a struggle with direction and self identity. After having five majors, more than thirty jobs and living in 12 different places I still don't feel like I belong anywhere. My father kept me centered, he was the one thing I could always count on, and when he died, my already turbulent wandering, became a chaotic whirlwind.
Mandala is Hindu for magic circle. According to Carl Jung they are found in the origins of all cultures and are a part of the collective unconscious. Jung believed that we pass down a part of our unconscious from generation to generation to form a "collective unconscious,"
expressed in symbols. These unconscious
symbols are the source for my designs and they
appear throughout my work. It was after I started
using geometric forms that I discovered mandalas. As I read about magic circles, I realized that
I had been creating them. My brooches consist of circles, triangles and squares arranged
symmetrically, as are most mandalas. Some Hindu mandalas (such as the yantra pictured below)
use the tension between opposites to represent a union or coming together. While I do not use
this device visually, it is realized mechanically in the movement of my brooches. Using springs
I produce physical tension that pulls in equal and opposite directions, which results in a
balanced center.
My background is in diagnostics and repair of electronics, electro-mechanics, and mechanics. The knowledge I gained repairing various devises gave me a familiarity with tools and mechanisms and made for a smooth transition to metalsmithing. Prior to attending UMASS Dartmouth I studied at Bridgewater State College, with John Heller. The formal training I received from BSC is the backbone of my work today. My work is about finding direction. So I make little devices to help me find my way. The Down Finder is to remind me to keep my feet on the ground. Otherwise, I'd be stuck in dreamland all the time and I'd never accomplish anything. Its mechanism is based on a double gyroscope and it is made from three bands of sterling silver, one smaller than the next. The central circle is weighted so that, the Plique a jour arrow it holds, always points down.
Junior year we had an assignment to make a piece inspired from a poem. Based on my interpretation of "A Man Said to The Universe," I made a cast ring that used the idea of change and development as a basis for design. The ring is basically square and has two distinctly separate parts. The first part was shiny and new, and it represents the way I use to think of my self when I was younger. The second part was grooved and worn. It represents a more realistic view of myself. When I was younger, I thought I was indestructible, always right, and that the world revolved around me. Now, I see that time has changed me much the same way a stream affects a mountain. I have been shaped by time, marked by it. The loose soil that I used to cover my faults is washing away.
While still focusing on the idea of self centeredness, I began to formulate an idea for a brooch that was about the centering of self. After testing various mechanical methods of assembly and construction, I made the prototype, after many hours of labor and many technical problems, the piece failed to work. Lack of stability and an excess of friction were the causes.
One year later I had a mechanical inspiration that solved my technical problems: round tubing.
It is this tubing that allowed me to triumph over the problems that I was having with the self
centering prototype. Round tubing has two very beneficial qualities. It has only one surface,
which drastically reduces friction. The second benefit is great strength and stability with little
weight. These were my two arch nemeses: friction and stability. I was very confident in my
design, and after much problem solving and minor technical problems, It worked! From there I
went on to create the rest on the series, each using the same principals applied in simpler way or
in a new format. All of the Self Centering series have several things in common. They are all
very fluid, and move easily. They appear to be static, and their geometry gives them a stark rigid
look. Springs are used, opposing one another, to create equal amounts of force. The opposing
force keeps the moveable element centered.
Edward M. Colbeth III
May 1997