The Use of Memory as a Theme in Italian and Danish Jewellery Design

By PhD Fellow Sisse Tanderup

The key issue of this project is whether the memory dimension can make a valuable contribution to a larger theoretical insight into the meaning of jewellery design. The purpose is to examine the use of memory as a theme in jewellery design at leading Danish and Italian design firms after 1945, based on studies of the companies Georg Jensen and Alessi.

The field of investigation is focused on the relationship between non-culturally generated memory and culturally generated memory in Danish and Italian jewellery design. The study will include an analysis and evaluation of the use of memory categories by the design companies Alessi and Georg Jensen, and other relevant jewellery design companies and individual jewellery designers.

The project aims to examine the theory that there is a difference in the memory theme in Danish and Italian design, and to investigate how this difference manifests itself in the design process. The study will also shed light on whether the memory is already embedded in the development of ideas of design products, or whether it is only through the use of the design that the design takes on memory-related meaning.

The concept of memory design refers to the fact that design has the potential to shape identity. Memory requires both an awareness (capacity for abstraction and reflection) and an intuitive sense (empathy). Some forms appeal more to consumers than others, which may be socially and culturally conditioned. Design only becomes memory design over time. Memory is linked to the story behind it; both the designer's wishes to tell a story with his or her design, and the consumer's ability to recognise the story in his or her perception of the design. Memory design first requires recognition and then acknowledgement.