Crafted Evolution - The creation of the HyperHive Series

The following paper describes the conception and creation of the HyperHive Series of interactive pendants. This practice-led research analyses how the recent emergence of terms such as ‘craft technologist’ and ‘alchemical craft’ suggests a paradigm shift in the field of contemporary jewellery, describing practices and practitioners using craft methodologies to work with novel materials and processes. A return to the idea of interdisciplinary knowledge exchange between the arts and sciences, has reintroduced the essence of alchemical practice to contemporary crafts practitioners. The processes of serendipitous discovery and material experimentation lie at the heart of this practice, and smart materials with their metamorphic qualities have yielded fertile ground for exploration. This body of research focuses on probing these materials’ potential to create jewellery that comes alive on the body and responds to external stimuli by initiating a change in state, creating enchantment through playful interaction. Combining chromic smart materials with tactile silicone provides multifaceted colour transitions that react to the body and the environment in equal measures. Microelectronic elements imbue the jewellery with life, manifested through pulsating, breathing lights, and sensors that intimately connect object and wearer by measuring touch, light and movement.