Discarded circuit boards headed for the dump may seem hardly the stuff of museum exhibits, let alone those in the jewelry category. The San Francisco Museum of Craft + Design, however, doesn’t shy away from such juxtapositions, and does so beautifully in a new exhibit that encourages making treasures out of trash.

Green Design challenged artists to transform circuit boards into jewelry. Why circuit boards, you may wonder? (We did). Well, circuit boards contain precious metals like silver and gold, thereby adding a precious element to the showcase.

Curators Christine Dhein and Christophe Koch developed the idea for Green Design when they happened upon some old circuit boards. The duo thought the boards would be perfect as elements of jewelry that raises awareness about environmental problems caused by mining, along with waste and over-consumption. They invited members of Metal Arts Critique Collective to create wearable pieces of art from the circuit boards, and write about their creative processes (those accounts have been compiled into a book available at the exhibit).

They hope the collection will “inspire visitors to appreciate the potential value of discarded objects in a new way.”

Green Design will be on exhibit until Jan. 4. For more information, click here

Weekly Gem
In typical fashion for the American Gem Trade Association's Spectrum and Cutting Edge Awards (announced this week), top honors in jewelry design went to some astonishing aesthetics. Take, for example, Frederic Sage's Best of Show piece, the Enchanted Stallion brooch--a horse head carved from a 158.26 ct. natural-color green turquoise. Yes, you are reading correctly: a green horse head. Resisting any Godfather jokes, JCKstyle encourages readers to see the masterpiece for themselves at the AGTA GemFair Tucson this winter.

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