Howdy, Jewelry Fan! So. Ummmmm. Things are still weird. I’m in AZ and our grand country is in the middle of Black Lives Matter protests as well as an ill-advised and rushed societal reopening, we have a Covid-19 spike. Time will give us the data to know if the second part of that is a big deal, and I’m pretty sure the first part of that is a HUGE deal, but we’ll leave that for another time. In the meantime, I’m proceeding with extreme caution on the second front and extreme vigor on the first. I planned on writing a great Journal Entry for you concentrating on Design and my “Design Process”, but I’ve been distracted. Forgive me? I’ve been in the house since March (and I’m grateful for the house to be in since March, by the way).
And so, when considering my design aesthetic origins, what it is that drives my work, I, of course, settled on the debate: Star Wars vs. Star Trek. (Please know that both aforementioned names are copyrighted by Walt Disney World Studios and Viacom-CBS respectively (as of this writing in July, 2020). I mean no disrespect or infringement, and only mean to discuss the illustrious franchises with the utmost of fan respect.)
[Confession: my first exciting glamour email address was an @startrek.net address. Oh, yes. It’s true. I think it was $7.95 or $12.95 in the late 1990’s to early 2000’s. I loved that email address. Viacom-CBS, if you happen to web-crawl for mentions of your intellectual property, please record that I officially lobby for the return of the email extension. Perhaps there’s a subscription/ monthly income monetization in it for your company? And if Disney is also spider web-crawling, I could also be talked into a @starwars.com glamour email extension. Just saying in case “anyone” is out there.]
I propose the older movies and shows of both EPIC franchises focus on more traditional ethos of myth and heroes as presented by Joseph Campbell in The Power of Myth. While Star Trek always had the edge on what might be cool futuristic gadgets, there seemed easy to identify good guys and super obvious bad guys in the shows. The extended trail of Star Trek movies was surely a disappointment (IMHO) and the franchise at large insofar as ethos and mythos go, but they were fun (except for maybe the whale saving thing? Remember the days when saving the whales was the biggest to do of the year?? And that’s still really important, but BLM and Covid had upped the game when it comes to HUMANS. Am I wrong?? Even though I STILL worry about our planet and the micro-plastics my Scrub Daddy (another trademarked and copyrighted product line, which I LOVE) are dumping into the Oceans even though sponges are germ-factory and mini Death Stars.)?
Stay with me, Jewelry Fan!! It’s going to come together, much like my esoteric essays relating to Naval Strategy and Military Leadership (yes, I’m talking to you, K!!).
Now, let’s talk about the JJ Abrams reboot of Star Trek. Take the entire Hero Mythos and tilt it 71.675 degrees from true north. What is good, what is evil? (My Marvel family would immediately point out Deadpool as another not-quite-so-good-good-guy (and again, trademarked and copyrighted by Walt Disney World Studios). And I hear them, but we are trying to keep the already weird scope to the traditional Star Wars vs Star Trek debate.) Whose point of view really rules the day? Who decides who/what is a hero and what is the ultimate good?? I mean, could villains really be as perfect as Benedict Cumberbatch?? Mind blowing. Totally. Maybe the tilt from true north is -163.53 degrees in each of seven different dimensions. While multiple universes- the multi-verse, was previously the far out-outfield of Sci-Fi, or a convenient excuse for a 1980’s Dallas flashback (not true, but if THEY ever do a Sci-Fi reboot—the producers should consider it), the Star Trek reboot brought the idea, fully fleshed into the living room for so many humans to see!! So exciting!!
(I know my inner nerd is showing, but if you want to understand my design aesthetic and foundation, I swear it’s important.)
And so, versions of possible design aesthetic can easily relate to the contemporary versions of (my) beloved Star Wars and Star Trek franchises.
I boldly say to you, that the current Star Wars ethos is perhaps MUCH simpler than the original ethos. The good guys are SOOOOO obvious (sorry, Po, I’m onto you, you’re not really a sexy, shady, good guy, your just a cute, quirky, good guy) and the delineation in the continuation of the world building (Mandalorian—yay for “The Child on a side note” is so clearly black and white, that it’s as if the Star Wars Franchise has “Doubled Down” on clearly defined good guy/bad guy. We always know who to cheer for. Relating this concept to Jewelry Design, it would mean that a ring is always just a ring. It’s round, it goes on a finger. It, the ring, merely restates the idea of a ring (or good vs evil) in such a clear way, it cannot be misidentified.
It’s good for the bottom line, especially if you expect a ring to be a ring. Heck, sometimes I expect a ring to be a ring and you will find Star Wars double down defined rings (earrings, necklaces, bracelets too) on originalsinjewelry.com.
Huh. But what if the ring isn’t round?? What if it is Square, or Open, so that it doesn’t connect to itself in an oversimplified version of infinity. (I mean, does a ring shank always stay round when you wear it 24 hours a day for 30 straight years?) Is the expectation of “Ring” to specific to sustain over the course of a decade, or two, or a half a century or four centuries? (Let’s leave that for another Journal Entry, eh?))
What if the presented Ring tilts from true north -163.53 degrees in each of seven different dimensions??? Well. Then you have a Star Trek Ring. Or earrings that don’t quite match. Maybe earrings that stretch the concept of matched, to simply coordinating, or even simple related. That’s the Star Trek reboot of Earrings!! And that’s where I come in, where the consciously hand-crafted jewelry of Original Sin Jewelry enters the realm of the multi-verse. I propose sometimes OSJ’s Jewelry tilts from true north is -163.53 degrees in each of seven different dimensions. You might be slightly uncomfortable. You could be extremely excited. Live Long and Prosper, Earrings, Rings, Necklaces, and Bracelets. It’s a brave new world out there and right here.
We can be Brave, every day. We can make our world New, every day. And we get to decide if earrings are worn together.
I hope you are intrigued and motivated to collect OSJ, my work, into your life, knowing the multi-verse is real and you can dip your toes into it whenever you’d like.
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