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Beauty is in the eye of the beholder
Having spent several years reading and writing about the most beautiful jewelry in the world, naturally my curiosity was peaked when I read an announcement for the 2008 Ugly Necklace Contest. Now in its sixth year, the contest, which is...
Having spent several years reading and writing about the most beautiful jewelry in the world, naturally my curiosity was peaked when I read an announcement for the 2008 Ugly Necklace Contest.
Now in its sixth year, the contest, which is sponsored by The Center for Beadwork and Jewelry Arts in Nashville, Tenn., requires that each necklace entered meets and then violates a set of 10 jewelry-design principles. These principles include clever use of materials, the clasp assembly, violation of color principles, bad balance or arrangement, bad rhythm and focus, disorientation, parsimony (the degree the necklace doesn't seem overdone or underdone), wearability, "the poem" (how well the artist makes his or her point about their design intention) and, of course, overall hideousness.
A panel of four judges from The Center and the Land of Odds, a bead and findings supplier, then chooses the contest's semifinalists, with the judges then turning the voting over to the general public to test their taste in "ugly."
This year, 10 semifinalists have been chosen from 37 entries received from 17 U.S. states as well as Australia, Canada, England and Sri Lanka, with necklace materials running the gamut from fish bones and Coke cans to Fruit Loops and dead flies.
So who will win? Does an entry from Nugegoda, Sri Lanka, about recycling garbage (shown) set an uglier standard than Alesia DiFederico's "Equus Recyclus" on recycling horse manure? Is the interpretation of "spirituality overload gone awry" more successful than breast cancer or the war in Iraq as "ugly" themes? Does beginning with ugly pieces achieve better results than starting with misarranged beautiful pieces?
You decide. Visit the Land of Odds Web site by July 18 to see these and the other semifinalists' pieces and vote for your choice for this year's ugliest necklace. And let us know what you think, too!
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