Edinburgh Napier University

  With the increased prevalence of digital technologies in our everyday lives, the questions posed to the contemporary craft practitioner regarding creation of an emotionally resonant interaction between the digitally enhanced object and its wearer have become progressively more prominent in the applied arts. Through examining the notion that human biology is a part of material culture, my research explores how recent developments in material science and wearable technologies can be viewed as contiguous rather than oppositional to the organic processes of the human body and how to bridge the gap between the craft practitioner and scientific discovery. More immediately, this research challenges the perception of smart materials and their application within the field of contemporary jewellery in both an artistic and scientific context through proposing the development of symbiotic stimulus-reactive jewellery organisms. Bringing together digital methods of fabrication with craft methodologies, I use materials such as silicone in conjunction with thermochromic pigments to create objects that respond intimately to changes in the body of the wearer and the environment. Potential practical applications for these jewellery objects exist in the areas of human– computer interaction, transplant technology, identity management and artificial body modification, where such symbiotic jewellery organisms could be used to develop visually engaging, multifunctional enhancements of the body.