TABS

The unnameable

French jeweller Christophe Burger talks about a ring he made for 'unnameable', the Corpus show in Colmar, France

Christophe Burger 'unnameable' ring
(photograph by Jean-Louis Hess)

Just remembering some notes I had taken about Wittgenstein, I realized some months ago that on a portrait a friend of mine shot of me, I was photographed standing in front of a wooden partition, pointing my finger at cuts on the surface: this attitude of mine became clear when I read again my notes. '...Everything that can be said can be said clearly. There sure are things that are unnamable. They must then be shown. There lies the mystical part of them.' (Sorry for the so-so translation). The not-so-clear presence of the floating silverleaf (or simple paper, as in the final version of my ring) is for me a way to point at a 'something' that can't be precisely named, described, that is changing shape whenever you scrutinize it, but whose existence you can't deny. It's here, and you can just show it. The distance (-ation) is brought by the sandblasted glass. The circular shape of it provides a perfect receptacle, nearly abstract, almost immaterial.

Christophe Burger is a French jeweller and vice-president of CORPUS

The opinions expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect the official policy of Craft Victoria. Please log into the online forums to discuss the content of these articles.