Bling Bling

Seeing how I am a huge fan of both Google as well as jewelry, it was only natural for me to become enamored with Mike and Maaike's Stolen Jewels collection. The designers searched on Google Images for famous jewelry (including the Hope Diamond Brooch), then doctored them and made transfers onto leather. The result? Low-res jewelry that is both nerdy and (arguably) chic.

This process is reminiscent of the early work of Cubist artists. Picasso took African figures and deconstructed them in a way that no one had dared to try before. In one of his most famous pieces, Les Desmoiselles D'Avignon, he exaggerated the female form and many of their faces have elements of African masks. By representing these people (and in Mike and Maaike's case, jewelry) in this figurative manner, it inspired subsequent artists to interpret their surroundings based on emotion and impulse.

I find these blurred lines between art and technology to be inspiring; apparently I should be checking my Tiffany jewelry at the door and trading it in for some pixelated gems.