MAstars 2014: Annelisse Pfeifer, MA Jewellery, Silversmithing & Related Products

MAstars 2014: Annelisse Pfeifer, MA Jewellery, Silversmithing & Related Products Annelisse Pfeifer, The Surreal Banquet, 2014. Various materials and dimensions*. Credit: Mia Pfeifer. Concept: Annelisse Pfeifer

Fliss Quick selects Annelisse Pfeifer from the School of Jewellery, Birmingham City University for MAstars


I don't normally expect to be so confronted by jewellery, or in this instance jewellery-cutlery, but in the case of Annelisse Pfeifer's 'Surrealist Banquet' (2014), I came away from the MA show at the School of Jewellery in Birmingham feeling mildly distracted. Over the subsequent week I found my mind returning to the work - so much so, I went back for a second visit.

What draws you initially to this work is the striking series of photographs which show six women arranged around a table opulently laden with food and tableware. The narrative setting and rich use of colour suggest paintings of the Baroque period. There are no clues as to why these women are assembled or what their relationship to one another might be, but their confrontational gaze directly implicates the viewer. One feels very much like an unwelcome guest intruding on a private moment, present but not part of this occasion.

Annelisse Pfeifer Surreal Banquet 2

Annelisse Pfeifer, The Surreal Banquet, 2014. Various materials and dimensions*. Credit: Mia Pfeifer. Concept: Annelisse Pfeifer

The women, some impassive, others menacing, wear fabric cutlery around their necks. The decision to present these pieces only within the photographs (and not on display within the exhibition itself) suggests that the intention of these pieces is not to be kept or admired, but to act as signifiers to the narrative and the people within it. In the simple yet absurd act of transposing cutlery from table to the body, Annelisse creates a dreamlike, almost surreal atmosphere replete with Freudian connotations.

On a plinth, beneath the photographs, are a series of super-sized gold fork and spoon sets. We count six in number and begin to draw parallels between their individual personalities and the characters in the photographs. We suspect that functionality is not the point here.

Annelisse Pfeifer Surreal Banquet 3

Annelisse Pfeifer, The Surreal Banquet, 2014. Various materials and dimensions*. Credit: Mia Pfeifer. Concept: Annelisse Pfeifer

The conscious ambiguity of this work is what makes it all the more tantalising. For those willing to pause a while, the collection reveals its polysemic intentions: the longer we look, the more symbolism we construe and the more questions we encounter.

Annelisse should be congratulated for her step back from the traditional expectations of a Jewellery and Silversmithing final collection. She ignored the requirement for polished construction or technical dexterity, and because of this we are drawn to look closer and examine the thinking she lays before us: we sense that this body of work extends well beyond its physical parameters.

Selected by Fliss Quick
Published October, 2014

*Manipulative neckpiece. Leather, rope, oxidised metal. 136cm x 13cm x 2cm (approx)
Provocative neckpiece. Latex and leather. 47cm x 27cm x 0.6cm (approx)
Greedy neckpiece. Raw silk and rayon. 77cm x 27cm x 0.3cm (approx)
Envious neckpiece. Organza, bamboo and merino fibers. 32cm x 26cm x 3cm (approx)
Vulnerable neckpiece. Chiffon. 34cm x 20cm x 0.4cm (approx)
Intolerant neckpiece. Wool, mild steel and hairline. 34cm x 35cm x 1cm (approx)
Golden Serving services. Copper, electroform components, gold plating. Various dimensions

View Fliss Quick's profile >


About Fliss Quick

Fliss Quick is an artist, jeweller of sorts and sometime curator. She studied at Goldsmiths College, London, and then later at the School of Jewellery, Birmingham.  Her work is usually about the everyday, the ridiculous and blurring the distinction between fact and fiction.


Further information

annelissepfeifer.com
flissquick.co.uk
bcu.ac.uk/jewellery

 

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