The company I have chosen to look at is named Artisan Life, after viewing their stall at the ethical fashion forum, their values and beliefs really engaged me.
Artisan life is a UK based company who set out to commercialise and represent Columbian based craftsman and artisans through selling unique handmade jewellery and accessories through leading distribution companies. Artisan life makes sure the message of where the jewellery originates and the materials used is made clear, they are all sourced on a fair trade basis using natural and sustainable resources.
The main benefits reaped by artisan life are that of fair-trade value and ethics, “fair-trade is a social and economic movement which promotes international standards of ethical production, labour and environmental policies”- www.tedresearch.net
There are now over 350 fair trade organisations working with the world fair trade organisation, many specialising in textiles and jewellery, but also many claim to be fair-traded when in fact only part of a product is, there are many boutiques which carefully evaluate their products and businesses to ensure they meet specific standards, Artisan life is one of them, a culturally influenced brand incorporating traditional techniques in high end design.
There has been a rise of around 50% in worldwide fair-trade products, it is an increasing popularity to consumers and with the involvement of high street traders to help raise awareness, and fair trade is on the increase even more. It’s with constant campaigns and charity funded work that supports workers conditions, pay and working lifestyle worldwide.
Fair-trade simply means a fair return on workers efforts, that they receive what they truly deserve from what they’ve committed. This can be from enforcing fair code of conducts to all workers, with fair pay and treatment in the hierarchy of a company, to monitoring workers and regular reviews to make sure standards do not slip, to collaboration with trade unions and manufacturers from the offset to ensure wages, working hours and working conditions are humane.
Artisan Life strives to create opportunities for Columbian craftsman, to ensure they receive fair wages and form trustworthy relationships to understand their determination involved in the crafting and manufacturing of their unique goods, the crafts provide an annual income for many of the craftsman, Artisan Life provides up to 50% of advanced payments to ensure continued development of communities and improved lifestyle.
Although artisan Life only focuses on one community, the niche market in the UK of genuine fair-trade unique products ensures that the Columbian craftsman will continue to receive the appropriate support and interest to help flourish and expand their skills, the money received from their products is fair and means the people can lead a better lifestyle from their talents.
A company whom I will also look at in the production of jewellery and accessories is Primark, in the past Primark has had a lot of controversy over its ethical values and the treatment of its factory workers.
Originating in the UK and Ireland and the U.K’S second biggest retailer, in recent years Primark has decided to publicise its new Fair trade and ethical trading values, this can prove to be risky to some companies as by highlighting the good that fair-trading brings to communities and workers, it can also highlight the bad in that Primark is not a total fair trade company “Primark is committed to providing the best possible value for our customers, but not at the expense of the people who make our products” www.primark.co.uk
Primark has been penalised particularly for disgusting factory conditions in India, where a worker may be paid as little as £1.13 a day, below the national average, the way the workers are treated is also unfair and can be inhumane, continually breaking the ethical trading initiative.
Primark has specifically bought in experts to help them increase their ethical trading, particularly with factory conditions, with cheap clothes come cheap labour. Primark employs more than 400 suppliers in 16 countries and aims to build relationships with all of them, and they have now published a full code of conduct which must be operated by all associated with Primark, this includes items such as working conditions are safe and hygienic and child labour shall not be used. But Primark is still under scrutiny, jewellery and accessories are still cheaply made, certainly not with fair-trade products but instead mass-produced, with factories still breaking Primark’s code of conducts, how enforced are the rules placed there to ensure fair working policies? They sell from huge, cheap-to run sites, with little advertising and relying on word of mouth for custom, it is a complex issue with Primark as many of their factories are in different third-world countries, where laws and norms are different.
Primark still very much has the “we’re trying but it’s hard to get there” attitude when it comes to fair-trade.
Thursday 26 November 2009
Thursday 5 November 2009
Telling Tales- V and A
On entering the gallery I found it mesmerising, I instantly thought the pieces were unique, cleverly displayed and beuatifully crafted. I found the pieces inspiring, particulary in the Forest Glade area. full of contemporary design furniture of fairy tales myths and fables, if only all furniture was built to appear so secret and full of stories. It looked like something that had just been taken from the set of the Lion Witch and the Wardrobe and that was priceless.
The Forest Glade:
"Fig Leaf" wardrobe, Tord Boontje,2008
This piece is like no other, I couldn't imagine the room it belonged in, it just seemed too precious and delicate to be able to be used, its a statue of a wardrobe. It makes you feel as though your in a fairytale, with delicate leaf imprints and a single garment hanging. It generates warmth, it's broad and heavy-looking but so delicately crafted, the viewer feels entrapped in the wardrobe, like you could stare at it for days and not loose interest, purely because its unlike anything else or anything I've ever seen before its truly a creation of deep imagination.
Heaven and Hell:
"Storm" chair, Stephen Richards, 2000
The piece looks uncomforatble, thrown together but in a very strategic way. It's a piece of furniture that couldnt be used but still has an Ikea-feel about it,a chair for a small built person it could blend into a forst and go unoticed, its not particulary beautiful amoungst the other pieces but its different with a certain elegance about it. It suits the dark setting with an eiree atmosphere
The enchanted Forest:
"Heatwave" radiator Joris Laarman 2003
Again this is another intiguing piece, Cast white iron it looks like its climbing up the wall, its intricate and bold, a signature design piece in a modern environment. It makes you feel pretty but unworthy to have it, something that people would crave for, even a reflection of social status as it looks expensive.
The three rooms lighting has a lot to do with the dramatic effect it creates for the objects, the first two rooms are bright, lit well and inviting, as you are not allowed close or to touch the objects it gives a better view to feel like you get the full experience of the pieces, Heaven and Hell is dim and cut off by walls witrh cut through viewing panels, it makes for dramatic dark effects, you only see pieces in portions and have to crane round to get a good look, it creates mystery and interest.
The exhibition taught me alot about different compostions, how objects can compliment and relate to each other and how objects can be grouped together. Colour schemes is also an important factor and making sure my objects are drawn from all angles.
"The Enchanted Castle"- A place of mischief and fairytales, somewhere almost to be feared but has a spell to enter. It's mysterious, associated with teh 18th century where fairytales were real, you conjure up images of Princesses and Princes, but also evil witches and stepmothers, its all very Disney, "style and design are a visual language".
High status is displayed, mesmorising pieces of furniture literally taken from the imagination and created into real life, with seemingly inappropraite use of amterials and scale, everything has been taken and drawn out to be bigger or wider than someone would imagine, so its not quite as delicate but more real. You could stare at the pieces for a long time, drawn to them but purposelly not allowed to touch them which seems rather cruel.
"Heaven and Hell"- the Black sheep of the exhibition, possibly the unexpected in relation to the previous work, it is viewed last, in half light. It comes accross difficult to tell which is heaven and which hell, something so closely linked has been taken from being visualised to reality. Saintan and God under one roof, it all seems very religious and yet very confusing, it almost feels one with dread at what is being viewed, the title really indicates the whole of the exhibition, it feels scientific, at the end of th 19th century when anything was considered medicinal. It's about dream and interpretations but in a darker matter. Freud the famous if somewhat ludacris psychologist who had out of this world ideas and theories that to this day some say are crazy. Life vs death, good vs evil, a measure of mortality and the exploration of can we live forever? The Title reflects anxiousness and trouble, to be advoided?
Tord Boontje caught my attention, his pieces were like nothing i've ever seen before I thought them to be beautiful, they were carefully sculpted with alot of work hours been spent on the pieces, you could tell it took planning to exact detail and everything fits so well together. He completely encaptured The forest glade with enchantment, fables and childhood dreams turned into adult reality
The Forest Glade:
"Fig Leaf" wardrobe, Tord Boontje,2008
This piece is like no other, I couldn't imagine the room it belonged in, it just seemed too precious and delicate to be able to be used, its a statue of a wardrobe. It makes you feel as though your in a fairytale, with delicate leaf imprints and a single garment hanging. It generates warmth, it's broad and heavy-looking but so delicately crafted, the viewer feels entrapped in the wardrobe, like you could stare at it for days and not loose interest, purely because its unlike anything else or anything I've ever seen before its truly a creation of deep imagination.
Heaven and Hell:
"Storm" chair, Stephen Richards, 2000
The piece looks uncomforatble, thrown together but in a very strategic way. It's a piece of furniture that couldnt be used but still has an Ikea-feel about it,a chair for a small built person it could blend into a forst and go unoticed, its not particulary beautiful amoungst the other pieces but its different with a certain elegance about it. It suits the dark setting with an eiree atmosphere
The enchanted Forest:
"Heatwave" radiator Joris Laarman 2003
Again this is another intiguing piece, Cast white iron it looks like its climbing up the wall, its intricate and bold, a signature design piece in a modern environment. It makes you feel pretty but unworthy to have it, something that people would crave for, even a reflection of social status as it looks expensive.
The three rooms lighting has a lot to do with the dramatic effect it creates for the objects, the first two rooms are bright, lit well and inviting, as you are not allowed close or to touch the objects it gives a better view to feel like you get the full experience of the pieces, Heaven and Hell is dim and cut off by walls witrh cut through viewing panels, it makes for dramatic dark effects, you only see pieces in portions and have to crane round to get a good look, it creates mystery and interest.
The exhibition taught me alot about different compostions, how objects can compliment and relate to each other and how objects can be grouped together. Colour schemes is also an important factor and making sure my objects are drawn from all angles.
"The Enchanted Castle"- A place of mischief and fairytales, somewhere almost to be feared but has a spell to enter. It's mysterious, associated with teh 18th century where fairytales were real, you conjure up images of Princesses and Princes, but also evil witches and stepmothers, its all very Disney, "style and design are a visual language".
High status is displayed, mesmorising pieces of furniture literally taken from the imagination and created into real life, with seemingly inappropraite use of amterials and scale, everything has been taken and drawn out to be bigger or wider than someone would imagine, so its not quite as delicate but more real. You could stare at the pieces for a long time, drawn to them but purposelly not allowed to touch them which seems rather cruel.
"Heaven and Hell"- the Black sheep of the exhibition, possibly the unexpected in relation to the previous work, it is viewed last, in half light. It comes accross difficult to tell which is heaven and which hell, something so closely linked has been taken from being visualised to reality. Saintan and God under one roof, it all seems very religious and yet very confusing, it almost feels one with dread at what is being viewed, the title really indicates the whole of the exhibition, it feels scientific, at the end of th 19th century when anything was considered medicinal. It's about dream and interpretations but in a darker matter. Freud the famous if somewhat ludacris psychologist who had out of this world ideas and theories that to this day some say are crazy. Life vs death, good vs evil, a measure of mortality and the exploration of can we live forever? The Title reflects anxiousness and trouble, to be advoided?
Tord Boontje caught my attention, his pieces were like nothing i've ever seen before I thought them to be beautiful, they were carefully sculpted with alot of work hours been spent on the pieces, you could tell it took planning to exact detail and everything fits so well together. He completely encaptured The forest glade with enchantment, fables and childhood dreams turned into adult reality
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