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S6 | FRIDAY,DECEMBER 5, 2014 INTERNATIONAL NEW YORK TIMES jewelry Into the bizarre world of Ted Noten AMSTERDAM that he creates, although more than anyone else, Ted has pushed his work into the other realms of fine art and the Dutch jewelry artist design world,’’ Mr. Friedemann said. is bringing his macabre ‘‘He still makes jewelry, he hasn’t left it behind, but his mind worksin such a work to Design Miami conceptual manner that even his jew- elry pieces aren’t about the wearable BY NINA SIEGAL aspects of the work.’’ Despite the various paths he has fol- TedNoten has seen his future, and it’s lowed, Mr. Noten still sees himself as weirdly pretty. rooted in jewelry-making. ‘‘This is whereI’ll sit when I’m 80,’’ he ‘‘Jewelry is more directly related to said recently, pointing to a dentist’s chair human relationships and human beha- on one side of his studio that he is retro- vior, even politics,’’ he said. ‘‘There’s fitting as control central for his old age. much more emotional content and sto- ‘‘And this willbemycane.’’ From a ries in jewelry, and I’m a storyteller. work table, he picks up a gold-plated Only, I refuse to say that jewelry is only walking stick with agold bracelet and a brooch or a necklace or a ring.’’ little containers, some he plans to fill with Some of his jewelry requires agreat Viagra and other positive pills, and oth- deal of effort to wear, such as a 1995 ring ers lined with blackbird feathers, where called ‘‘If You Want to Be Beautiful, You he might keep memorable jewelry. Have to Suffer’’ and made of a collection of pearls, diamonds and other gem- stones contained in a cup that must be held upright at all times to prevent the gems from falling out. A 1999 piece, a bag called ‘‘Ageeth’s Dowry Bag,’’ was a bridal handbag with a strap made of a double strand of pearls, and containing dozens of gold rings and earrings that could not be ac- cessed because they were contained in acrylic. In ‘‘Revenge of a Pearl Necklace,’’ ac- PHOTOGRAPHS BY ATELIER TED NOTEN; HANS DE BRUIJN, ABOVE quired this year by the Zuiderzee Mu- seum in Enkhuizen, the Netherlands, he placed a dead fish in a tank to decay un- til allthat was left was the fish’s skelet- on and a black-pearl necklace that the fish had ingested. Mr. Noten’s large atelier,in a former school building in awestern district of Amsterdam, is filled with playful arti- facts. Noten’s world Thegold bracelet is both jewelry and In one room is his ‘‘Mr. Claw’’ funfair Top row from left: a kind of handcuff—‘‘so no one steals machine, with plastic balls inside con- ‘‘Trophy Helmet: it,’’ he said. 7 Necessities,’’ ‘‘Lady Mr. Noten, a Dutch conceptual jewelry K 4/7 Bag, Prada’’ artist, is known for whimsical, macabre and ‘‘Ageeth’s Dowry and controversial work, such as a dead- Bag.’’ Above, Mr. mouse pendant, chew-your-own Noten’s ‘‘Hommage brooches made of gum, cocaine sniffing to My Grandma’’ rings, a modern chastity belt made of roller suitcase. gold and diamonds, and clear acrylic Center, Mr. Noten purses containing gold-plated pistols. with one of his rings, He will turn 58 soon, and lately he has and his notes and been reflecting on his life. sketches for the His personal timeline willbe part of installation of a an installation he is creating for the ‘‘house’’ for the Design Miami fair this month called Design Miami fair ‘‘Ted’s House,’’ that will include ele- this month. Below, a ments of his past, present and imagined ‘‘Miss Piggy Ring’’ future. and ‘‘Mom,’’ part of The installation will be a ‘‘house’’ of his series ‘‘Haunted 100 square feet with a door and a win- by 36 Women.’’ dow, set inside the booth of his gallery, Ornamentum, from Hudson, New York. The house will be positioned at an angle, said Stefan Friedemann, the gal- lery’s director, ‘‘as if a crane just carried it over and set it down there.’’ Against present a giant Towerof Babel con- the back wall willbe an image of an ur- structed from everything found in his ban cityscape. studio just before the exhibition begins. ‘‘A lot of Ted’swork is in some waya The third room will contain ‘‘a sur- self-portrait, and so the booth itself tells prise,’’ he said. a little narrative of his work,’’ Mr. After everything has been removed Friedemann said. ‘‘There’s asugges- from the studio, Mr. Noten willwork for tion of chaotic development into the fu- three months in an empty space, with no ture, combined with atraditional house. tools or materials, and ‘‘see what hap- That mirrorshis approach to his work, pens.’’ which usually has some kind of basis in ‘‘Then I canmake things as Idid the traditional, but he’s alwayslooking when Istarted as astudent,’’ he said. into the future with concept, with mate- ‘‘Because I noticed that after 25 years rial exploration.’’ you have certain patterns of creation, Among the items inside the house are but I’dlike to let go of some of those and ‘‘Homage to My Grandma,’’ an acrylic see if Ican do things that would never TED NOTEN & ORNAMENTUM GALLERY, SKETCHES; ATELIER TED NOTEN, LEFT AND RIGHT table with a silver platter centerpiece otherwise occur.’’ containing apearl necklace, a giant red As a jeweler,Mr. Noten is difficult to of Art and the Royal College of Art in ing. I had no concepts. That may be why taining grown-up jewelry and asingle ruby and an antique hand mirror, to rep- categorize. ‘‘You would never link him London. they took me. They thought, ‘this guyis bar of silver that you can try to grab, but resent the ‘‘past.’’ In classic Noten to aschool or adevelopment or a group His résumé opens likethis: ‘‘Born 18- completely unwritten.’’’ probably won’t get. counterpoint, etched into the surface of of designers,’’ said Annemartine van 12-1956, Tegelen. 1975-1976, Bricklayer. He continued his education at afine- On atable are anumber of rings that the table are a large rifle and a hand- Kesteren, design curator for the Mu- 1976-1980, Nurse in apsychiatric hospi- arts school, the Gerrit Rietveld he plans to fuse to a gold-plated gun, as gun. seum Boijmans vanBeuningen. ‘‘He’s tal. 1980-1983, Traveler.’’ Academie in Amsterdam. ‘‘They said, grip and trigger. ‘‘That’s a lady’s gun,’’ To represent the ‘‘present’’ thereis a true and specific, and he’s carved out his It was during that ‘‘traveler’’ period You’re spoiled, Ted,’’ he said. ‘‘You’re he said jokingly. silver necklace made of house plant own technique.’’ that he became a jewelry designer. too much acraftsman. A craftsman and Elsewhere is a necklace cast from of leaves, which he calls‘‘Home Is Where ‘‘He’sone of the best jewelry design- From ahome base in Athens he went an artist don’t go together. I didn’t agree the leaves of common house plants, and the Heart Is.’’ ers,’’ she added, ‘‘because he’s investi- to various parts of Asia and Europe. with that. Isaid, if you want to be an elements of the transparent gun bags And for the ‘‘future,’’ he has that gold- gating what jewelry and design and lux- Back in Greece, he would layout ablue artist you should have tools and skills to that have made him famous. plated walking stick. ury are in our modern times. He’s velvet cloth on the sidewalk, ‘‘hippie make something. If you want to come up The use of dead animals suspended in For an installation he is preparing for pushing the boundaries in a very sort of style,’’ and selljewelry he had made us- with concepts, be a writer.’’ acrylic recalls Damien Hirst’s work, the Museum Boijmans van Beuningen personal and autonomous way, very ing silver wire and beads from India. Mr. Friedemann, the Ornamentum though Mr. Noten has been making in Rotterdam in June, he has three true to himself. It makes him more than Mr. Noten eventually applied to the Gallery’s director, followed Mr. Noten’s them at least as long as Mr. Hirst has. rooms, which will makeupthe ‘‘Non- just a jewelry designer.’’ Academy for Applied Arts in career for many yearsbefore he added In his studio, he has a photo of Mr. Zone.’’ Many of Mr. Noten’s works have been Maastricht, the Netherlands. ‘‘I went to him to his roster, saying that, in the jew- Hirst’s diamond-encrusted skull. Asked In one room, he has created a huge, 3- collected by museums, including the the school with my blue velvet and ear- elry world, Mr. Noten is regarded as a if Mr. Hirst is an inspiration, Mr. Noten D-printed archive of his work from 2006 Metropolitan Museum of Art in New rings and they said, Yeah, but this is ar- kind of ‘‘enfant terrible.’’ said: ‘‘No, the skull is there because I’m until the present, made of paper. York, the Stedelijk Museum in Amster- tisan work,’’ he recalled. ‘‘I said, Yes, ‘‘He has an adoring relationship to angry at myself and at my colleagues In another room, the museum will dam, the Los Angeles County Museum that’s why I’m coming. Ihad no mean- jewelry that is behind most everything because we didn’t think of it first.’’.