Lang Jin , design process

Lang Jin’s graduate collection ‘Quarantine Journal’ is a response for the current pandemic situation and the reflection for the quarantine life. During the 14-days quarantine, the world seems to have been pressed “pause”. This was an introspective experience in a private space. It’s an opportunity to slow down the pace of living and come back to the authentic life. Lang was able to observe more about everyday life through daily objects and personal habits. She tried to figure out how people can adapt to life and reshape their mood by the use of objects when they lose the original rhythm of life.

Lang was inspired by the lifestyle and aesthetic of the people in Song Dynasty. They defined a life-style as “little things” that are purposeless and beautiful. It is inefficient, slow-paced, but it can make people feel pure happiness and comfort. They had activities, Including the Chinese calligraphy, flower arrangements, culinary arts, tea ceremony and incense lore to perceive the life through smell taste, touch and vision. They would like to elevate daily life to the realm of art. Lang thinks their philosophy of living is worth to learn in present quarantine life. She primarily chose calligraphy art as the key research for further design.

Lang tried the analyse the daily objects in a poetic way through an association with Chinese radicals. The radicals strongly bond with the body and body movements which is similar to the property of jewellery — it also has a close relationship with the body. So she selected 5 of the most body related radicals and contextualise with modern behaviours to explore new forms of jewellery.

This is Langs final collection line up. Due to the Corona virus pandemic, Lang was only able to create the ring and ear cuff from her collection, and would off loved to see the rest of her collection come to life. She chose the rice paper as the main material and the turtle setting as the key technique to work with. Those samples are made from the rice paper with her mothers handwriting calligraphy, which was shipped from China during quarantine on the UK. The “rive paper” or “ Xuan paper” is a traditional paper used for calligraphy which originated in ancient China. It is smooth, thick, crackly and strong, is named as a wrapper for rice, and is made from the bark fibres of the paper mulberry tree. Lang wants to challenge the definition of traditional jewellery by staying away from precious materials.