Numbers

I am often asked about the significance of the numbers within my work. In the simplest terms, they are often representative of the cataloguing system used by the Spiders, and can be found on my jewellery, boxed installations and drawings. In reality, it’s a combination of imagined arachno-coding, chance and creative rearrangement.

In my jewellery, there are often numbers or alphanumeric codes on the plastic components which I have cast into silver or gold - these usually help to name the piece (5R1 Ring is a good example of this). Occasionally I will engrave a sequence on a piece, such as the MBR Series Rings. As well as creating visual interest and making (historical) references to engraved watch movements, these numbers help me identify the rings from one another.

So, where do these numbers come from? Usually I just make them up, and not entirely randomly; sometimes I will look around my immediate surroundings and see what’s there - numbers are everywhere! Every product has so many numbers on it, and this is an interesting notion, and indicative of the pervasive nature of commerce. Most of the numbers we see are entirely meaningless to us, being product codes (this number in this position in the sequence indicates the colour, and so on.) Therefore the numbers are overlooked for the most part and could be perceived as purely decorative on one level, having performed the function for which they were intended. 

It is in this sense that I incorporate numbers - they do mean something to the Spiders, but for us they have no function and no significance. I feel it is a little subversive to spend so much time creating an imaginary cataloguing system which has no purpose, but it certainly adds another layer to the ‘intrigue’ of the work and I hope that this explanation doesn’t demystify the numbers too much.

Sometimes the numbers I choose do have significance, but only at the time that I use them; I’m sure there are many sequences I have used which were made up of numbers which had importance at the time - page numbers, various references to other pieces of work - but as I have no need to remember the relevance it will be rare that I can specifically say what came from where. Some time ago I spent a while going through my old Pharmacology notes looking for useful numbers and equations, and I can say for sure that yielded ‘273nmCuV’ and several others.

Often, it is the visual representation of the numbers which dictates their order; some numbers look better together than others, and the space considerations play a part, too. Thin numbers can be squeezed into smaller spaces without looking so crowded, but if there is very little room then I will usually add a small letter. Lower case letters and other symbols often form a rudimentary kind of punctuation within the sequence of numbers, breaking up long strings of digits, as it has become more about how the numbers look than what they mean.