Artistic duo Fantich & Young, featured previously for their “power suit” made of human hair, are at it again with a new pair of shoes for little girls: an adorable pair of Mary Janes with a sole of human teeth. Upon first inspection, the tiny shoes are certainly the height of innocence, with their shiny surface and chunky red strap. With the addition of the teeth, top and bottom rows muddled together monstrously, this beacon of cuteness becomes dark and deadly. The festive footwear, which we might easily imagine paired with white ruffled ankle socks, are embellished with actual dentures, signifying old age and decay. The yellowed incisors, crushed brutally underfoot, provide quite an arresting contrast to the quaint little shoes.
In another recent addition to their ongoing project Apex Predator, Dominic Young and Mariana Fantich construct an egg from human dentures. Here, the themes of birth and death, innocence and corruption, emerge more readily. The egg, art historically a symbol of both the fragility and comfort of the the womb, abandons its delicate shell for hard, armored enamel. Arranged in careful rows, the teeth threaten predators who seek to steel the egg from the safety of its nest. This symbol of youth and birth adopts new meaning when made from teeth designed for the old. When hatched, the baby bird is fed his food pre-chewed, regurgitated into his mouth by his mother; this egg comes fully equipped with gnawing teeth. What type of creature might emerge from this monstrous orb? Take a look. (via Design Boom)
Imagine a ring encrusted with finely sterilized teeth—or chunks of imported hair— and you have the work of jewelry designer Polly van der Glas. To the artist, these works of wearable art aim to address notions of beauty; as part of the overall gestalt of the human form, hair and teeth are signifiers of vitality and virility, but when ripped from the gums or snipped from the scalp, they become morbid, reminding us of the fragility of youth, beauty, and the body.
Van der Glas’s pieces speak to the allure of all jewelry. The ring itself carries iconographic weight; the idea of the wedding engagement ring—and even a promise ring— pivots around its circular shape, which serves as a vaginal symbol as well as one of eternity. The magic of van der Glas’s work lies in this tension between the sensuality and permanence of precious metal jewelry and the morbidity and temporality evoked by the deconstruction of the body.
Somehow, though, the work is not entirely grotesque. The careful treatment perfectly rounded teeth is reminiscent of a child’s play with the tooth fairy fantasy; shining locks harken back to romance tales in which locks of hair are gifted as promises to forbidden lovers. In this way, the work is playful and young, but set within metallic frames and coated with dark metal, that innocence veers into a dangerous realm, reminiscent of violent helmeted warfare. As it turns from gentle to wicked, from everlasting to painfully mortal, each piece invites us to examine and grasp onto the most precious and poignant treasures of our own jewelry boxes. (via Oddity Central, Ecouterre, and Gold Delicatessen)