Aide-memoire

Smaranda Maria Voican
︎ smaranda.voican
︎ London, UK

Aide-memoire is a mixed-reality collection responding to the climate crisis through a speculative, digital approach. Presenting a series of water-soluble, ephemeral jewellery pieces exploring the progression of glacier-melt, augmented reality virtual jewellery and Instagram interactive filters, it is meant to comment on the socio-political implications of global warming and the ongoing migration towards the digital world.

The aim in developing this narrative was to create a sustainable, waste-free production method that speaks about the implications of design in the context of climate emergency. Using bioplastic and water-soluble biodegradable 3D printing, it developed into a circular economy system addressing several steps of the design process, recycling or dissolving all the materials involved – from prototypes to final pieces – in an attempt to minimise the waste behind most creative projects, which rarely ever gets addressed.

Using augmented reality to further explore this idea, it presents an experiential approach to jewellery recreating cloud and water wearable pieces in a virtual environment. Utilising a headset to project these designs in an exhibition space, it comments on the future role of the physical object, speculating on a total shift towards the digital, in a consciously aware post-consumerist society.