Ontwerpen voor een juwelenkist 1913

This is Mathieu Lauweriks’ design for a jewelry box. It’s hard to tell when it was made, but it looks like it's graphite on paper. Lauweriks, an early twentieth century Dutch architect, was interested in geometric systems as a basis for design. You can really see this in the circular form of the box’s lid. All these lines give the feeling of building something, working something out, which is cool, because the design seems to be the thing itself. I’m drawn to the use of line in the piece, the way it creates both a sense of volume and flatness. The way the shading is done on the box and the lid gives it this depth but the overall effect is somehow very two-dimensional. It reminds me a bit of the architectural drawings of someone like Piranesi, but stripped down to its bare bones. It’s like Lauweriks is saying, "Here’s how it’s done, folks." But of course, there’s so much more to it than that. Art is always more than the sum of its parts.