Current Obsession is a contemporary jewellery platform based in the Netherlands. Their unconventional style and an experimental approach offer new ways of presenting and experiencing jewellery. Working closely with jewellery designers and artists, developing curatorial projects and events for renowned brands and cultural institutions, with an open and positive attitude, energetic team and community feeling, they connect diverse audiences in and beyond the field of jewellery, and give a voice to the makers. Current Obsession is a trailblazer in contemporary jewellery and beyond. Their activities as publishers, curators and facilitators, result in projects that span communities and art genres, but always relate back to jewellery.
Dead Darlings is an anonymous art auction collective founded in Amsterdam in 2005 as a platform to explore the complex love triangle between artist, artwork, and collector. Combining elements of performance and exhibition, their focus is on artifacts whose value is ambiguous: dead darlings. This refers to a work that has been created, yet for any variety of reasons, has not been brought to light. Through an open call, they give makers the opportunity to revisit those ‘failed’ works. A cross section of artists and makers are invited to submit their darlings, those are then auctioned anonymously at low and inclusive starting prices. To ensure value is placed on the piece a buyer loves, not one that has commercial ‘value’ the names of the makers are only revealed after the sale is final.
Dear Makers,
We are staging the 12th edition of our collective’s Auction-performance, Dead Darlings, in collaboration with Current Obsession, during the second edition of OBSESSED! Jewellery Festival this November, 2019.
The lots will be introduced by title only. The names of the makers though listed, are only revealed in connection to the work in the moment the sale is final. Artists and makers supply us with works at very low starting prices to encourage a wider spectrum of people to become collectors. The bulk of proceeds go to the people who made the work (you).
In the established tradition of both Current Obsession and Dead Darlings of breaking barriers, we will be embracing connections between different creative fields, bridging together various genres within the jewellery field, and including works that qualify as Jewellery coming from other fields such as art, fashion, design and beyond. The overall theme of OBSESSED! Jewellery Festival is Jewellery.United.
For our catalogue, we will ask all contributors (that’s you), the following two questions: What is Jewellery for you? / Why is this a Dead Darling?
We aim to offer the audience a manifold perspective on the very nature of Jewellery and some insight into each and every work, in the form of a “confession” from the anonymous maker who “killed it”.
Hereby YOU are invited to participate and resurrect a darling of your own.
So long as you, (the maker) think of it as Jewellery, and as long as it’s a dead darling: Bring it on!
Practical considerations and requirements:
× A work cannot be a multiple, it must be a unique piece.
× It cannot be currently for sale, offered on your website, etc.
× It must have little or no monetary value for you at this moment in time.
× You must be willing to offer it at a low starting price (50 euro or lower).
× The lion share of the sale goes directly to you, with a small percentage held back to help cover costs of production.
× There will be an auction catalogue and the image / text you provide us with will be published there.
Click here to submit your Darling before 15th Oct. 2019!
Keep in mind:
× The main objective of the auction is not to make money or to sell work, but to bring your dead darlings back to life and give people the opportunity to own a unique work at a low threshold while challenging conventional notions of value, demand, desirability, and commerce.
× The final selection will be made by both the CO and DD teams.
As always DD’s are auctioned anonymously until the final sale, a list of the participating artists is available in advance in alphabetical order. More information about us and our past events: deaddarlings.nl/events
Dear Makers,
We are staging the 12th edition of our collective’s Auction-performance, Dead Darlings, in collaboration with Current Obsession, during the second edition of OBSESSED! Jewellery Festival in November.
The lots will be introduced by title only. The names of the makers though listed, are only revealed in connection to the work in the moment the sale is final. Artists and makers supply us with works at very low starting prices to encourage a wider spectrum of people to become collectors. The bulk of proceeds go to the people who made the work (you).
In the established tradition of both Current Obsession and Dead Darlings of breaking barriers, we will be embracing connections between different creative fields, bridging together various genres within the jewellery field, and including works that qualify as Jewellery coming from other fields such as art, fashion, design and beyond. The overall theme of OBSESSED! Jewellery Festival is Jewellery.United.
For our catalogue, we will ask all contributors (that’s you), the following two questions: What is Jewellery for you? / Why is this a Dead Darling?
We aim to offer the audience a manifold perspective on the very nature of Jewellery and some insight into each and every work, in the form of a “confession” from the anonymous maker who “killed it”.
Hereby YOU are invited to participate and resurrect a darling of your own.
So long as you, (the maker) think of it as Jewellery, and as long as it’s a dead darling: Bring it on!
Practical considerations and requirements:
× A work cannot be a multiple, it must be a unique piece.
× It cannot be currently for sale, offered on your website, etc.
× It must have little or no monetary value for you at this moment in time.
× You must be willing to offer it at a low starting price (50 euro or lower).
× The lion share of the sale goes directly to you, with a small percentage held back to help cover costs of production.
× There will be an auction catalogue and the image / text you provide us with will be published there.
Click here to submit your Darling before 10th Oct. 2019!
Keep in mind:
× The main objective of the auction is not to make money or to sell work, but to bring your dead darlings back to life and give people the opportunity to own a unique work at a low threshold while challenging conventional notions of value, demand, desirability, and commerce.
× The final selection will be made by both the CO and DD teams.
As always DD’s are auctioned anonymously until the final sale, a list of the participating artists is available in advance in alphabetical order. More information about us and our past events: deaddarlings.nl/events
Current Obsession is a contemporary jewellery platform based in the Netherlands. Their unconventional style and an experimental approach offer new ways of presenting and experiencing jewellery. Working closely with jewellery designers and artists, developing curatorial projects and events for renowned brands and cultural institutions, with an open and positive attitude, energetic team and community feeling, they connect diverse audiences in and beyond the field of jewellery, and give a voice to the makers. Current Obsession is a trailblazer in contemporary jewellery and beyond. Their activities as publishers, curators and facilitators, result in projects that span communities and art genres, but always relate back to jewellery.
Dead Darlings is an anonymous art auction collective founded in Amsterdam in 2005 as a platform to explore the complex love triangle between artist, artwork, and collector. Combining elements of performance and exhibition, their focus is on artifacts whose value is ambiguous: dead darlings. This refers to a work that has been created, yet for any variety of reasons, has not been brought to light. Through an open call, they give makers the opportunity to revisit those ‘failed’ works. A cross section of artists and makers are invited to submit their darlings, those are then auctioned anonymously at low and inclusive starting prices. To ensure value is placed on the piece a buyer loves, not one that has commercial ‘value’ the names of the makers are only revealed after the sale is final.