‘Splitting the Difference’ is a series of concept rings patterned with the street-map of Jerusalem.
This collection of conceptual rings was made for the group exhibition ‘time 02′ as a part of Design Week Jerusalem. Located in a breathtaking 19th century building (that was once a hospital) in Jerusalem, the curator Tal Gur provided us with the title ‘Jerusalem as a source of inspiration’ as a basis to create one-off pieces.
The division of Jerusalem seems to be a persistent issue on the Israeli public agenda. Some may view it as tragic while others may find it to be the only possibility for coexistence. Either way, such an act would undoubtedly leave its mark on the city.
The designs in ‘Splitting the Difference,’ are not functional in their initial, unified form, but rather contain a potential of division. Patterned with the intricate streets of Jerusalem, east and west, new and old, the pieces are meant to be split.
In popular culture, the neck-bone of a bird is called a wishbone. Traditionally, two people hold the two sides of the bone and pull it apart, and the one who gets the larger part will have a wish granted. Similarly, the rings in ‘Splitting the Difference’ may be held by two opposing “wishers”. When split, the rings become two separate and functional rings.
The process of creating the rings included a lot of paper sketches and three dimensional concept ‘mock-ups’. Here’s a look at the process for ring 1 of ‘Splitting the Difference’:
I’m currently working on transforming the one-off pieces of the collection into wearable rings that will be part of the urban collection You Are Here.
The exhibition was located in the abandoned basement of the 19th century Hansen hospital in Jerusalem, which truly enriched the experience and exhibits. It was also featured on designboom, read more about it here.
