Exploring technological application for artistic practices in filigree jewellery design development

With the advancement of 3D printing, more and more researchers demonstrate this digital techniques' growing importance in jewellery design and development. Previous research in this context has established the foundations for further enquiry in technological innovation in jewellery but has not been advanced significantly in filigree jewellery. This artistic research considers how Jewellery Computer Aided Design (JCAD), and 3D-printing contributes to reinvigorating Chinese cultural heritage through new filigree jewellery design and making. The research explores the potential for existing 3D printing technology for the reproduction of filigree jewellery that is imbued with Chinese cultural heritage values and the micro-details associated with the practice as it has evolved in China. Following this, the study seeks to answer the following research question: How can traditional filigree techniques reproduce through JCAD and 3D printing, impact on the development of filigree jewellery design based on traditional Chinese cultures?

The thesis is supported by a range of theoretical and experimental qualitative methods associated with research in craft, design and artistic research. These methods include hypothesizing, historical and theoretical studies, jewellery design and making, exhibitions and interviews with experts (using Delphi Method) in the field, including thematic analysis (NVivo). The research data was collected qualitatively, categorised into objective and subjective data and illustrated through designs, texts, tables, and images. Experimentation and explorations of 3D printing technology in filigree jewellery practice work is presented as a body of artistic research that responds to the research questions. The aim is to test how existing 3D printing technology can reproduce traditional filigree handmade characteristics. Hence, experimental practice has been undertaken to demonstrate the use of existing 3D printed technology for reproducing historic, hand-made filigree characteristics as closely as possible.

The analysis of historical and contemporary approaches has been informed by designing, hands-on making, 3D printing, and casting a series of filigree jewellery pieces. The potential for the practical application of this method was analysed through making, experiments, 3D printed jewellery objects, that are manifested in outputs exhibited at Loughborough University, and through exhibitions in the UK, Italy and China. Firstly, the findings and results were analysed in qualitative contexts, through experimentation into how JCAD and 3D printing can support filigree design and production. Secondly, through exploring this novel practice's capacity for enhancing jewellery design development based on Ming dynasty filigree jewellery and traditional Chinese culture based on the Wuxing (五行) theory.

The contribution to knowledge is comprised of two key aspects summarized as follows. First, the outcomes of practice-based research form a significant part of the findings in this study. This not only includes the final designs depicted and discussed in chapter 6, but also experimental pieces generated during the whole process (such as the leaves and butterfly in chapter 5). These review new technical considerations in the representation and reproduction of filigree jewellery. Second, the argument challenges the Chinese cultural heritage perspective that filigree was invented in the Han (汉) dynasty. Through explaining why this Chinese common view is untrue, this provides the historical context and platform for fresh insights for the application of new technology in filigree jewellery design to be demonstrated. Most importantly, this previously neglected view is essential for learning filigree jewellery design in China. Therefore, all these outcomes respond to the central research question and form the core of this research.