Earlier this year, we asked our community of designers and artists to design jewelry based off of one artwork from the Statens Museum for Kunst, also known as the National Gallery of Denmark. We announced the winners in July. This week, the winning creations of the SMK Design Contest will officially enter the museum to be displayed.
In first place was 3different‘s Melancholy necklace, interpreted from the painting of the same name painted by Lucas Cranach the Elder in 1532.
Original painting by Lucas Cranach the Elder
Edited artwork by 3different
When they heard about the prompt, the duo behind 3different, Francesco and Lorenzo, wanted to take and combine the best from both the artwork and Shapeways to design their necklace. From the painting, they isolated the stick, the hoop, and the sphere. From Shapeways, they focused on our Strong & Flexible Plastic and our ability to print interlocking parts in a single piece.
What they arrived at was a chain made of the sticks, with a large hoop sitting at one end and the interlocking sphere at the other end to serve as the closure. As you can see above above, the jewelry makes for a fantastic sculpture and proves quite photogenic all on its own.
Once you put the necklace on, you realize there are several ways to wear it. The wearer has the option to “lock” the necklace by inserting the sphere through the hoop, or to simply let the two sides dangle freely around the neck. Either way, it’s a mysterious and playfully inviting statement piece.
It’s been a busy week for the SMK contest’s winning designers. Not only are they showcasing their designs at our Dutch Design Week Shapeways EXPO, they’re also in Denmark to debut their designs at the National Gallery. Can’t make it to the Netherlands or Denmark? Check out 3different’s other extraordinary designs in their Shapeways shop.
Learn more about the contest and the efforts of nonprofit OpenGLAM to promote free access for all to digital archives in galleries, libraries, archives, and museums here.