Engaging with the Making I

I made some sketches of what I envisioned the keychains to be. However due to time constraints and the lack of resources (i.e. keychain parts), I decided to explore the making of charms according to the bottommost sketch, using 1 mm thick leather cords. The knots help to protect the exposed holes made in the shells.

While washing the shells I discovered they made a light clinking sound against each other and hoped to utilise this quality.

In Leipzig on 19 May 2025, I found a discarded, faulty trivet outside a store that was closing down. It gave me inspiration to make some keychains as tokens of appreciation for my research interviewees.

The beads were from a necklace bought on 24 May 2025 at the Agra-Antikmarkt (antique market) in Leipzig.

This exercise felt like an exploration of forms resulting from various configurations and compositions. The directions which the cords went were not planned or predicted. They resemble dancing figures, unlike the initial sketch. The process was also meditative, despite the difficulty in fitting the cords through the inconsistantly-sized holes in the cowrie shells.