Exploring new Avenues for Silver Design using Argentium Sterling Silver and Laser Welding

该项目的目的是根据银纯银(AS)和激光焊接的结合使用带来的新机遇，为当代白银设计开发新的途径。AS是一种新的银合金，开发这种合金是为了防止在制造过程中对标准纯银(SS)进行加热时发生的氧化过程，该过程被称为“火垢”。火垢在SS表面呈蓝灰色污渍，不易去除。正如人们已经认识到的那样，它不仅没有大火，而且还有其他优势。这一建议源于Niedder(Niedder，Harison&Johns，2006)的一项初步探索，该探索在实践背景下测试了AS的性能，并表明AS与新技术的结合使用可能为白银设计的新发展提供潜力。一种这样的技术是激光焊接，由于材料性质的不同，这种技术可以成功地用于AS，但不能用于SS。激光焊接的好处是最小的热量应用，允许使用薄的、灵活的、加工硬化的材料。相比之下，传统的焊接需要在制造过程中加热整个零件，从而软化银。因此，任何使用焊接的设计都必须使用足够厚度的薄板材料，以避免在使用时容易产生压痕，通常在0.8-1.5 mm之间(例如Michael Rowe、Simone Ten Hompel、Alessi Tea&Coffee Towers的作品)。这使得银器价格昂贵，并对银器的设计和生产造成了一系列限制，因为较薄材料制成的部件可能在加热过程中变形，需要在最后焊接阶段后进行加工硬化，或者需要填充支撑材料(沥青)。该项目建议研究AS和激光焊接的结合使用，以开发银设计的新途径。重点是在空心器皿的设计和生产中使用激光焊接的薄板和硬轧材料。这项研究将通过在强大的历史/理论框架内设定的创造性实践进行。该框架将根据20/21世纪银色设计范例的特点进行比较，并根据技术、概念和审美发展的标准进行选择和分析。比较将确定设计在技术和概念条件下被认为是“当代的”和“先进的”，从而为“新途径”提供一个框架，该框架将提供信息、指导和用于验证在实际调查中选择的方向。实践探究将探索制作方法、审美和概念表达之间的关系。创造性的实践和技术实验将被用来识别和探索激光焊接的不同连接方式，并分析美学结果和表达。结果将与从理论研究中获得的见解进行比较，以开发新的途径。一些想法将被实现，以测试和展示过程和结果。该项目最后将对照理论框架中制定的标准对实践阶段的结果进行评价。该项目的成果将包括对20/21世纪银色设计在技术和美学/概念进步方面的发展进行回顾。它将使人了解如何在技术进步和概念/美学关注的关系基础上带来银器设计的新发展，并为通过结合使用AS和激光焊接进行银器设计的新途径提出建议和举例。结果将通过会议和期刊论文发表，并通过在伯明翰博物馆和美术馆展出实践工作，包括研究过程、设计和背景材料。

The aim of this project is to develop new avenues for contemporary silver design in the light of new opportunities arising from the combined use of Argentium Sterling Silver (AS) and laser welding. AS is a new silver alloy, which was developed to combat an oxidation process called 'fire scale', which occurs when standard Sterling Silver (SS) is heated during the fabrication process. Fire scale appears as bluish-grey stains in the surface of SS and is difficult to remove. AS has been recognised for being firescale-free but also for other advantages. This proposal has arisen from an initial exploration by Niedderer (Niedderer, Harrison & Johns 2006), which tested the performance of AS in the context of practice, and which suggested that the combined use of AS with new technologies could offer potential for new developments in silver design. One such technology is laser welding, which can be used successfully with AS but not with SS due to differences in material properties. The benefit of laser welding is in minimal heat application which allows the use of thin, flexible, work-hardened material. In contrast, traditional soldering requires heating the whole piece during fabrication, softening the silver. Any design using soldering therefore has to use sheet material of sufficient thickness to avoid easy indentation within use, commonly ranging between 0.8-1.5mm (e.g. works by Michael Rowe, Simone Ten Hompel, Alessi Tea & Coffee Towers). This makes silverware expensive and puts a range of constraints on the design and production of silverware, because pieces made of thinner material may distort during heating, need to be work-hardened after the last soldering stage, or need to be filled with supporting material (pitch). This project proposes to investigate the combined use of AS and laser welding for developing new avenues in silver design. The focus will be on the use of thin, hard rolled sheet material using laser welding in the design and production of hollowware. The research will be conducted through creative practice set within a robust historical/theoretical framework. The framework will be developed from a comparison of the characteristics of 20th/21st Century examples of silver design, which will be selected and analysed according to criteria of technological, conceptual, and aesthetic developments. The comparison will identify the technological and conceptual conditions under which a design is considered to be 'contemporary' and 'advanced' in its time, thus providing a framework for 'new avenues' that will inform, guide and be used to validate the directions chosen in the practical inquiry. The practical inquiry will explore the relationship of fabrication methods, and of aesthetic and conceptual expression. Creative practice and technical experimentation will be used to identify and explore different ways of joining AS through laser welding and to analyse the aesthetic results and expression. The results will be compared with insights gained from the theoretical inquiry in order to develop new avenues. A number of ideas will be realised to test and demonstrate both process and results. The project will conclude with an evaluation of the outcomes of the practice phase against the criteria developed in the theoretical framework. The outcomes of the project will comprise a review of the development of 20th/21st Century silver design with regard to technical and aesthetic/conceptual advancements. It will generate an understanding of how to bring about new developments in silver design based on the relation of technical advance and conceptual/aesthetic concerns and produce recommendations for, and examples of, new avenues for silver design through the combined use of AS and laser welding. The outcomes will be published through conference and journal papers, and through exhibition of the practice work, including research process, designs, and contextual materials, at Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery.