Aaron Decker just left Lisbon after almost a one and a half month of an artistic residency in Lisbon wit the support of PIN.
Before he left to Tallin where is going to spend another month in residency, with Kadri Maelk, at the Estonian Academie of Arts, PIN asked Aaron a few questions regarding his impression of his artistic residency during the time he spend in Lisbon.
PIN would like to thank Aaron Decker for his strong commitment, passion and hardwork regarding the time he spend here!

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PIN – Aaron tell us about your motivation to do an artistic residency in Lisbon?
AARON DECKER - This is a question answered in two parts. First, how I got the opportunity to have the residency here is a collage of so many giving institution, people and artists. When I graduated with my Bachelors Degree I was awarded a Windgate Fellowship by the Center for Craft, Creativity and Design. This Award is given out every two years to ten emerging craft artists who are in their final year of study. I applied with the intention of going to a place I had never experienced nor knew all that well and searching out the contemporary jewelers there. The choice that I came across was like destiny. Manuel Vilhena is a friend of my professor, Sharon Portelance. I got in contact with him early on about his work and some research I was conducting. I then asked him if there was a thriving community of artists in Portugal, to this he replied “there is so much going on there, it’s wonderful.” I knew at that moment that Portugal was the place I wanted to go. I began to look more at intuition the artists and their work, seeing examples on the PIN website. The thriving community of artists, jewelers gallerists and all others apart of this community was a sight to behold. There is a freshness and air here that is full of electricity, something I couldn’t imagine from just looking online in the States when contacting PIN, but upon arrival it was immediately palpable. I wanted my artistic residency to be about giving to this community, so often artists go somewhere to make work in a place, inspired by that place, and while I enjoy that, my goal was to give something sincerely back and also experience as much as I could. So I chose to interview and document Contemporary Portuguese Jewelers working here and then do a performance inspired by my experiences here.


PIN – How do you found the city and the artistic jewellery scene in confront with your expectations?
AARON DECKER - My expectations coming here were to find the “Portuguese” aesthetic. While interviewing and seeing the scene here it became ever clearer that in terms of an overall aesthetic, the work is as diverse as the artists making it. I didn’t find a Portuguese aesthetic; I did however see common threads in working methodologies, attitudes and conceptual analysis of all the artists. Of course they are not all the same, but there are attitudes here that are shared commonly among the community. In retrospect I am glad that the aesthetic was not as concretely manifesting itself nor apparent as I thought it may be because I think that was a learning lesson for me. Sometimes people put artists in categories, or as a colleague of mine said, “boxes.” These boxes, although seemingly harmless and in place to organize and categorize work for easy cataloguing and grouping, often limit the understanding of the artists work being made. I have found here more than ever before that the context in which artwork occurs is critical in digesting and comprehending the work, the intention and the perspective of the artist.


PIN – How has your time in Lisbon influenced your process of thinking about jewellery?
AARON DECKER - This is an incredibly loaded question and I think I will start in admitting that I am very young. At 23 I am at the beginning of my practice, not the very beginning of course, but early stages of development, definitely. And I don’t shy away from admitting this either, it is important in my eyes to constantly be aware of this fact because it frees me from concretely forming pillars in my thinking that are solid and unchanging. In fact, I believe that being in Lisbon only for a month and a half has assisted me in coming to this realization. The notions I had before I came here have admittedly been reconfigured in ways that I don’t necessarily comprehend as of yet, but will influence me in years to come.
But, back to the meat of the question for jewllery. I think most importantly here, in Lisbon, I have seen artists working in ways that I am unsure of for myself, and this created friction at first. That friction turned into confusion, and now slowly has liberated my thinking of jewellery from merely my own perspective, but to others’ as well. I realized that openess in one’s practice and making of jewelry is important, you surprise yourself. Materials are not predetermined for certain art objects, nor should they ever be prescribed. I realized that jewelry can push past objecthood and manifest itself into experience, into something as intangible as an idea. These realizations have really confronted my way of thinking that I took from my education and expanded my vocabulary and awareness as an artist, for this I am ever grateful.


PIN – You met several jewellery, visual and plastic artists during your time here, from different generations. How do you define the Portuguese jewellery scene?
AARON DECKER - Again, a hard question to place my finger directly upon.
I did see many artists work, interviewing them at length about their practice and about Portugal. I would define the Portuguese jewellery scene as an expanding and ever introspective group who investigates deeply, but also allows their intuitions to guide their practice. The scene is full of rich thinkers and makers who are not just interested in what is being made right now, but are ever aware of their context within it. They pull deeply from within themselves and juxtapose that with what is coming from outside. I think it is a pity more people cannot come here and experience what I have, because honestly this group of artists is one of the richest, kindest and engaging ones I have come across.


PIN – The exercise “para ti com amor” translates what you think the purpose of jewelery is, can you tell us about your jewellery vision and attitude throughout this exercise in the context of a moment of profound financial and social crises? Do you believe that jewellery can stand and fight against social and financial values?
AARON DECKER - Definitely a great question and one that requires me to approach each part separately and then tie them together. “para ti, com amor” came about because of a situation on the bus that I experienced. I often get AHA moments, like Eureka! I was on the bus on my way home and of course I couldn’t completely understand what people were saying around me nor talking about because my grasp of the Portuguese language is limited. So I observed and realized that I could read people's interactions based solely on their body language. It was interesting to watch people interact and not able to rely on being told, but having to interpret what was occurring. I then concluded that one of the most basic gestures a person can understand is that of giving. My vision for this exercise was to present a gift, a piece of jewelry, to the people on a bus.
A mere gesture that is both simple, yet also the crux of almost every culture, the act of giving. I decided to make paper journal pendants that are like little books, all containing a written sentence “para ti, com amor.” I got on the bus at 11:04 August 13, 2012, bus #742: 4266 and started to give out the pendants democratically, everyone who got on was approached and offered one. Some accepted and others did not.
During a profound financial and social crisis the systems of value shift.
Cultures often begin to shift the way value is built structurally. For jewelry right now, I believe this is also true. Jewelry is incredibly expensive, both  commercial and art jewelry. Of course this is a blatant generalization, but one I am prepared to make for the sake of this point. I think this elevation in price and also the availability of the same formats of jewelry such as wedding bands creates this expensive and homogenized market that we are all apart of. You can buy one ring in one city, and then travel across the world, and there it is, the same ring. That ring is also worn by 100,000 other people. And soon there will be more people with that same ring, merely based on fad and availability. In this way jewelry has lost some its ritualistic power, the ceremony has become secondary and the object has become only for objects sake. Personally I love ceremony and I love the innate power it possesses in jewelry. So I am more apt to believe that jewelry given, not bought. In the “para ti, com amor” I hoped to challenge the notions of commercial jewelry by directly undercutting the
monetary system and replacing it with an emotional and psychological exchange driven by the act of giving.
Do I think jewelry can stand and fight against social and financial values, yes. And I will always be a proponent of this idea because I think it is important to be aware of the financial and political atmosphere your work is being made within and to utilize it to your advantage and contribute in the dialogue. Often we, “artists,” are pressured to get into a gallery and make work that can sell or work that will be collected. I personally find
the advent of making money to be devastating to my process, this also
might be a naive perspective from my age and one that will change with
time, but for now that is my feeling. I instead look at this pressure as a
creative endeavor and solve the riddle or problem through projects that
engage in social intervention. It is my hope that my work isn’t only shown
in a gallery, but is owned and worn on display by anyone, no matter their
finances. Jewelry is a powerful object that is engages people, memories
and relationships. Without people jewelry would not be.

PIN - How can jewellery support people emotionally and financially?
AARON DECKER - I think jewelry has always been there for us emotionally
and financially. Emotionally because there is a long line of historical
customs and cultural practices that utilize jewelry as a n object of
dedication, remembrance or celebration. The symbolic strength of jewelry
is rooted in the emotional and psychological value it resonates with.
Financially, in a broad sense, that was true in history but even now much
jewelry uses material that is made from precious materials. But for artists
selling their work, this is important. Then there is the financial support of
organizations that want to expand and assists artists in their practice, this
financial assistance is incredibly needed and important for the
development of generations of artists to come.

PIN - THANK YOU AARON. WE WISH YOU A GREAT TRIP TO TALLINN AND
A GREAT RESIDENCY THERE AS WELL! KEEP IN TOUCH.

Lisboa, Agosto 2012