With this issue, Current Obsession delves into the concept of a placeholder — a container that encapsulates a void, things unknown and yet to be defined — to tackle some of the most complex attributes of jewellery.

Place-holding significance, jewellery and adornment are examined as metaphoric containers for hidden or ‘encoded’ information, the specific meanings of which have been lost — due to colonialism, displacement of people, suppression of knowledge and spiritual practices. The magazine looks at different ways in which this knowledge could be unlocked, rediscovered and empowered.

Research subjects behind this issue represent large fields of study in both theoretical and artistic practices. The magazine, therefore, seeks to create connections between craftspeople – artists, image-makers, and word ‘craftitioners’ – scholars and philosophers.

A total of four chapters constitute the Placeholder Issue:

Chapter 1. Body as an Intermediary Object
Chapter 2. Critical Multiplicity
Chapter 3. ‘Do you mind if I braid while we talk?’
Chapter 4. Becoming-With

In a multidisciplinary dialogue, our team and each contributing artist work on the smallest details, weaving imagery into typography, giving this issue a new feel that ‘place-holds’ for the future.