Ted Noten


Ted Noten is a Dutch conceptual artist. He is especially known for his Turbo Princess pendant featuring a mouse wearing a small pearl necklace, and his solid acrylic handbags and suitcases containing guns. A broad spectrum of galleries and museum collections all over the world represent his oeuvre. Since 2005, his design company Atelier Ted Noten, or ATN, has extended its jewellery creations towards design projects, installations and commissions for both private collectors, cultural organisations and art institutions.

Life

Born in the Dutch town of Tegelen in 1956, Noten explored careers such as bricklaying and nursing at a psychiatric hospital before applying to art school. He enrolled in the Maastricht Academy for Applied Arts in the Netherlands, and in 1990 he obtained a degree from Amsterdam's Gerrit Rietveld Academie. From 2005 to 2008 Noten worked as a senior international research fellow at the Birmingham School of Jewellery of Birmingham City University in the UK. Since 2007 he teaches master classes at the Design Academy Eindhoven in the Netherlands.

Works

Noten claims to be influenced by Marcel Duchamp, Francis Bacon, Damien Hurst, and Marilyn Monroe, among others.

Beginnings

A selection of Noten's early work:
  • Alter Ago 3 brooch combining a piece of paper, gold wire and part of a bitter lemon soft drink can.
  • Sweat With Horse ring, a wooden chess piece and a golden ring loosely connect to form a wearable ring. The chess piece needs to be balanced continuously though by the wearer. There is horsehair attached to the side to absorb sweat.
  • Stokpaaedje ring, golden ring with black metal hobby horse on top.
  • Bracelet for a Garagekeeper, gold-plated aluminium bracelet composed of wrenches.

    Turbo Princess

Noten's 1995 Turbo Princess pendant, featuring a little mouse cast in acrylic and wearing a small pearl necklace, started off his success. In 2011 it was commemorated by a limited edition pin.
A selection of Noten's other acrylic casts:
  • If You Want To Be Beautiful, You Have To Suffer ring, acrylic ring with open cup on top that is filled with a collection of pearls, diamonds and other gemstones. The wearer of the ring needs to hold the cup upright all the time to avoid losing its content.
  • Meat Bag, pork chop cast in acrylic with 18K gold-plated trim and leather strap.
  • Survival Bag 1, mackerel cast in acrylic with second-hand handle.
  • Ageeth's Bruidsschat bag a.k.a. Ageeth's Dowry bag, commissioned bridal handbag containing large amount of gold jewellery donated by the bride's family, with double pearl string carrying strap.
  • Bitch Bag, non-functional acrylic shoulderbag with single golden ring inside. In DSM collection.
  • Superbitch Bag, contains Walther handgun cast in acrylic with snakeskin strap.
  • Salamander Bracelet, shows a small salamander cast in acrylic. In the Stedelijk Museum 's-Hertogenbosch collection.
  • Fly Attacks Diamond brooch, fly cast in acrylic with diamond, silver trim.
  • Physician's Bag with a collection of physician's instruments cast in acrylic.
  • Lady-K-Bag, Noten's first Lady K bag containing a gold-plated gun cast in acrylic with a fired bullet leaving the gun's muzzle, as if frozen in time.
  • Paperheadring contains a tiny paper hat cast in acrylic.
  • Female Knuckle Duster ring combines four acrylic rings to form a knuckle duster.
  • Fabergé Revisited bag with large, broken egg and collection of gemstones cast in acrylic. Functional purse top.
  • Donna Corleone's handbag, contains a golden bullet, diamonds, cocaine, and has chrome steel trim.
  • Golden Pills Bag, contains gold-plated pills cast in acrylic with snakeskin handle. Priced at €19,500.00.
  • Icepick Bag contains icepick, golden ring, diamonds and cocaine cast in acrylic with pearl string carrying strap.
  • Murdered Innocence attaché case, containing a child's christening dress, as well as a silver-plated gun with silencer, a pearl, a diamond, and a golden bullet, all encased in acrylic with silver suitcase handle attached. In the Stedelijk Museum 's-Hertogenbosch collection.
  • Love Bag, based on Ageeth's Dowry this non-functional acrylic bag shows a large number of golden rings cast in acrylic with double pearl string carrying strap. Noten followed it up with a more rectangular Love Bag 2 a.k.a. Lyppens Bag.
  • Love Bag 2 a.k.a. Lyppens Bag from the collection of Amsterdam-based jeweller Joost Lyppens.
  • RataSmile carry-on luggage, limited edition of three pieces containing large rat cast in acrylic with diamond in its mouth.
  • Ice Ball necklace, contains various items cast in acrylic balls with golden interconnections.
  • Starling Bag, black starling cast in acrylic, with long handle and rubber grip.
  • Limited Edition series, collection of 6 acrylic pieces. One handbag contains an artificial knee implant, another a medical pace maker, the Back up backpack shows a handgun, and the Paraphernalia case with pink strap contains a pearl necklace, 0.25K diamond, cocaine, a Kabbalah string, and a cross, reflecting the lifestyle of Madonna. The trolley A Split Second Before Imploding has Amsterdam-based fashion design duo Viktor & Rolf's Flowerbomb perfume suspended inside and is in the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam collection.
  • Wearable Art for Stars bags, series of 12 unique acrylic bags, i.e. Marilyn and Sophia, except for the limited edition Marriage Proposal Bag a.k.a. Tom & Katie Bag that contains two silver engagement rings, red heart with cross, yellow amethyst, and quartz crystal, all cast in acrylic with white functional top. Priced at €12,000.00.
  • Lady K Bag Nr. 3, with gold-plated gun and bullet, functional top part.
  • Lady K Bag Nr. 4, special Prada edition with Prada bag top part.
  • I Visited the Waterside necklace, contains a wide variety of found objects cast in acrylic with 18K golden interconnections.
  • Beautiful by accident a.k.a. Louis Vuitton Bag, a Louis Vuitton bag cast in one-piece acrylic with integrated handle.
  • No Title Yet... carry-on luggage, Noten's first black acrylic suitcase with the contents invisible to the naked eye. The viewer is allowed a peek inside by means of a gold-plated lightbox with an X-ray image of the suitcase.
  • Choker Revisited necklace, consists of six oval acrylic parts with different gem stones inside, 18K gold-plated interconnections.
  • Superbitch Bag Lady K, a limited edition of 7 pieces of a functional handbag containing a gold-plated Walther PPK handgun engraved with flowers and cast in acrylic.
  • When I used to be a kid trolley, acrylic casting with wooden rubber band gun and pink plastic trim.
  • Grandma's Bag Revisited a.k.a. Chameleon Bag, large chameleon encased in acrylic with a grin on its face, functional Louis Vuitton top part and gold-plated trim. Priced at €25,000.00.
  • Al Gore Backpack, a 50 kg acrylic bloc with a portable TomTom GPS navigation system inside that is set for a slowly melting glacier in Switzerland. The backpack was displayed on the Laughing Prohibited! exhibition during Dutch Design Week.
  • Uzi Mon Amour attaché case with 24K gold-plated Uzi submachine gun cast in acrylic, limited edition of 5 pieces engraved with flowers and with a Chinese love poem engraved around the silencer. Priced at US$92,000.00.
  • Ted meets Joost Lyppens, a collaboration between Atelier Ted Noten and Joost Lyppens of Lyppens Jewellery, Amsterdam, resulting in a collection of 12 rings, 4 earrings, 3 bracelets and 3 necklaces with black, white and coloured diamonds, all cast in acrylic and with 18K golden trim. The Coco Chanel Revisited necklace and the Black Widow necklace are part of this project.
  • 21 Necklace, contains 21st century remnants cast in acrylic. The connecting parts are 3D-printed nylon.
  • Voorheen Q.E. a.k.a. Previously owned by Queen Elizabeth bag, acrylic handbag with 18K gold-plated sewing implements and an antique purse.
  • This Is Not A Ring brooch, which can be worn as a ring as well by people with a mind of their own. Yellow facetted amethyst cast in acrylic with 18K goldwire and gold-plated safetylock. Unique piece priced at €850.00.

    Chew Your Own Brooch

In 1998 Noten developed an ongoing project called Chew Your Own Brooch. It was first explored at the Rotterdam art museum Boijmans van Beuningen. Appr. 800 visitors, including many children, were given a piece of chewing gum and asked to "chew their own brooch". Once they were satisfied with the shape they had produced, the piece was put in a little box, marked, and judged by a panel. First, second and third-place winners were then presented with their brooches, made of their own piece of chewing gum cast respectively in 24K gold, silver and bronze. For many years now Noten has provided clients with their own chewing kit. When the client is satisfied with the shape they produced the piece of gum is returned and a replica brooch is made cast in silver or gold.

Wearable Gold

Wearable Gold a.k.a. Object consists of a pair of inconspicuous black and white sling back shoes with 24K gold insoles, allowing the wearer to walk on gold without attracting too much attention, as well as providing security in less fortunate times. Noten got inspired when he met a stranger on a train, a Jewish man who spoke of the horrors of being in Auschwitz during the Second World War, and about money, poverty and death. The man explained that gold and diamonds were the only real currency and that he still carried gold inside his shoes for security against the next rainy day. Wearable Gold 2 are 24K gold glazed porcelain pendants that are much less inconspicuous and only serve to impress the onlooker as the real value in gold is limited.
A similar concept, but now in silver, is Noten's N.T. 2011, a 5 kg 999/1000 silver bar one can carry around by its handle and shoulder strap. In a limited edition of 3 pieces.