Testing grounds - The SIM project (2022)
Exhibition / Performance
Menger, F. Testing grounds - The SIM project. [Photography]. 10 November 2022 - 31 January 2023. (Unpublished)

Exploring how the SIM card shapes a sense of security, identity and community, the project disrupts the automated nature of the smartphone to create unique, wearable artworks, stamped with QR codes. Exhibition of SIM card size glass plate photographs... Read More about Testing grounds - The SIM project.

Man-made crystals: A review of their historic and contemporary context and use (2022)
Presentation / Conference
Boons, S. (2022, January). Man-made crystals: A review of their historic and contemporary context and use. Paper presented at 16th International Conference on Design Principles and Practices, University of Newcastle, Australia

This paper reports on the history and use of man-made crystals for jewellery in a contemporary context. The cross-disciplinary contextual review traces human fascination with gemstones back centuries, and covers key developments in their ‘imitation’.... Read More about Man-made crystals: A review of their historic and contemporary context and use.

Man-made gems: An investigation into the design implications, possibilities and limitations of utilising man-made gems for jewellery (2021)
Presentation / Conference
Boons, S. (2021, December). Man-made gems: An investigation into the design implications, possibilities and limitations of utilising man-made gems for jewellery. Paper presented at IASDR 2021: The ninth Congress of the International Association of Societies of Design Research, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

With crystal growing techniques having been around for many years, bespoke man-made gems now drive innovations in a range of industries. This has however not translated into the jewellery industry, where innovations with man-made gems have remained l... Read More about Man-made gems: An investigation into the design implications, possibilities and limitations of utilising man-made gems for jewellery.

Man-made crystals (2021)
Presentation / Conference
Boons, S. (2021, August). Man-made crystals. Paper presented at Nordes 2021: Matters of Scale, Kolding

With crystal growing techniques having been around for many years, bespoke man-made crystals now drive innovations in a range of industries. This has however not translated into the jewellery industry, where innovations with man-made crystals have re... Read More about Man-made crystals.

An insight into the problem-solving processes required in the transformation of ideas using novel materials (2021)
Presentation / Conference
Boons, S. (2021, June). An insight into the problem-solving processes required in the transformation of ideas using novel materials

Crystals as co-creators: An investigation of growing crystals as a methodology for jewellery designers (2021)
Journal Article
Boons, S. (2021). Crystals as co-creators: An investigation of growing crystals as a methodology for jewellery designers. FORMakademisk, 14(2), 1-18. https://doi.org/10.7577/formakademisk.4190

Grown crystals are used for a range of novel innovations supporting a wide array of industries. Within the jewellery industry however, grown crystals are only used in a limited capacity and mainly as a surrogate for mined gemstones. This paper invest... Read More about Crystals as co-creators: An investigation of growing crystals as a methodology for jewellery designers.

The alchemical dream of man-made crystals: A contextual review of the creative use of man-made crystals for the production of jewellery (2021)
Presentation / Conference
Boons, S. (2021, March). The alchemical dream of man-made crystals: A contextual review of the creative use of man-made crystals for the production of jewellery. Paper presented at Fifteenth International Conference on Design Principles & Practices, University of Monterrey, Mexico

This paper reports on the limited creative use of man-made crystals for the production of jewellery designs through a contextual review. Jewellers have used crystals for the creation of jewellery for centuries (Philips, 2012) utilising tools to adjus... Read More about The alchemical dream of man-made crystals: A contextual review of the creative use of man-made crystals for the production of jewellery.

The golden box (2021)
Physical Artefact
Boons, S. The golden box. [Handkerchief, gold, bioresin]

Home, four walls, both protecting and isolating from a world outside. A safe domestic haven, for contemplation, reflection and nourishment. A place of clarity, order and love, hidden from turmoil and chaos

CFPR Showcase (2020)
Exhibition / Performance
Boons, S., Field, L., Jorgensen, T., Dessain, C., Butler, A., Hoskins, S., …Trujillo Vazquez, A. CFPR Showcase. [Various]. 9 December 2020. (Unpublished)

Our shift towards the digital has provided us a new challenge: how can we offer an alternative experience that surpasses a physical visit to an exhibition? This showcase is a first response to this question. It includes a range of images, a video, an... Read More about CFPR Showcase.

Questioning the ‘real’ and ‘natural’: A case study on diamonds (2020)
Presentation / Conference
Boons, S. (2020, December). Questioning the ‘real’ and ‘natural’: A case study on diamonds. Presented at Art of Research 2020, Aalto, Finland

The aim of the presentation is to explore and question the definitions assigned to materials and their promotion as natural’ and ‘real’. When it comes to identifying materials, how many processes applied to the material can be justified for it to be... Read More about Questioning the ‘real’ and ‘natural’: A case study on diamonds.

Centre for Fine Print research showcase (2020)
Journal Article
Boons, S. (2020). Centre for Fine Print research showcase. JAWS: Journal of Arts Writing by Students, 6(2), 153-155. https://doi.org/10.1386/jaws_00022_5

Jewellery ± Scent x Science = Alchemy? (2020)
Presentation / Conference
Boons, S. (2020, July). Jewellery ± Scent x Science = Alchemy?. Presented at Print and Book Festival, Bristol

Contemporary jewellers are considered artists of the miniature sentiment and crafters of the wearable statement. Outside the realm of status and commodity, jewellery can be used to visualise the intangible and conceptual, creating objects and adornme... Read More about Jewellery ± Scent x Science = Alchemy?.

MRE2020: Transforming ideas through utilising novel materials, and an insight into the problem-solving process applied. (2020)
Presentation / Conference
Boons, S. (2020, February). MRE2020: Transforming ideas through utilising novel materials, and an insight into the problem-solving process applied. Presented at Materials Research Exchange 2020, Business Design Centre, London

Material Research Exchange 2020 http://www.materialsresearchexchange.co.uk/ Materials Research Exchange (MRE20) is a two-day exhibition and conference which showcases the wealth of UK materials research and investment opportunities. With the... Read More about MRE2020: Transforming ideas through utilising novel materials, and an insight into the problem-solving process applied..

Jewellery ± Scent x Science = Alchemy? (2020)
Presentation / Conference
Boons, S. (2020, February). Jewellery ± Scent x Science = Alchemy?. Presented at CFPR Seminar Series, Bristol

Contemporary jewellers are considered artists of the miniature sentiment and crafters of the wearable statement. Outside the realm of status and commodity, jewellery can be used to visualise the intangible and conceptual, creating objects and adornme... Read More about Jewellery ± Scent x Science = Alchemy?.