Through the Mesh

Jewelry artist Dana Hakim Bercovich collects the iron mesh from used loudspeakers at electronic equipment plants and flea markets, and transforms it into jewelry. The mesh was originally mounted directly over the face of the speaker driver, which is embedded in audio systems. The mesh protects the driver elements and speaker internals while allowing the sound to clearly pass. 

The looser the mesh, the easier it is for the sound to pass through. A flexible cloth mesh, for instance, moves in response to the sound’s vibration, thus enabling it to pass through. A rigid mesh made of iron, aluminum, or plastic, by contrast, usually resembles a perforated membrane, in which variously sized and located holes ensure the proper flow of sound. 

Hakim Berkovich’s pieces respond to the anxieties experienced by individuals in a global and digital world in which one’s body and most private spaces become arenas of surveillance. The Internet, mass media, security camera, and new information technologies flood us with an endless stream of information, while constantly gathering data about us. 

Hakim Bercovich’s jewelry-making transforms the crude mesh, which is a form of industrial refuse, into intimate jewelry pieces that are worn on the body. These pieces, which are inspired by traditional talismans, may alternately appear as performing the ancient symbolic function of protecting their wearers, or as implants in our bodies. They mark us as if they were concealed transmitters revealing our identity and location, intimating that “big brother” continues to watch us and speak to us through the mesh. 

Emanating from the screens, which present closeups of the various meshes, are the sounds of several jewelry-making process, including sawing, cutting, filing, and punching. The sounds were recorded by the sound artist Elad Shniderman while Hakim Bercovich was working, and offer a glimpse of the complex process of reworking the meshes. 

Dana Hakim Bercovich
Dana Hakim Bercovich (b. 1977, Israel) graduated with honors from the Jewelry and Fashion Design Department of the Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design, Jerusalem (2006), where she currently serves as a teacher. She holds an MFA from the Konstfack University College of Arts, Crafts and Design in Stockholm (2010). She is the recipient of the Ministry of Culture and Sport Design Prize (2014) and additional international prizes. Her works are featured in leading museums and galleries worldwide and in prominent collections. They are now being exhibited for the first time at Design Museum Holon.

This exhibition includes a selection of pieces from a number of series that Hakim has created since completing her studies in Sweden: Including “My Four Guardian Angels – Blue Series” (2011 – 2014) and “Crafted Fear” (2015-2017).

The jewelry is made of the following materials:
Ready-made iron mesh and chains, cotton and polyester threads, acrylic paint, epoxy varnish.
Rubber gloves, rubber, plastic balls, plastic.