work by Erik Hoedemakers
www.atelier4d.nl
Rarer than diamonds
What could possibly be more rare than diamonds? There is a little square of paper that was once stuck to an envelope in British Guiana that fetched millions in auction and it wasn’t even a real stamp. I’ll get back to that in a minute. So scarcity and historical importance are keys to the value we attach to things. A single stamp far more rare than a diamond. Rare stamps are the oddball here though, because usually we place more value on handmade objects, made by a single pair of hands.
Art and artefacts
However, the stamp from British Guiana was made by the postmaster himself, because a shipment of stamps from the UK had been delayed. Even the rarest stamps from the stamp-printing works do not come anywhere near the value of the hand-crafted one. Applied art if you will (not in the sense that it was stuck to something). Made by hand by a person. Created to fulfil a need.
Stamp
Now rare stamps are not everyone’s cup of tea, but neither are diamonds. Fortune would have it that there are many designers and makers of applied arts that are creating beautiful and useful things every day. Among them there is bound to be something you have to have. Things created and made with care to enrich your environment. Things to appeal to your senses and make your life more comfortable. Why not seek out a diamond and put your own stamp on your interior.