Bernhard Schobinger

A graduate of the School of Applied Arts in Zurich, he has worked independently since 1968, gaining international recognition. Whether salvaging door handles from demolished houses in his hometown of Richterswil, diving to the bottom of Lake Zürich for fishhooks, or collecting smashed bottles from concerts, Swiss artist Bernhard Schobinger transforms found objects, often broken, rusting, or discarded metal and glass, into jewelry and sculptures with a sense of danger and wit. His reuse of ordinary, almost crude, materials shares some of the methods of Surrealism and Arte Povera, as well as display an early influence of Constructivism’s industrial, angular style. But overall, it’s a punk ethos that has permeated Schobinger’s work ever since he encountered the burgeoning subculture in the late-1970s. Fashioned out of the destroyed remnants of the everyday, his jewelry can often appear physically dangerous – shards of glass, saw blades, and other threatening tools are placed in sharp contrast to human necks, wrists, and fingers – even though each piece is meticulously designed and engineered to be wearable. His work was included in the V&A’s survey show Postmodernism: Style and Subversion 1970-1990.