Charting the Invisible Pulse
Graph
a collar that maps the metrics of modern life
Client
Tjep. (internal project)
Design team
Frank Tjepkema, Joris Laarman
Materials
Laser-cut shape-memory stainless steel.
Size
Approx. 40 cm circumference, 3 cm height (variable fit).
Date
2007
Graph by Tjep.
In an era where every heartbeat, stock tick, and sprint finish collapses into a line on a screen, Tjep. distills the omnipresent graph into Graph, a fluid collar from the Amsterdam studio. Laser-cut from shape-memory stainless steel, this ribbon-like form encircles the neck like the collars of classical portraiture—evoking the dignified adornments of aristocracy while charting the modern forces that rule us. Whether spiking in a cardiac monitor, plunging in market turmoil, or cresting in an athlete’s performance graph, its undulating silhouette transforms cold data into a noble, wearable emblem of vitality, risk, and recorded triumph.
Inspired by the Graphs That Govern
Medical diagnostics, financial dashboards, sports analytics—graphs orchestrate existence, translating pulse rates into survival, share prices into fortunes, and personal bests into peaks and troughs. Tjep. harnesses this visual lexicon to craft a single, flowing band that embodies their quiet authority, reimagining the aristocratic collar as a contemporary talisman of measured life.
Artistic Innovation: Form That Remembers
Precision laser-cutting shapes the stainless steel into a minimalist, continuous graph line that gently folds around the neck—no clasp, no chain—held in place by the material’s memory and subtle tension. This seamless ribbon echoes the unbroken arcs of real-time data, merging technical precision with the poise of historical portraiture to create a piece that is both graphic and regal.
A Commentary on Measured Lives
Graph interrogates the elegance and control of our quantified world, asking whether we command the curves or merely wear their imprint. In Tjep.’s tradition of tech-infused provocation—echoing Bling Bling’s branded satire—it elevates impersonal metrics into a personal crest, inviting wearers to carry the narrative of their own plotted existence with quiet defiance and grace.
From Tjep.’s visionary atelier, Graph encircles the throat as a refined lifeline to the abstract—a distinguished collar for those who navigate life’s fluctuating charts with awareness and stature.