The title of my work is “eBay Vintage Jewelry”
I love mindlessly scrolling through antique jewelry listings on eBay. I’m drawn to the thrill of discovering one-of-a-kind hidden pieces. However, what intrigues me most is the website itself. The blurry photos, comical usernames, overuse of buzzwords, and outdated site design, creates a unique pocket of the internet that fascinates me.
This interest inspired my work, where I re-interpret the eBay vintage jewelry market in the form of a contemporary artist book. In the work, the existing visual elements of eBay are adapted. From grid structure to color and typography, the physical site is represented in the book’s design. Additionally, listing photos have been contextualized as pieces of art, with each page displaying photos of antique jewelry pulled directly from the site. Accompanying each photo, an artist credit line acknowledges the online seller’s title for the listing, selling location, and unique username.
The work plays into a larger conversation about how visual design can recontextualize outdated concepts. Overall, through the use of graphic design, eBay’s vintage jewelry market is flipped inside out, and reimagined in this visually dynamic book.
