SPONDYLUS is an exploration on materiality and craftsmanship duality through creative design. The Spondylus shell was the currency used by precolombian communities located in the Pacific coast of Ecuador. During the Spanish colonization of South America, gold was imposed as a new form of currency. The object not only represented monetary value, but cultural and religious values as well. The duality between the Spondylus shell and gold serves as an example of how deeply intertwined the notion of value is with materiality through a cultural lens.

The Spondylus shell not only had monetary value, but it was a common material used by artisans as well. The object was physically intervened before being 3D scanned, modeled and rendered for the video piece. Addressing to the perpetual significance of manual artisanship while manifesting how contemporary craftsmanship can exist within the digital context. “My model has become the central part of the creative effort. The modeling arena is where I shape my things. The physical object itself has become mere industrial output. The model is the manager’s command-and-control platform. The object is merely hard copy”. (Sterling, Bruce. Shaping Things. The MIT Press, 2005)