Inspired by his business of cuff-links made by Australian artists, Lord Coconut decided to expand to the cuffs themselves, sending out more than 50 French Cuffs to Australian artists with only one rule: to use the cuff as their canvas. Of the 50+ cuffs sent out, 37 cuffs have returned. The exhibition has a small, cozy setting, and the cuffs on display in a glass cabinet provide an interesting take on art.

With the surface area of a few squares of toilet paper one would believe an artist’s creativity would be stifled, but if what’s on display shows anything, it’s the wonder of human imagination. Each cuff is different in every way other than its size.

If you are looking to engage further with the exhibition, talk to Lord Coconut himself for interesting stories about each piece. For example, the story behind Greg Hatton’s ‘Worn Cuff’ is simply that: Hatton wore the cuff for a week and whatever stains the cuff is what you see. Stephanie Hocking’s ‘My Two Passions’ is a combination of her passion for drawing and cuff-link design. These are interesting back-stories which I would not have known (though I might have guessed from the title) if I had not talked to Lord Coconut.

Because not every cuff came with a description the stories are not published on the brochure given. The brochure provides a picture and the name and some of the titles may give a hint to the mind of the artist behind the cuff. While talking to Lord Coconut he did mention that he is planning to put some more information on the cuffs on his Facebook page so keep an eye on that.

One thing is for sure, art is not dead yet.

Art of the Cuff runs until 13 October at Lord Coconut. This is a free event.