art as utility…

I have a growing fascination with teapots and tea sets in general. They are stuningly beautiful. I’ve been familiarizing myself with the potential casting process and making multiple wax replicas, toying with the shapes and the colours and changing the material to something less rigid…taking the formality and tradition out of chine and tea sets. I have thought about making functional wax teapots out of wax, allowing them to melt and disintigrate over the course of tea. a potentially interesting process.

recently i visited the Gardiner Museum to take in the ‘Object Factory: the art of industrial ceramics’. this show was interesting because it was a mix of artists and industrial designers with a variety of ciramics, primarily tea of coffee sets – some were one of a kind ‘art pieces’ some were an example of a some ceramics that were mass produced, designed and sold. All of them were beautiful.

This show had a great variety of styles and interpretations of ceramics and tea sets – some were old china sets reconfigured, printed on or sanded away in some respect. Other were sleek, clever classic disegns, amusing designs, and some you would expect to find in a trendy hotel. the show toyed with materials, using rubber, foam, cork, bark or velvet in some of the designs, and explored issues of utility by cutting holes in a tea cup, taking away its use, but turning it into an art piece in the process – reimagining ceramics, their uses and their statement as a work of art – which is an idea that influences my creative process and continues to have me questioning materials and structure, and their implications. 

all in all, the show was great. very intimate, crisp, clear, bright and well displayed with an amazing selection of works by artist curator marek cecula.

if you like design, art, dishes, sculpture or tea, you should go see this show – its fabulous!

~ by wordbird on July 31, 2008.