Moscow design studio Art.Lebedev created the Kemikus tea set that draws its inspiration from chemistry and traditional Russian folk art. The tea service is covered with centuries-old Gzhel patterns, which evolved in and around the village of Gzhel, which is southeast of Moscow. The studio states that the ceramic flasks, test tubes, petri dishes and beakers were repurposed “for home kitchen experiments.”
Artemy Lebedev and Timur Burbayev headed the art direction for the project. Founded in 1995, the design studio’s headquarters are in Moscow and it has additional offices in Kiev and New York. The studio’s biography page states they are the leading Russian design studio. It’s full of thorny, aggressive language in which they state that although they work to find simple, elegant solutions to design projects, they won’t work with “private persons, political parties, jerk-offs and those whose views conflict with ours.” They state: “There are never guarantees that we’ll find common grounds with those who wish to work with us. What we do is guarantee that whatever we do, we do it right, the way we see it.”
So, if you’re in the market for a tea set that doesn’t belie your reputation as an underground counterculture tough guy maybe Kemikus is for you.
Above image: Kemikus tea set by Art.Lebedev. Courtesy of the designers.
Kemikus tea set by Art.Lebedev design studio of Moscow. All images courtesy of the designers.
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