Spotted | A High Tech Mug, Gilded Vessels, Herringbone Objects + more

Welcome to Spotted, our weekly must-see list from the world of contemporary ceramic art and contemporary ceramic art. We take off this week with the complex vessels of George Timock.

Featured image: Phil Cuttance, Herringbone Objects, 2017

George Timock

We Spotted the gilded sculptures of revered Kansas City Art Institute professor and artist George Timock in George Timock: A Legacy in Clay 1973 – 2015 at Belger Arts Center (October 6, 2017 – January 14, 2018).

George Timock’s handling and sculpting of clay is totally distinctive, whether in his early raku work or his more recent porcelain vessels. If his double-walled raku bowls, made from approximately 1966 – 2006, are flagrantly open and invite you to dive into them, his porcelain pieces, which he began after a trip to Hungary in 2006, have become increasingly complex and self-contained over time. With their layers of gilded paint and carefully sculpted, multi-faceted exteriors, they resemble precious treasure pots, worthy of a royal habitat.

With a career spanning 49 years with more than 100 exhibitions including select solo shows, his works are in several permanent collections including the Smithsonian Institute, Daum Museum of Contemporary Art and Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art.

Read more here.

David Robbins

We Spotted artist and writer David Robbins’ commemorative plate Memento (From Andy With Love) for his former employer Andy Warhol, Adora Porcelain, writes.

The work features an image transposed from a short dedication Warhol once inscribed to Robbins in a copy of the The Philosophy of Andy Warhol. Working within the implied language of commemorative plates, Robbins plays with levels of authorship and authenticity, while testing the sincerity of Andy’s “love.”

Robbins is known for investigating the intersections between art and entertainment.

 

Temperature Controlling Ceramic Mug

Ember has released its ceramic mug with temperature control, the first of its kind. The mug allows users to moderate the temperature of the mug with an app.

There’s an on/off switch but you can leave it on because its intelligent sleep mode simply wakes the mug up when there’s liquid inside. The app then allows users to set and maintain a temperature, which in turn guarantees and sustains flavors—and the pleasure of the beverage. Its charging station doubles as a saucer and the app also lets you personalize the color of the mug’s power light so you can easily identify which one’s yours.

Read more at Cool Hunting.

Phil Cuttance

We Spotted these hypnotic ceramic vessels and platters by London-based designer Phil Cuttance. Each features a herringbone-like surface design with precision seen from 3D printers, but what makes these Herringbone Objects (2017) mega cool and Spot-worthy, is that they’re actually handmade from eco-friendly, cement-like Jesmonite using a process Cuttance developed himself, Design Milk writes.

After creating a paper pattern, he cuts and pleats a plastic sheet to follow the pattern, which results in the Herringbone relief. That relief is then used to produce a prototype before making the pieces by hand in colors like: White marble (sparkles), Grey marble (sparkles), Granite (white with speckle), Dark Blue, Brick Red, Taupe, Sage Green, and Yellow. Each piece has a laser etched cork base with the object’s name and piece number.

You can see more of Cuttance’s work here.

Knitted Camouflage

Though not clay, we love this satisfying Knitted Camouflage photography series by Joseph Ford, especially this tile wall and floor combo transformed into the knitted form. Textile work by Nina Dodd.

Stay tuned throughout the week as we’ll continue to update our must-see list from the world of contemporary ceramic art and contemporary ceramic art. Be sure to let us know what you think in the comments section below.