A modern twist on the traditional cast iron tea set, designer Ian Yen’s minimalist ‘Float’ collection features a large circular “full-moon-like” handle and a straight pointing spout.
Brilliantly polished, the ink tones of the ‘float’ tea set shine with variations while pouring and sipping, just like splash-ink — a technique of Chinese ink-painting.
The base of both the tea pot and cups is characterized by slated fin-like feet, whose collective effort “serves as both a radiator and a stand” ensure the vessels neither tip or lose heat, according to the Yen’s product page. Never satisfied with merely the analog form of perception, the designer’s concept is both poetic and philosophical,Yen’s imagery draws it’s sophistication from what is hidden, “which might be called Dao (or Tao)—the underlying flow of the Universe.”
In ancient Chinese philosophy, the shapeless transforming watery Dao is taken as something to “float on” and “swim in”. Dao, literally means “way” or “principal”, is a non-dual concept, often described in terms of water. As similar to water, it’s soft and quiet but immensely powerful.
In this piece of work, the designer links the “Virtual & Real” concepts to “Dynamics & Stillness” ideas. Just like appreciating landscape paintings in Chinese art, rather than emphasizing visual resemblance to forms, one can experience the expression of “Float”, on which Yen has built an original vision for Oriental Aesthetics.
Text (edited) from Yen’s product page.
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