Welcome to Spotted, our weekly roundup of various exciting items from the worlds of contemporary ceramics and contemporary ceramic art. We very rarely have themes for Spotted, but this week we thought we’d present a design-heavy edition of Spotted. Let’s get started!
Above image: PIIPU ceramic coffee and tea pot by Kaksikko. Photograph by Kantikoski.
All other photographs by Chikako Harada.
From Vosges Paris:
Operating under the name Kaksikko, meaning ‘duo’ in Finnish, Salla Luhtasela, a former confectioner and Wesley Walters, a Japanese interpreter, are in the process of completing their studies at the Aalto University. I met them and got to see their work in the young designers area while visiting Habitare in September. They are also the designers of the bar stool for Nikari I showed on the blog before.
The designs by the duo is characterised by skilful minimalism, combined with warm cosiness.
Wesly Walters: “Piippu is a small coffee pot and filter holder inspired by abandoned machinery in Helsinki that remains standing despite having outlived its original purpose. These objects often possess an unusual aesthetic balance in their utilitarian forms that is heightened by the mystery of their intended function. Pipe joints, funnels, cylinders, rust and corroded metals all served as visual inspiration for the form and surface treatment of this tableware set.
Design by Andrea Branzi
Designer Andrea Branzi recently released photographs of a new design series. The long, slender stems on each of these objects give them an organic, almost fungal look. From the Friedman Benda gallery:
Andrea Branzi was born in Florence in 1938 and studied as an architect at the Florence School of Architecture, receiving a degree in 1966. From 1964 to 1974, he was a founding member of the experimental group Archizoom, which envisioned the No-Stop-City among other projects. A key member of the Studio Alchimia, founded in 1976, he went on to associate with the Memphis Group in the 1980s. Presently, he lives and works in Milan, and until 2009 was a professor and chairman of the School of Interior Design at the Politecnico di Milano.
STAGE by Ole Scheeren
Working for Dean and Deluca, Ole Scheeren went to Design Miami and introduced a novel new idea for fast food. From ArchDaily:
STAGE, a protoype for a new chef-led fast food concept, has debuted last week at Design Miami. Designed by internationally renowned architect Ole Scheeren for New York-based gourmet market and food supplier Dean & DeLuca, STAGE highlights interactive preparation, presentation, and consumption of food as a dynamic cultural and social experience. The new service format will become part of Dean & DeLuca’s expansion throughout key north American cities in 2017.
A Golden Lamp by Katie Stout
From Stout’s Artsy page:
Katie Stout with Sean Gerstley, Nugget 2 Lamp, 2015, ceramic, 5 inches in diameter. Click to see a larger image.
One of Katie Stout’s best-known pieces was also one of her earliest—a side table completed during her sophomore year at RISD that resembled cow udders and spurted milk. Stout’s works continue to be known for their offbeat sense of humor and whimsical sensibilities. She once summarized her practice as an attempt to “make things for this dream dwelling I have in my head, a super-saccharine, cartoony life-size dollhouse where I would ideally live.” Rather than favoring a particular medium, Stout works first with an idea—such as objects that look as though they’re on fire—and then sources materials or fabricators. Her recent projects include furniture for Bjarne Melgaard’s 2014 Whitney Biennial installation, and a collaborative series of hand-pinched clay lamps created with Sean Gerstley.
American, b. 1989, based in New York, New York
Soft Baroque’s Primitive Progressive Plinth
From Soft Baroque’s biography:
Soft Baroque, Primitive Progressive Plinth, 2016, aluminium dancing shelf and air-hardening clay, 45 3/10 x 17 3/10 x 15 7/7/10 inches. Click to see a larger image.
Both Royal College of Art graduates, Saša Štucin and Nicholas Gardner work simultaneously in object design and art. Their London based practice focuses on creating work with conflicting functions and imagery, without abandoning beauty or consumer logic. They are keen to blur the boundaries between acceptable furniture typologies and conceptual representative objects.
Designer Dog Bowls by Mr. Dog
Mr. Dog has taken their signature bowl shape — an ergonomically designed, smooth, cornerless, nookless, ridgeless interior — and teamed up with Portland-based Mudshark Studios to create a collection of stunning ceramic dog bowls. Each food/water bowl is available in 5 colors and 3 sizes, ensuring dogs of all appetite and thirst levels stay full and happy.
Do you love or loathe these works of contemporary ceramics? Let us know in the comments.
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