“Although a lot has been accomplished in terms of materials so far, porcelain has been a bit left out, maybe because it is considered too complex or too precious. The goal of my work is to open the porcelain spectrum. I make it take risks; combine it to find new forms, colors or techniques. I want to reveal its potential; bringing porcelain to where it has never been before.”
– Djim Berger.
Djim Berger, born 1980 in the Netherlands, is a 2009 graduate of the famous Design Academy in Eindhoven. He is regularly described as a true porcelain alchemist, or arcanist to use the correct 18th century term. It is fitting that his favorite quote, from Dr Seuss, is, “It’s not about what it is, it’s about what it can become.”
His “Lightweight Porcelain” series of stools and benches, either of which can also be tables, makes the point. The porcelain is comparable to a beehive, filled with tiny cavities and is astonishingly stronger than standard porcelain, lightweight and therefore adapted to innovative designs for furniture.
The process requires mixing 1/3 porcelain paste with 2/3 of polystyrene beads or pearls. When fired, the polystyrene melts and burns completely, creating bubbles that give it its lightweight quality.
Berger’s products have been exhibited worldwide since 2010, notably in the Post Fossil exhibition curated by Li Edelkoort in Design Museum Holon, Israel, and in 21 21 Design Sight Museum, Tokyo. Lightweight Porcelain is produced exclusively for Galerie BSL, Paris. They are available in nine exclusive colors (edition of 10 + 2 AP for each color), and “lightweight porcelain bench” (edition of 8 + 2AP). A second color for the porcelain bench is coming soon.
Djim Berger also helms Atelierdorp, one of Eindhoven’s first collective studios.
Garth Clark is the Chief Editor of CFile.
Above image: Lightweight porcelain by Djim Berger. Photographs courtesy of the designer and by Ulysse Fréchelin.
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Lightweight porcelain by Djim Berger.
Other Berger products involve a similar “what if” curiosity about porcelain. His vases, “Textiles Made Fragile,” soaks yarn in porcelain and the vessel is formed by cooling while wet. After firing it retains the physical characteristics of both the yarn and porcelain.
Fascinated by the build-up of tiny droplets found in a glaze spray cabinet, Berger found a way to mimic this quality on the surface of his “Haze” lamps.
Djim Berger. Photographs courtesy of the designer and Ulysse Fréchelin.
Fascinating! It’s a thrill to know new things about porcelain and its versatility!