VOYAGE VOYAGE
A dialogue between cultural identities
Amandine Fong
*
VOYAGE VOYAGE Amandine Fong Industrial Design
Bachelor 2020
Tutor: Cheryl Akner-Koler
*
I wish to express my sincere thanks to Cheryl Akner-Koler for her constant guidance and support and for sharing her rich knowledge and methodology, which enables me to develop in-depth my project.
I would also like to thank Ann-Britt Haglund and Simon Whitfield, from the ceramic department, for the access to the ceramic workshop and their help and support for the development of the ceramic prototypes.
I would also like to show gratitude to Chandra Ahlsell from Folkform for her time and guidance on the development of the graphics.
I place on record, my sincere thank you to Maja Willén for her writing guidance and advice.
I wish to thank Britta Teleman for supervising the overall degree process.
Last but not least, I wish to express my gratitude to the Industrial Design department as well as the Konstfack University, for this great opportunity to study and do my degree project among their students for this academic year.
Acknowledgements
Introduction
Question and aim Design research
Towards a “harmonious culture”
Defining and understanding today’s context Focusing on the circulation of information and cultural
items
Study of the decoration and the impact of it on our perception of objects
Artistic and design references
Creation of a dialogue and discussion Hybridization and confrontation
Emotional attachment to objects and social value
Concept development
How does technology affect our cultural identity and perception of our environment?
How can cultural practices be a way to create and conceive valuable objects?
How can cultural identities and cultural aesthetics be a way to bring social value to object? How can decoration be used as a way to see the travel and origin of an object?
Refining the final concept
How do you hold a cup?Shape development
Choice of ornament: Case study of the Chrysanthemum pattern
Transmission of information
9 11 13 1314
18 20 23 2324 24 27
27 29
31 33 3333
3639
3943 4747 6264 68 77 78 Testing shapes and pattern interactions
Graphic Development
Developing 3D printed patterns Refining the patterns
Refining the user experience Social interaction
Manufacturing Processes
Reflection and conclusion
References
I was raised with two different cultures, mainly French and partially Chinese. The Chinese culture manifested itself mainly through food and items. The French culture, on the other hand, manifested itself through the environment, the language, my education and so on.
Through artefacts, traditions, habits and heritage, these two different cultures were transmitted to me and made up who I am.
Thus, I started to wonder how our cultural identity and our personal history express themselves in our environment.
Modern production technologies have fostered mass production and standardization of affordable goods.
Luxury and culturally meaningful symbols have become commonplace and largely devoided of their significance.
One example of this is IKEA. By its low prices and of average good quality products, IKEA became a “purveyor of either accessible design or standardized flat-pack of “monolithic tyranny of aesthetics”. (Hartman 2009: 492)”1 . It can be seen as the new effervescence of the “international style” with a
homogenous domestic environment on a global scale; “it is commonly projected as “everywhere the same”, lacking easily identifiable forms of specific local
articulation. “2 IKEA products, in general,
1 Clarke, Aliso J. (ED.), Design Anthropology, Object culture in the 21st century, Austria: edition Angewandte, 2011 p144
are recognised as acceptable quality and good design; however, having too much
“IKEA” is often seen as “an inability to be an individual or show personal history” 3. In reaction to this standardization of our environment and cultural identities, Voyage Voyage is a set of different food containers associated with different cultural identities. The containers are inspired by blue and white porcelain;
a material and technique created in China, imported into Europe, and then reinterpreted and appropriated. The set explores how traditional patterns and decoration lends meaning and social value to objects. It acts as an incentive to start discussion and reflection around globalization and the standardization of our environment. It is an invitation to discover different cultures, their similarities and differences, as well as acknowledge them and reflect on our own traditions and their iconic symbols.
3 ibid
INTRODUCTION
QUESTION AND AIM
The project is an incentive to start a discussion on cultural identity. It aims to use decoration as a way to create valuable objects with a unique identity in reaction to the standardization of our environment as well as promote and bring awareness on cultural differences and cultural evolution in a globalized world.
Indeed, globalization leads to the circulation of the different cultures and their items. Recovered by the mass productions, some of these cultural items lose their meanings. Moreover, standardization led to a certain extent to the anonymity of objects, more specifically in the tableware field. Ornament, on objects, has almost disappeared. It is seen as a waste of labour, materials and money but also, especially in the modernist time, as something that will lead to the obsolescence of objects as ornamentation is the subject of fashion and trends.
Standard objects were seen as a way to make affordable goods, which will exist independently of fashion and trends and thus will last in time.
However, what we can observe today, is that this anonymity of objects contributes to a devaluation of products and thus to the “throwaway” culture. Indeed, these objects, as they cannot be associated with a specific context (cultural, historic and personal) and as they are cheap, people do not emotionally connect with them.
How is our cultural identity affected by this phenomenon? How do they persist and exist in the globalized and standardized world?
How can design go against this standardization and globalization of our environment and contribute to the survival of cultural identity and personal expression?
Could cultural identity and historic
decoration be a way to create objects with a specific identity and thus enable the user to emotionally connect with products?
When I was studying in France, during one of my Design history class, we were analysing and discussing the different aims of the Deutscher Werkbund, exposed during their first great exhibition, which took place in 1914, in Cologne.
This exhibition aimed to provide a
conspectus of the Werkbund’s work in the seven years since its foundation. However, different visions of what the production should be, clashed and manifested a disagreement among the movement.
It is with full vigour that two visions met:
Herman Muthesius, one of the leader of the movement proclaimed concentration and standardization as the aims of the Werkbund design, while Henri Van de Velde, another important figure of the movement, advanced the contrary thesis of the artist as a creative individualist.
In his thesis, Muthesius already saw standardization as a way to “recover that the universal significance which was of it in times of harmonious culture”4 . He saw it as a way to “make possible the development of a universally valid, unfailing good taste” 5.
4 Conrads, Ulrich . Programs and manifestoes in 20th-century architecture, United-States: edition RMIT Press,
1971, p28
Through the development of means of production and by focusing on functional shapes, where the ornament and artist self-expression is left aside, he saw a way to produce standard objects of good quality and of “good taste” and thus, elevate the taste of people. This would lead to the creation of a harmonious culture, a homogeneous culture where the individuality and the self-expression do not manifest themselves.
I remember, with my class, understanding that what Muthesius was, at this time, suggested; a “harmonious culture” with a unique “good taste”, was happening today, especially with the supra-connections and supra-relations between the different countries. Our environment is now
standardised to match an “international good taste”.
Thus, the democratization of standard objects enabled us to have access to more or less good quality objects but led, to a certain extent, to the standardization of our environment and now “it is commonly projected as “everywhere the same”,
lacking easily identifiable forms of specific local articulation. “6
6 Clarke, Aliso J. (ED.), Design Anthropology, Object culture in the 21st century, Austria: edition Angewandte, 2011 p144
I- DESIGN RESEARCH
Towards a “harmonious culture
Defining and understanding today’s context
In reaction to this text, written almost a hundred years ago, and in today’s context, where countries and part of the world are in constant connection, I was wondering what was the actual situation now, how far did standardization go and how cultural identity still manifest themselves.
Traditions constitute common moments, symbols and idioms. They enable us to create and tell the story of a specific community. It creates communal memories and so a communal history, which
reinforces the community feeling.
Indeed, “community depends on the activity of groups in which participants believe that they have share pasts and prospective futures, hold a common identity, engage in joint activities, and are found together”7 . By working and sharing together moments, they construct “joint meaning” 8.
These relations and interactions among people allows the continuation and existence of the community. The
“actions, material objects, performances,
7 Gary. A Fine, “The Folklore of Small Things:
Tradition in Group Culture”. Western Folklore, Vol. 77, No. 1 (Winter 2018), pp. 5-27.
8 Ibid.
and discursive forms” specific to this community founds the community culture.
Thus, the local sharing of traditions and customs “creates the conditions for common identity, cohesion and collective memory” 9.
First Workshop
I organized a workshop with eight participants coming from different countries, from Europe and beyond.
The participants were between 20 and 26 years old, except a visiting professor from Japan. All the participants have a design background. Four of them are exchange students coming from Korea, France, Germany, Italy and China, 3 of them are permanent students, coming from Italy, Iran and Sweden and one is a visiting professor from Japan.
Through this workshop, I wanted to explore these different problematics:
Can we still identify different cultural identities? How do we perceive others’
culture?
During the first part of the workshop, I investigated how we perceive other cultures and through what means we
9 Ibid.
Fig 1: First part of the workshop
Fig 2: IKEA Bowl used during the workshop
Fig 3: Outcomes of the last part of the workshop
discover and learn another culture.
I asked people to draw what they thought was traditional of their neighbour’s country, (see figure 1).
This part enabled me to understand and see how people perceive each other cultures. It was also a way to see what is specific to each culture.
Foreigners perceive our own culture in a different way, having an outside point of view highlights what is specific to our own country.
Transformation of a standard object according to each participants’ cultural identity
During the last part of the workshop, starting from a standard IKEA bowl, see figure 2, I asked people to create an object which “function is to receive, contain and share food” according to their cultural traditions.
The aim was to see how a standard object could be transformed and appropriated by different cultures.
For example, the Swedish person created a container to receive and share snacks while also being a candleholder, as light has an important place in the Swedish culture (see figure 4).
Another outcome was a plate to share
“Aperitivo”, a time and a way of eating which are specific to the Italian culture.
Fig 4: Swedish version
Fig 5: The Apperitivo bowl
The container was designed to receive, present but also to be moved around easily.
This part enabled me to see how the different cultures still manifest themselves but also see how a standard object, such as a bowl, could be interpreted and shaped in different ways to be contextualised and identified as belonging to a specific culture.
Focusing on the circulation of information and cultural items
The blue and white porcelain – a globalized history
The blue and white porcelain came from China to Europe during the 17th century.
It “went global” well before the modern concept of globalization was developed.
The porcelain was a technique and
material, at that time, developed and only mastered by Chinese people. The cobalt used to make the blue patterns, first came from Iran and was named “Muslim blue”10 . It was imported from Iran for many centuries (8th – 15th) before the Chinese discovered their own cobalt deposits
10 De Verneuil, Laurent. My Blue China The Colors of Globalization, Exhibition Catalogue, Fonda-
“during the Ming Dynasty (1368 – 1644)”
11.
Later on, during the 17th century, blue and white pieces were exported and introduce to the European market.
The Chinese ceramics were experienced as objects or “material culture”. They would have been part of cultural as well as economic exchange “enabling individuals to experience another culture and to become aware of it, [...] in the process developing notions of self- identity and “otherness” or alterity”12 . They can be considered as both a concept and a product with localized patterns of consumption and appropriation.
Thus, when the Chinese ceramics were imported to Europe, the European countries appropriated it. Indeed, apart from judging and appreciating the items on the aesthetic level, most of the Europeans could not read the symbols and signs painted on the items.
They transformed them and interpreted them according to their own culture, knowledge, and believes, “there were
11 Ibid.
12 Pierson, Stacey. “The Movement of Chinese Ceramics: Appropriation in Global History”. Journal of World History, vol.23, no. 1, 2012, pp.
different consumer groups within nations and cultures, different local responses to the material, and consequently different patterns of consumption and appropriation.”13
For example, in Europe mounts on the vessel “were applied to both embellish and to transform it into shape that was more readily acceptable in the sixteenth- century England”14 .
Starting from this “exotic” patterns and decorations, and after developing and mastering the porcelain technique, the British developed a unique pattern called
“The Willow pattern”.
The Willow pattern intended to add an oriental touch to cheaper earthenware and thereby make it more widely available.
The pattern was not applied to the earthenware by hand but by transfer.
Thanks to this technique, an elaborate design could be cheaply produced.
“The scene of a temple with a bridge, boat and willow tree was inspired by images found on Chinese ceramics, but was the creation of British manufacturers in the late 18th century”15 . It became one of the most famous British ceramic designs.
13 Ibid.
14 Ibid.
15 Beyond Willow, August 21,2014, Rebecca Walls, Victoria and Albert Museum blog, https://www.vam.ac.uk/blog/blue-and- white/beyond-willow
Fig 6: A plate with the Willow Pattern
Study of the decoration and the impact of it on our perception of objects.
This part of the research aimed to
investigate how decoration influences our perceptions of objects
After discovering and learning the history of the Willow pattern, I started to wonder what value decoration gives to objects.
Adolf Loos, in his book Ornament and Crime16 (1913), advocates that the evolution of culture is synonymous with the disappearance of ornamentation.
Ornamentation is no longer seen as the expression of a culture, but a regression.
Ornament is a waste of labour, material and thus capital. It shortens the lifespan of objects, as the object becomes subject of fashion and thus is doomed to die early.
Adolf Loos advocates simple, smooth and refined forms. According to him, it is a tradition that determines the forms and not the forms that change the tradition.
The forms evolve with the evolving tradition. Rules are broken and new forms were born. It is not about abolishing ornament systematically, it is only where it has disappeared over time that it cannot be reapplied. It is also about authenticity and not copying a style, a genre that
16 Loos Adolf. Ornement et Crimes.
1913. Paris: Payots et Rivages, 2015.
comes from another region, another country. Intrinsic truth generates aesthetic accuracy.
What Adolf Loos says and promotes, an abolishment of ornamentation where it has disappeared, can be observed nowadays and in particular in the field of tableware, where ornament has almost disappeared.
However, what is the value of the decoration? How does it influence our perception of objects in comparison with standard and plane objects?
Thus, in a second workshop, I investigated the impact of decoration on our
perception of objects.
I bought several blue and white porcelain items in the second-hand shop. I then removed the decoration by editing the pictures of each object (see figure 7). The different pictures were then used for the workshop study.
Seven participants took part in this workshop; five of them were students from the industrial department, in their twenties, and two professors. One of them was an exchange student coming from India, 4 were permanent students, 2 Swedish, one French and one Portuguese.
Among the teachers, one was a visiting teacher from Japan and one was a regular teacher.
Fig 7: Element of study of the workshop
Fig 8: Extract of the workshop
The same thing was done with the pictures of the objects with decorations.
The decoration affected the perception and value of objects. Some became
“Swedish icons” by the inscriptions and patterns on it whereas some became precious souvenirs either because of the history of the pattern or because of
“symbols” which reminded of a specific place.
“Now that everything is in Blue and White, everything looks Swedish”
“When it was white, it looked like an IKEA plate, but now with the poem on it, it becomes much more precious”
“I relate to the most due to that my great grandmother had the same pattern on a whole set/dinner wear.”
“The drawing on a plate reminds me of the rope, which reminds me of Mediterranean boats and the sea and the home”
“It reminds me of my childhood to put sugar in, but I can still see using it”.
The value of objects also changed. A plate without decoration was considered as a regular IKEA plate, and thus as a non- precious object. However, when people saw the plate with the decoration (the plate had a poem written on it) this item
became one of the most precious objects.
The patterns gave information on the origin of the items but also social value to the objects. By having a decoration, it was easier to read the history of the object and identify it to a specific culture and tradition.
Thus, I started to wonder how I could use decoration to give more value to objects but also use tableware as a way to create and start a discussion around cultural identity and its evolution.
I used artistic and design references to explore and see different concepts regarding decoration and social value of objects.
Creation of a dialogue and discussion
Art and objects can intrigue and disturb the user by playing with common symbols and unusual combination of materials, aesthetics, objects and displays. It can draw the attention of the user on a specific topic and thus be an invitation to discuss and reflect upon it.
In his installation, Barnaby Bardford plays on two different meanings on the expression “conversation piece”, (se. A conversation piece can be a painting genre developed mainly during the 18th century in Holland and England for the Bourgeoisie. This genre was part portrait and part genre scene. This expression can also be used to designate “something that is unusual and provides a subject of conversation. ”17
In this work, Barnaby Bardford openly and humorously alludes to both of these meanings. By changing the decoration on
17 De Verneuil, Laurent. My Blue Chi- na The Colors of Globalization, Exhibition Catalogue, Fondation Bernardaud, 2015, P11.
II- ARTISTIC AND DESIGN REFERENCES
Fig 9: Conversation Piece, Barnaby Barford 2002
one of the plates, he gives to couples with nothing to say to each other a subject of conversation. He also used the famous Willow Pattern as a commonplace.
Thus, in this art piece, tableware becomes a way to start a discussion but also
question common symbols and aesthetic.
Hybridization and confrontation
The technology of production, materials and crafts has evolved with time and scientific developments. Confronting materials, textures, colours and technique enables us to confront different time history, sees the evolution of it but also consider new ways of creating and producing.
In her work (see figure 10), Sin-Ying Ho addresses the collision between Asian and Western cultures, playing up with the contrasts between new and ancient, technology and tradition. She juxtaposed and mixes a free-hand style of painting on ceramics developed during the Ming dynasty and latest transfer techniques.
She confronts decorative elements such as chinoiserie and icons that are anachronistic and contradictory.
Emotional attachment to objects and social value
Pattern and decoration are in general associated with more labour and more materials. This gives to the object more value but also, by using codes and symbols of a specific culture and history, enables us to give to the object a specific identity and thus a specific value according to our own identity, history and taste.
For example, in this work, Jayn Lio (see figure 11) wonders what makes an object special. Is it because of the design, the material, or simply because we relate to it and remember it?
She uses decoration and reference to blue and white porcelain to give to the takeaway plate, and so disposable tableware, a new social value. By creating trompe l’oeil porcelain on polystyrene, the artist explores the relevance of blue- and-white tradition today and whether it deserves the same interest as in the Victorian age.
The way we use objects can also create a special bonding and emotional connection with them. Indeed, for example, if I use a cup in a specific social context, like family gatherings, for example, this cup will, in some ways, embody these memories.
In her paper, Does ceramic tableware offer opportunities for emotional design? (2016),
Fig 10: Temptation - Life of Goods No. 2, 2010, Sin-ying Ho
Fig 11: Trying to Keep Up With My Blue China, Take Away Plate, Peckham Library, 2015, Jayne Llo
Emma Lacey considers that product anonymity is contributing to a de-valuing of objects and thus a “throwaway” culture.
The consideration of the user’s emotional, tactile and social experience with objects
“could contribute to the design of “fewer better things”18 . She defends that integrating individuality and uniqueness, into contemporary design, will give to the object a more important value and thus encourage long-term use.
Leaving space in the design for the consumer own interpretation can also be a way to enable the user to connect to the object in a more personal way. For example, the cup and the saucer, “Slide”
(see figure 12) designed by Emma Lacey, can also be used as bowls, providing a degree of user autonomy in that the form or function of this piece can be changed.
18 Lacey Emma, Does ceramic tableware offer opportunities for emotional design? Oaklands College, UK: March 2016, p11
Fig 12: Emma Lacey, Slide 2007
After all these researches, I developed 3 different concepts, which explore how decoration and ornament can change our perception of objects. Each of them displays a way to conceive, create and display the pattern and cultural symbols in an original way and the different impact it has on our relationship with the object.
How do technology affect our cultural identity and perception of our environment?
I was inspired by Sin-ying Ho’s work and started to wonder how digital drawing, 3d modelling and rendering software affect our conception and perception of objects.
To test this concept, I started working with the Blue Italian Pattern (see figure 13), a pattern inspired by the blue willow pattern, which displays an Italian landscape.
I first traced some part of the Spode Italian pattern, (see figure 14) and then digitalized the drawing on illustrator.
I applied this pattern on a standard espresso cup using a rendering software.
Playing with the different parameters the rendering software has, I tried to see how far the pattern could be deformed and how renders parameters could create new aesthetics. The idea was to create the pattern not according to a flat drawing
III- CONCEPT DEVELOPMENT
Fig 14: Vectorised drawing based on the Spode Italian design
Fig 13 : Original Spode Italian
Fig 15: Deforming and playing with different ways to apply in
a virtual way ornament on an object.
but according to the deformation, render visualization enables us to do.
The ornament becomes something unique and independent from the original one. It proposes a unique and original aesthetic, which disturbs the eye of the user.
However, I felt I was missing the connection with cultural identity and context and that the result was focusing more on a new and unusual aesthetic than contextualizing and telling a story through the object.
How can cultural practices be a way to create and conceive valuable objects?
This concept was about creating a set of coffee tableware which acknowledge and displays the different traditions and cultural ways to drink coffee.
The way we drink coffee and the
importance of it depends on each country.
Still, nowadays, each country has its own and unique ways to drink it.
For example, the Italians drink an espresso directly at the bar. The coffee break is short, 5 to 10 minutes. In France, people usually drink espresso coffee after lunch or during a short break. The coffee often comes with a little chocolate or a small biscuit. In comparison, in Sweden, the coffee is used as a pretext to have a social gathering. They drink dip coffee in large cups and often eat a pastry such
Fig 16: Italian coffee
Fig 18: Swedish Fika
Fig 19: Turkish Coffe Fig 17: French Espresso
Fig 21: Paper prototypes Fig 20: Clay Prototypes
as Kanelbulle with it. The break can last hours.
Starting from all these practices, I modelled with clay a set of different coffee cups and plates (see figure 20), which highlights these differences.
I liked the idea of acknowledging and highlighting different ways of drinking coffee. The table set would be an
introduction to different cultural practices and ways to drink coffee. The shapes of the cups and plates are the core of the concept. However, I felt that all my research on ornamentation was missing in this concept. Moreover, finding the right balance between the shapes and ornament seemed to be a bit tricky to get without being too complex or kitsch.
How can cultural identities and cultural aesthetics be a way to bring social value to object? How can decoration be used a way to see the travel and origin of an object?
This concept is a set of coffee cups of different sizes, which enables the user to drink the coffee in different ways; short, long, drip coffee, with milk or without and with the smaller cups, share snacks and pastries.
This way, the set acknowledged the
different ways and traditions to drink the coffee.
The cups are decorated with patterns from different cultures, Persian patterns for the origin of the cobalt pigment, Chinese patterns for the origin of the technique and European patterns inspired by both of these cultural aesthetics. Each “layer” is ornamented with one of this pattern.
The set of 3 cups tells the story of the blue and white porcelain as well as shows how cultural identity and cultural symbols travel through time and space.
According to me, this concept was more related to the question and aim of the project.
Thus, I started to work on the development of this concept.
Fig 22: Research on different ways to hold a cup
The final concept consists in the creation of a coffee set, which displays and
confront different patterns from different cultures. The aim of this coffee set is to create a coffee experience, which invites people to discuss and debate cultural identities, their evolution and the dialogue that exist among them. It is also an invitation to consider ornament as a source of information and value for objects.
How do you hold a cup?
If the cup comes without handle, this means the person has to wait for the coffee to cool down to be able to grab it.
Tea-cup and coffee cup is “also evidenced in less formal situations” such as “taking a break”19, “catching up”, comforting someone in shock. Teacup and coffee cups becomes
“objects closely linked with human
emotion and therefore one, which deserve empathy” 20.
I do not want to add any handle to the cup as I think this would lead to a certain confusion in the perception and the reading of the pattern. Having to wait for the cup to cool down can also be
19 Lacey Emma, Does ceramic tableware offer opportunities for emotional design?. Oak- lands College, UK: March 2016, p4
20 Ibid.
IV- Refining the final concept
an invitation to take a break, enjoy the moment and contemplate the ornament of the cup. Having no handle also opens up the object to the interpretation of the object not just as a cup, but also as a more contemplative and artistic piece.
Shape development
To start the development of the concept, I explored different shapes and forms for the cup.
The main idea is to develop stackable cups. When stacking up the cups, the different patterns confront each other, which enables us to see more immediately the similarities and differences within these different cultural symbols.
I then did a series of renders to see how different shapes react to ornament and to find the shape that will make the pattern stand out but also allows a pleasant use of the cups.
With 3D modelisation and renders, I explored the cylinder shape possibilities.
The cylinders with the patterns become a bit heavy and the lecture of the pattern is difficult.
I then tried to see how patterns and flared shapes co-exist. When stacked, the transition is more brutal and enables a better confrontation of the different patterns in my opinion.
Fig 23: Shape Development
Fig 24: Renders with cylinder and straight shapes
Fig 25: Renders with flared shapes
Choice of ornament: Case study of the Chrysanthemum pattern.
Numerous blue and white porcelain items were decorated with similar
symbols and then exported to Europe. As Europeans did not have the knowledge and culture of the Chinese traditions, they used and reinterpreted the patterns in their own ways, according to their own culture. A good example of such reinterpretation is the Chrysanthemum pattern (see figure 26). In Chinese culture, this flower is the symbol of endurance.
Some of the tableware were decorated with these symbols. For example, on the figure 27, the pattern is created by hand, the movement is organic and the surface is saturated.
Such symbols and patterns, travelled to Europe thanks to commercial trade.
Fascinated by the porcelain but also by the Asian aesthetics, Europeans incorporated them in their own
productions. A good example is a pattern called “Blue Denmark” (see figure 28).
The pattern was brought to Europe from China or Japan in the late 18th century.
The pattern is complex, but not over- elaborated and stands out from the pure and white background. Compared to the Chinese Kangxi Blue and White plate, the Danish plate displays a sense of neatness and clarity. “It seems somehow to typify
the typical Danish love of hygiene in food preparation and service”21 . The pattern conjures a sense of health and vitality.
This pattern became famous in Europe and a source of inspiration for the creation of new patterns, for example, the plate below.
This pattern became famous in Europe and a source of inspiration for the creation of new patterns, for example, the plate on figure 30.
This plate was manufactured by the
French factory Reynaud and co, in Limoges.
We can see that the plate is divided into 4 parts, as the Danish plate is. However, the pattern is simplified and displays a more asymmetric and organic composition at the centre of the plate. The organic part are drawn as graphic elements in a similar way to the Blue Danish pattern.
Thus, with the Chrysanthemum pattern, we can see the confrontation of different cultural practices and cultural identities.
These patterns will be used in the final concept as it has a rich history and was used by different cultures.
21 Perry, Mike. ““Blue Denmark” - A pattern with a history”, potteryhistories.
com, 2009 http://www.potteryhistories.com/
page55.htm (Accessed 2020-03-30)
Fig 26: Chinese Chrysanthemum
Fig 27: ‘Chrysanthemum” dish. Kangxi period
Fig 28: Blue Denmark Fig 29: Graphic Elements
Fig 30: Blue and White plate, Reynaud and co
Fig 32: A two-depth cup
Fig 33: Persia engraved in the cup
Transmission of information
In order to make the story and the pattern understandable, I thought of putting the name of the country from which the pattern comes either on the inside or on the outside of the cup. By putting the information inside the cup, the origin is revealed when people drink the coffee.
This creates a bit of an element of surprise.
By having “two depths”, (see figure 32) in the cup and pouring coffee inside the cup, it creates two shades of coffee. The centre becomes a dark and intriguing area. Inside the cup, at the bottom, the name of the country of origin is engraved. The writing appears after the coffee was drunk as some of it remains in the engraving.
Testing shapes and pattern interactions
I 3d printed different shapes to explore how patterns react to different supports. I then applied the patterns on the different shapes with stencils. (see figure 34, 35, 36, 37).
Fig 34: Shape exploration
Fig 35: Several tests
Fig 36: Straight cylinders Fig 37: Flared shape
Fig 37: Cup set displayed
Fig 38: Cup set stacked
With a flat cylinder shape, the pattern is quite static compared to when the pattern is applied to a flared shape. As we can see in the second picture, the pattern is a bit deformed which gives an impression of movement. This movement can represent the constant evolution and travel of cultural identity.
Thus, I decided to develop a flared shape with a double depth, as explained before.
The double depth enables us to stack them together easily. The set is made of 4 cups which can be easily stacked together.
Graphic Development
For the graphics, I used graphics elements from the 3 following historical pieces, which all displays chrysanthemum patterns (see figure 39, 40, 41).
I extracted elements from the Chinese and Denmark plates, in particular,
specific elements that characterized each culture: the organic flower at the centre of the Chinese piece, the flower and the structural element of the Danish pattern and simplified the Persia pattern to make its geometric outstands, (see figure 42, 43, 44).
I used these vectorized drawing to make stencils and apply the patterns to 3D printed cups.
Fig 39: Persian Pattern 6th century A.C
Fig 40: ‘Chrysanthemum” dish. Kangxi period
Fig 41: Dannish Pattern 18th Century
Fig 42: Persian Pattern Inspired
Fig 43: Chinese Pattern Inspired
Fig 44: Blue Denmark pattern Inspired
Fig 45: Cups with stencils
Fig 46: The cups when they are stacked together
Developing 3D printed patterns
As I am using 3D printing, and as this technique offers new possibilities of shapes and aesthetics, I decided to try to make the pattern as a relief (see figure 46).
I used the same graphics I used for the stencils and developed them to 3D models the cups with some relief. This lead to a small deformation of the patterns. After printing the first ones, I realised the patterns were modified by the 3D printing process itself. Indeed, as the relief is too important, and I can’t put any support for the printing process, but also due to the printer precision, the pattern is modified by the printer itself and gives to the pattern a new and more contemporary aesthetic while still having historic elements.
As a relief, the patterns and the cup merge.
It becomes part of the structure of the cup itself. Having the pattern as a relief also enables the user to feel the pattern and compare the different feeling of the different patterns. It also acts as a heat diffuser and thus enables the user to hold the cup without burning himself.
I decided to keep the relief as it adds another dimension and with the 3D printing aesthetic, it updates it and transforms it in a new way.
Refining the patterns
Taking into account the feedback during the BAX 1 presentation, I reconsidered the graphic I had made and tried to develop them in a more personal way while still manifesting the culture they belong to.
This way, the set becomes more a homage to the porcelain and pattern history than an archive of it.
I also decided to use two different
patterns for the Persian (see figure 47) and European one (see figure 48). Indeed, after exploring graphically different possible composition, I found the Persian one too static and hard to re-interpret and the Danish pattern is too well known to create a new one which will not be associated with the brand producing it.
To create the new graphics, I paid attention to details which give, to each pattern, a unique and distinctive cultural identity. For each graphic composition, I asked several person
feedback and point of view to see which one worked the best. For the Persian one, I focused on the geometric aspect and organisation of the pattern.
The design on figure 47 shows a strong Chinese influence, formalised and composite flowers are set in the traditional scroll pattern. This pattern is a painted border extracted from an Egyptian Koran manuscript dated of the 14th
century.
Fig 47: Persian Pattern from the 14th century
Fig 48: Development of the pattern for the Persian cup
Fig 49: Final Persian Cup
By playing with the position of the lines, the ornament is decomposed into four parts. The final design highlight the use of lines to structure and frame the organic elements.
For the Chinese one, my attention was on the composition at the centre of the plate. It displayed a really organic and dynamic movement of the chrysanthemum pattern as well as a more naturalistic representation of the nature (see figure 50).
The final design is the composition of flowers and grass. To contrast with these natural elements, I placed two lines, at the top and at the bottom, to frame the pattern and give it more structure.
Fig 50: Graphic elements chosen for the Chinese dish of the Kangxi period.
Fig 51: Development of the pattern for the Chinese cup
Fig 51: Final Chinese Cup
Fig 52: Graphic elements chosen from the French Plate
For the French one, I focused on the simplification of the natural elements (see figure 52).
The final composition is a set of two different representations of the chrysanthemum flower (see figure 54).
The flowers, in contrast with the Chinese flowers, are reduced to simple and graphic shapes; a line, a circle, simple leaves and an arch with lines for the petals. In contrast with these simplified elements,
I placed at the top, a line with leaves drawn more realistically and organically, according to the original design of the plate.
Fig 53: Development of the pattern for the French cup
Fig 54: Final French Cup
I added to the set a final layer, which is my interpretation and composition of the chrysanthemum pattern. To create the pattern, I selected elements that I particularly liked from the historic patterns; the impression of wind in the Chinese one, the geometric structure for the Persian one and the simplification of the natural elements in the French one (see figure 55).
The final pattern is composed of two simplified chrysanthemum flowers
leaning towards one side, which gives an impression of wind blowing (see figure 56 and 57). The top border, in contrast with the movement of the flowers, is composed of several straight strips pointing down towards the flowers. The lower strip is composed of several lines of different thickness, which suggests an irregular floor/soil.
Fig 55: Development of the pattern for the new cup
Fig 56: Final Cup and Final Design
Fig 57: Final Set
Fig 59: Final Set view from above
The set would be sold in different museums shops, for example, the Medelhavsmuseet in Stockholm (the museum of Mediterranean and Near Eastern Antiquities), which provides valuable insights and understanding of Islam in Sweden, the Östasiatiska Museet (East Asian Museum of Stockholm), the Moderna Museet, the National Museet and so on.
To promote the cups and the story of the project, the set of cups can be used as a workshop tool to demonstrate and teach
Refining the user experience
people about the history of ornaments, its evolution and the information it carries.
With the set of cups, some pieces of the museum of blue and white porcelain can be introduced as historical pieces.
The set comes with a leaflet to explain to the buyer the history of the patterns, the aim of the project and the history of the porcelain.
Fig 60: User Scenario
Fig 61: Leaflet
Fig 61: Leaflet
Social interaction
The set of cups becomes a subject of discussion at family and friends
gatherings. By using them and combining them in different ways, the users explore different cultural combinations but also learn the story of the different ornament and the history of the blue and white porcelain. The cups act as an extinction of the museum experience and becomes a cultural experience.
After Bax 1 presentation, I did a short user test. Due to the actual situation, the test was done digitally.
I sent the leaflet as well as pictures of the set and a user scenario to 5 people, aged from 25 to 50 years old. These 5 people are not working in the design field.
Their general comments were positive, they added that having the leaflet to learn and be able to explain the history of the pattern, brought value to the objects.
“My attention is focused on the fact that these cups are similar: there is a unity behind cultural diversity.”
“The eye is naturally attracted by the deep blue relief and the familiar (or less familiar) aesthetic of the patterns.”
“I could watch the patterns for a little while without getting tired of it”
Thus, by applying the blue on the pattern, the attention is directly inclined towards it. The user starts to analyse and compare the different patterns. They are similar but at the same time different. These differences intrigue and question the user perception. This curiosity can be a way to start a reflection on ornamentation and cultural identities.
“I usually take the first glass I find in the cupboard. However, knowing the history of the pattern of each cup as well as having different origins for each pattern, I would be more proud of it. I’d present them to the people I’m having coffee with and say something like “Hey, this is the European one, this is Persian and this is Chinese, which country do you want?”.
Thus, knowing the origin of the patterns enables the user to present the cup in a playful way, which might start a conversation around the cup, their history, their differences and similarities as well as the role of ornament.
Fig 62: Social Interaction
Fig 63: Interaction
Fig 64: Final Set
Manufacturing Processes
After discussing with the ceramic department about different techniques to make the porcelain cup with relief in an effective way and at a large-scale, we decided to test the slip-casting production method.
To be produced with slip casting, the patterns had to be refined as well as the height of the relief. To be able to release the cup from the mould, the relief needs to be 1mm thick maximum. The space between each lines needs to be wide enough to avoid any undercut. If the lines are too thin, the clay will stay in the mould.
To make the mould effectively, the relief is directly casted in the mould. To do so, a silicone master had to be done. By using a silicone master, it is possible to remove it from the plaster mould easily and re-use the silicone master to make other moulds.
The silicone master was then casted in plaster. The mould had to be made be
made in 5 pieces to remove the cup easily. Fig 65: Silicone Masterpiece
Fig 66: Mould making
Fig 67: Slip-casting the cup
Fig 68: Slip-casted cup
Fig 69: Colour Tests
I decided to leave the lines of the 3D printing process as it contributes to the cup contemporary aesthetic and becomes part of the ornament itself. By leaving the mould marks as well as the 3d printed marks, the user can guess how the cup was made. It gives more details to the user to observe.
To find the right blue colour as well as the right glaze, I have made series of tests.
After firing these tests, I chose to use a mix of porcelain and cobalt pigment as well as test another blue light grey.
I made, in total 10 cups in porcelain, testing different amount of glaze and different shades of blue.
The light blue is more poetic and subtle, but graphically less strong and the pattern is not present enough. The darker blue, on the other hand, make the pattern stand out more. If the amount of water is well balances, a dark blue nuanced can be obtained, as we can see in the cup in the middle on figure 73.
Fig 70: Porcelain Cups
Fig 71: Seams of the mould
Fig 72: Porcelain Cups: different shades of blue
Fig 73: Porcelain Cups: different shades of blue
Fig 74: Examensutställning Industridesign 3” exhibition at Bric-a-Brac, Stockholm
The project was exhibited from the 4th of June to the 14 of June 2020, as part of the exhibition “Examensutställning Industridesign 3” at Bric-a-Brac in Stockholm.
With Voyage Voyage, I have explored how design could be a way to question our everyday environment and the norms we live in. Why did our environment become more and more standard? How did the development of new means of production and communication affect our cultural identity?
Through several social studies, starting from a broad topic: cultural identities and traditions to the impact of decoration on our perception and relation with
objects, I have investigated the physicality and aesthetic of tableware to invite, communicate and trigger conversation, among users, on cultural identities and the dialogue that exists between them.
The set demonstrates how cultures evolve, change and shift under the influence of others and the development of connections between them. It is an invitation to reconsider what we define as our own cultural identity to exist in this globalised world.
By using 3D printing as well as ceramic production method, the set explores new aesthetics and new techniques of productions. The 3d printing technique enables us to create unique detail models, which, in the past, might have been too expensive or complicated to do. These new possibilities of refining details are then applied to a more craft technique of production. This combination enables us to combine and update historic craft skills
and knowledge.
The choice to leave the 3D printed lines, characteristic of the 3D printing products as well as the lines made by the mould, go against the research of a perfect smooth standard object. With all these details, the user can retrace and understand how the object was made.
Thus, the history of the pattern and the production methods bring value as well as a singular and unique identity to each object. It is an invitation to reconsider objects and their value in a more sustainable perspective.
The concept allows for further
development, in particular, more refined user tests with real cups, to evaluate the user experience in further details. Because of the actual situation, exploring the context of museums in further details and more close collaboration has not been possible. This collaboration could also be rethink and refined.
REFLECTION AND CONCLUSION
BOOKS:
• Clarke, Aliso J. (ED.), Design Anthropology, Object culture in the 21st century, Austria: edition Angewandte, 2011, p144.
• De Verneuil, Laurent. My Blue China The Colors of Globalization, Exhibition Cata- logue, Fondation Bernardaud, 2015, p11.
• De Verneuil, Laurent. My Blue China The Colors of Globalization, Exhibition Cata- logue, Fondation Bernardaud, 2015. p33.
• Gary. A Fine, “The Folklore of Small Things: Tradition in Group Culture”. Western Folklore, Vol. 77, No. 1 (Winter 2018), pp. 5-27.
• Lacey Emma, Does ceramic tableware offer opportunities for emotional design?
Oaklands College, UK: March 2016, p11
• Loos Adolf. Ornement et Crimes. 1913. Paris: Payots et Rivages, 2015
• Pierson, Stacey. “The Movement of Chinese Ceramics: Appropriation in Global History”. Journal of World History, vol.23, no. 1, 2012, pp.
Websites:
• Walls, Rebecca. “Beyond Willow”, vam.ac.uk, Victoria and Albert Museum blog, August 21,2014 https://www.vam.ac.uk/blog/blue-and-white/beyond-willow (Accessed 2020-03-15)
• Perry, Mike. "Blue Denmark" - A pattern with a history”, potteryhistories.com, 2009 http://www.potteryhistories.com/page55.htm (Accessed 2020-03-30)
FIGURES:
• Fig 2: IKEA Bowl used during the workshop, https://www.amazon.com/IKEA- Bowl-Rounded-Sides-White/dp/B07DNH31LW
• Fig 6: https://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fil:Plate_with_Willow-pattern.jpg
• Fig 9: Conversation Piece, Barnaby Barford 2002, My Blue China The Colors of Globalization, Exhibition Catalogue, Fondation Bernardaud, 2015.
• Fig 10: Temptation - Life of Goods, No. 2, 2010, Sin-ying Ho. My Blue China The Colors of Globalization, Exhibition Catalogue, Fondation Bernardaud, 2015.
• Fig 11: Trying to Keep Up With My Blue China, Take Away Plate, Peckham Library, 2015, Jayne Llo. My Blue China The Colors of Globalization, Exhibition Catalogue, Fon- dation Bernardaud, 2015.
• Fig 12: Emma Lacey, Slide 2007. Lacey Emma, Does ceramic tableware offer op- portunities for emotional design? Oaklands College, UK: March 2016.
• Fig 13 : Original Spode Italian. https://www.spode.co.uk/dining/blue-italian
• Fig 16: Italian Coffee. https://www.tripsavvy.com/italian-coffee-drinks-1547401
• Fig 17: French Espresso. https://www.sticketstock.com/accueil/238-petit-choco- lat-noir-royal-cemoi-accompagnement-cafe.html?refSrc=602&nosto=nosto-page-prod- uct1• Fig 18: Swedish Fika. https://detours.canal.fr/fika-pause-suedoise-clef-bonheur/
• Fig 19: Turkish Coffee. https://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/a-cup-of-turkish-cof- fee-remembered-for-40-years-149487
• Fig 26: Chinese Chrysanthemum
• Fig 27: ‘Chrysanthemum” dish. Kangxi period https://www.galerienicolasfournery.
com/collection/a-large-chinese-blue-and-white-chrysanthemum-dish-kangxi-period/
• Fig 28 : Blue Denmark. https://www.replacements.com/webquote/jb_den.htm
• Fig 29 : Blue Denmark. https://www.replacements.com/webquote/jb_den.htm
• Wilson, Eva, Islamic Design. Londin: British Museum Pattern Books, 1988.
• Fig 30: Blue and White plate, Reynaud and co. https://picclick.fr/Assiette-en-por- celaine-blanc-et-bleu-authentique-chinoise-254537052242.html
• Fig 39: Persian Pattern 6th century A.C
• Fig 40: https://www.galerienicolasfournery.com/collection/a-large-chinese-blue- and-white-chrysanthemum-dish-kangxi-period/
• Fig 41: https://www.google.com/search?q=blue+denmark&source=lnms&tb- m=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiXiOTyqYTqAhURmIsKHb8dAWMQ_AUoAXoECAsQAw&bi- w=1536&bih=722#imgrc=Si7FKxsY6eV8-M
• Fig 47: Persian Pattern from the 14th century. Wilson, Eva, Islamic Design. Lon- din: British Museum Pattern Books, 1988.
• Fig 50: https://www.galerienicolasfournery.com/collection/a-large-chinese-blue- and-white-chrysanthemum-dish-kangxi-period/
• Fig 52: https://www.dealry.fr/src/limoges+un
