#autonomous work

This eight-piece hand painted floral dining set is produced by the world-renowned Royal Tichelaar Makkum (est. 1572). Traditionally, paintwork on fine china is applied by hand, making it a labour intensive thus costly craft. Over the course of last year Studio Maarten Kolk & Guus Kusters developed glazing recipes which do not require craftsmen to paint the crockery directly, but rather, the mold before the product is cast. In this way several copies of one painting can be made. After each cast the glaze washes away further and crumbles, drawing a clear parallel with withering flowers in nature. The image of the flower is clear and sharp after the first cast, withering and fading after multiple reproductions.

With this collection Studio Maarten Kolk & Guus Kusters balance nature and culture, emphasizing the beauty of both worlds. The Service Set consists of two plates and bowls, a cup, carafe, platter and a vase in 6 or 9 different decorations.

for more information about Thomas Eyck: www.thomaseyck.nl. for more information about Rosana Orlandi, refer to: www.rossanaorlandi.com.

  Link to video Marine Snow

Link to Christian Ouwens

Link to Waddenzee

Link to Eb

The plates will be presented at the solo show Stil Water (Still Water) at Christian Ouwens, Rotterdam. The show opens on the 29th of September 2012.

Music by Philip Glass (1962 - Body Building)

Link to Christian Ouwens

Link to Waddenzee

Coming week studio Maarten Kolk & Guus Kusters will show parts of their Waddenzee porcelain during the Salone del Mobile in Milan at the presentation “MU goes Milan”  

“Waddenzee” is a limited edition series of porcelain plates and cups inspired by the sea that lies in the north of the Netherlands, Germany and west of Denmark. The sea forms a shallow body of water with tidal flats and wetlands. The porcelain series portrays this unique nature area as well as it imitates its behavior.

In search of the character of the Wadden Sea, Maarten and Guus started to project the natural behavior of the sea on the production process of porcelain. “The tidal behavior of the sea is comparable to the production of ceramics; it’s a flow of clay and water repeating its process every 12 hours. What we liked about it that it seems that it all happens in the single ebb and flood movement; after every high tide the landscape seems new again.

To portray the Wadden Sea, we thought that imitating it could help us to find its character. The “Eb” (low tide) plates have a cobalt glaze in their mold. Every time the liquid porcelain is poured in, some of this glaze attaches to the plate. The first plate that is produced in the mold is darkly glazed, the second one will be a bit lighter, and so on.”

MU goes Milan Ventura Lambrate Via Privata Oslavia 8 20134 Milan, Italy open Tuesday till Sunday daily form 10.00-20.00h opening Wednesday 20.00-22.00 www.mu.nl

Especially for "MU goes Milan" the video's Waddenzee part I (natural tide) and Waddenzee part II (artificial tide) were created. Waddenzee part I shows a full tidal period of the Wadden sea photographed on the 26th of March this year. The second video shows the designers' interpretation of the tide of the Wadden sea by making the Waddenzee - Eb (Low tide) plates. Waddenzee part I (natural tide) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6XU4qOJfrkU&list=HL1334434768feature=mh_lolz Waddenzee part II http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N0IYcy1t1OU&feature=relmfu