Just came across this. Thought it fit perfectly with the software possibilities presented in class today.
Source:

‘Objets Dessins Maquettes (Objects , Drawings, Models)’ by Ronan & Erwan Bouroullec

Project 3: "Ceramic Design - Factory Produced Artist Edition"

The premise for our third project can be tracked back through multiple/long histories in the production of ceramic objects. It connects to the notion of division of labor between craftsperson/artisan and designer/artist that a couple of our readings have touched on.

On Thursday we looked at the website for Moss Design a store located in SOHO selling a range of contemporary high end design editions. Among these are ceramic objects, and many of these were manufactured in European Porcelain/Ceramics factories (Meissen, Nymphemburg, Wedgewood, Sevres) that have been producing ceramics as luxury goods for hundreds of years!

Historically new designs were provided entirely by a staff of full time artist/designers employed by the factory. There has been a contemporary trend among many of these factories to invite/commission designs for editions from artists and designers who have not necessarily designed for ceramics before. These artists - in many cases - are particularly interested in the historical associations evoked by the quality of material (clay) particular to that factory as a component of the content/meaning of their design.

For this project you'll combine the activity of artist and craftsperson/artisan to both design and manufacture the first 3-10 pieces of your edition.

Central to the project is researching/reproducing/using a clay,glaze, or surface decoration with a historical precedence.

Here are some links to get you started on your research:

http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/cera/hd_cera.htm

http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/sevr/hd_sevr.htm

http://www.meissen.com/index.php?id=8&no_cache=1&lang=1

http://www.wedgwood.com/

https://www.mossonline.com/

http://www.jstor.org/pss/3793608

Chromophobia/Chromophilia

The reading this week (reading 6: Hanunoo) is from a book called Chromophobia (2000, Reaktion books), written by the British scholar, sculptor and installation artist, David Batchelor. (the image here of one of his pieces). This book is from a series of short works called "FOCI" (focus on contemporary issues) which, according to the book jacket:
"address the pressing problems, ideas, and debates of the new millennium . . . these books are combative. They offer points of view, take sides and are written with passion."
"Chromophobia" deals with the idea of color - unearthing a wide range of arguments and anecdotes that form/inform the idea of color in contemporary thought.

Color - as a complex visual phenomenon and cultural idea - is an exciting area for exploration in ceramics.

As material phenomenon Ceramic glazes yield color in really interesting ways - and I think it's important to think about the way that factors like texture, thickness, clay composition, etc. effect the way we "read" the color of a surface.

As cultural phenomena, even if we're not conscious of associating certain color use with some of the ideas that Batchelor discusses in this reading (with a kind of "Orientalist" idea of the east, exoticism, or with surface and superficiality) I think that they are lingering below the surface - a part of the way we experience color as it is used in advertising, graphic and product design.