Connecting with the everyday
My design research practice focuses on making everyday activities more meaningful through interactive, embodied interaction. I explore how meaning can emerge by designing opportunities for novel connections with the objects, the activity and the body. The connections I look for are characterized by responsivity, openness, and speaking in your own voice, which enable the true transformation of both parties. This is known as resonance*.
From earlier research a set of everyday activities emerged which showed promise for resonant redesign. One of them was lunching. I didn’t find very much data on lunching but it is clear that lunch in the Netherlands is pretty bleak. It mostly consists of bread (absolute winner), soup, pasta, salad and fruit, eggs and dairy products. So the tableware should fit these products.
I’ve started on a journey to create a set of lunch tableware which can enhance a sense of connection. They should be engaging to handle and at the same time have conductive properties to become part of an interactive system. I envision the output of the system to be sounds. The sounds can come from handling the objects and from prerecorded samples triggered by touching and moving the objects.
Working with ceramics
I have been wanting to experiment with clay and ceramics for quite some time. This and the following blog post will focus on the preliminary results of working with clay. The possibilities and limitations of working with specifically, porcelain and different conductive materials and methods for making ceramics conductive. I signed up for six classes at [Beeldhouw]AtelierBredawhere I had the freedom to work on my own project and use the knowledge and equipment available and try out different types of porcelain.
Techniques
I chose to not work with throwing. I own a set of porcelain tableware which is just perfect. I know I will not be able to surpass this and won’t add anything new by trying. Instead I wanted to explore direct manipulation and explicitly not go for the perfect cup or plate. The pieces would show the hand of the maker and traces of the techniques used. If this is done well it will add life to the objects which will make them engaging and attractive to handle. It will make them speak in their own voice. In line with the imperfect and exquisite Japanese ceramics.
I started out by making a plate (for sandwiches or salad), different sized bowls and spoons for stirring and eating soup. For these objects I wanted to explore the shape, size and texture. To increase engagement I wanted to add playful, unconventional elements which the users are free to use in any way they want during the lunch experience.
Conductive ceramics
I’ve made a start with making the conductive. It isn’t straightforward. I want the conductive material to be a part of the ceramic so it can be used as proper tableware. This excludes conductive tapes and paints. The first thing to try out is gold lustre. It contains gold particles and gold is a very good conductor. I’ve applied it to a plate and a bowl with varying success. However, if the lustre is opaque it works well.
Main insights from the first six lessons
- Porcelain is very hard to work with compared to other types of clay. It is very limp and stains easily during manipulation (Fig. 2).
- Thin pieces change shape during firing (Fig. 1).
- Working with ceramics takes time. Drying the objects, firing and cooling down easily takes three weeks.
- Things break easily. During drying, firing and handling. I can use this in my designs (Fig. 3).
- The white porcelain is very prone to tainting. Nearly all the pieces showed specks or flecks (all images).
- Even transparent, colourless glaze is difficult to work with. It is hard to know how much to apply and get the right fluidity (Fig.1).
- Lustre is conductive. Its adhesiveness is a bit unpredictable. It’s poisonous… (Fig. 4)
*Rosa, H. (2019). Resonance (J. W. Wagner, Trans.; Kindle). Polity Press.
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