The collection exists out of a series of porcelain benches and stools created for design-art gallery Karena Schuessler in Berlin. The collection is created under BoomWehmeyer label and available in limited signed series. The collection is about bringing porcelain in a wider usage, expanding through old techniques the wider possibility of landscapes of porcelain. Using the natural quality of strength, pureness and softness of porcelain with a combination of soft flowing shape and a natural form of sitting.
The making of the collection Porcelain Topographies was a team effort that brought together the expertise of different people in the Netherlands, China and Germany. Through great support, work and enthusiasm of a special group of people and organizations it was possible to realize this collection.The process of the creation makes a journey through place, experiment, material, time and material, all layers that can’t always be made visible for the viewer. The collection was a process journey exploring the characteristics of porcelain and creating new form from this.
The origin translation of topography from Greek refers to Topo as “place” and Graphy as “writing”, combining topography into writing of place, the description of everything that the place features. Porcelain connects close to the idea of being a topography while it features such a description in material, cultural, physical, emotional, social and historical way.
Time gives space for development, evolving and maturing, keeping us in the progress of continuance. This element of time is also core when working with porcelain, the importance of time starting at the formation of the raw minerals to the moment of the static recording of the makers plan and the life the work leads after finishing.
Working with porcelain is the continuing process of measuring the abilities between maker and material, measuring each others strength, imagination and acceptance. It’s these elements that was a daily learning in the process of creating larger porcelain objects in China, mapping of trial, function, strength and material testing in a certain period of time, working with the sensation of the natural feeling and qualities that porcelain beholds.
We like to thank first and foremost Karena Schuessler and her staff for making this collection possible and for support from Stichting Stokroos and Prins Bernard Cultuurfonds / Sofa. Also for support and assistence in the process: Sharon Geschiere, staff of Pottery Workshop ’Experimental Factory’, Xiong Bei Xu, Ruilan (Iris) Qiu, Takeshi Yasuda, Wang Jin Hua, Wong Ming Fang, Wan De Bin, Zhan Jin Cai, Zhou He Mao, Wei You Ping, Jiang Guo Bo, Luo Mei Chun, Zhang Guo Xin, Bas Kools, Marc Kuypers & team from meubelfabriek Rutgers.
