News about design in China
Artist-designer, Xiaodong, hails from Wuhan but currently lives and works in Jingdezhen. Working primarily with porcelain, he creates “a paradox…between the movement and growth in nature and the static qualities of the material”. See his works at ilivetomorrow; until 13 December. Details.
At first glance, NewChi’s porcelain pieces seem to defy gravity. From the pirouetting Ballet collection to the levitating Imperial Memories teapot, every piece designed by Heinrich Wang seems to be designed from an alternate universe.
And this was exactly his intent: to transform the age-old craft of porcelain-making, and revolutionise a process iterated millions of times throughout history.
Taiwanese designer, Pili Wu, is mainly recognised for his Plastic Classic stool series (stocked by Wuhao Curated Shop and ilivetomorrow in China). More recently, however, the young designer has been experimenting on and expanding his concept - combining ubiquitous furniture with more elegant materials and structures - for a new plastic-ceramics tableware range. See more.
Originally from Liaoning Province, Xiao Tianyu is a Beijing-based designer who graduated from CAFA in 2010. His graduation furniture series, Harmony, demonstrates his signature style: combining local Chinese culture with a more contemporary design aesthetic. Design China spoke with him recently to find out more.
“Surely bringing ‘china’ to China would be madness? Not so, say the curators at [both] the British Museum and V&A. The Passion for Porcelain exhibition, now open at the National Museum of China, draws on these two museums’ extensive collections. But while Chinese newspaper headlines in recent years have focused on the looting of the Old Summer Palace in 1860 and calls to repatriate ceramics that were spirited away to Europe, this new show wisely centers on a different story”. Details.
Words via TimeOut Beijing.
Co-founded in 2008 by Jesse McLin and Julie Progin, Latitude 22N is a Hong Kong-based, multi-disciplinary design studio and consultancy that creates homeware collections and provides creative direction and branding services across various mediums. Of Swiss, American and Hong Kong heritage, the duos’ experience in textiles, products, graphic design and the fine arts are distinctly reflected in their approach to design, and has quickly become a trademark.
Design China recently visited Jingdezhen, the porcelain capital of China. Starting off at a morning market organised by The Pottery Workshop, we wound our way through the numerous stalls where students were selling their works - definitely a dangerous place for the wallet! Despite the gloomy weather, we then made our way to Sanbao Ceramic Art Institute, and even managed to speak to director Jackson Li, as well as artist in residence, Bryan Mulvihill, who were both nice enough to show us around their studios. Here’s a photo essay of (what we thought were) some of the more interesting finds.
Thanks to Charlene Wang of Tranquil Tuesdays and Joey Foster Ellis for helping to make this happen.
Xie Dong is a porcelain artist/designer from Beijing. She graduated from Beijing Art and Design Institute in 1988 and has since built a strong following of her bone china works. “She works essentially on phenomena such as heaviness and lightness, on the dynamics of shapes, on elusive elements. Her approach to design is that of an artist able to translate into poetry great artisanal skills linked to ancient Chinese craftsmanship”.
Spin Ceramics is a Shanghai and Beijing-based brand and store conceived by Jeremy Kuo. Each of the porcelain products on sale are produced in Jingdezhen by design team Lansheng Li, May Zhao, Tong Wei, Cheehao Yan, An Na and Kai Li. We briefly spoke with chief designer, Gary Wang, to find out more.
“Last year, we introduced Beijing-based artist Deng Ying, who spent a lot of time last year at the Jiangxi Pottery Center. Working with ceramics and pottery is a long and arduous process, but after seeing the beautiful results, all of the hard work seems well worth it”. Via NeochaEDGE.
