2010—2014
Fragment(s), the limited edition, vase A, series 1
White biscuit porcelain, glaze, and 14k gold lustre
Edition of 8 + AP + GP
Fragment(s) is an exploration and experimentation to capture the limits and the relationships between molding techniques, kaolin, firing and colors. This limited edition of porcelain vases captures the break and decay of a mold to reveal the beauty in deterioration and create a memory of what would otherwise be discarded.
The designers developed unique casting techniques to capture direct impressions of the residues of the porcelain industry of Jingdezhen setting forth a reminiscence of the history of the city and creating a new archeology.
As a conceptual project it is an intellectual recognition of the entropy of processes and forms, an incursion in time-honored practices and age-old shapes that become the ‘memory’ of the fragment and a transgression of the tradition.
Fragment(s) also explores material and symbolic parameters in order to produce a ‘post archeological iconography’.
The particular process to make each Fragment(s) results in a totally unique and unrepeatable shape for each piece. No two vases look the same as the molds decay and color combinations change. It is this inherent beauty and diversity that the designers are setting forth in this limited edition of 08 + AP + GP vase A.
Words: Julie Progin
Photography: Julie Progin & Ricky Wan
Context
Jingdezhen, China
Located in the Jiangxi province and known as the porcelain city of China, Jingdezhen has a history of over 2000 years in porcelain making.
Julie & Jesse have been working there for over eight years during which they have established a production studio and developed several porcelain collections for their own brand, for private clients and for special commissions. During the years spent in Jingdezhen Julie and Jesse have made a unique research based on the ceramic history and practices of the city in discussing and working hand in hand with local craftsmen and mass production factories.
They have accumulated knowledge of a large range of specifics and studied the standard typologies and forms produced historically and presently in the city as well as the unique qualities of the local kaolin and its firing processes. Julie and Jesse’s investigation of Jingdezhen also lead them around the city where the landscape is undeniably shaped by the ceramic industry with mountains of remains composed mainly of broken molds and porcelain pieces.
These residues bring to light the entropy of the processes in ceramic production and revealed themselves to Jesse and Julie as a poetic decay, offering a kind of ‘real-time’ archeology of the city that inspired Fragment(s).
