The 9 years of working in the porcelain capital of China, Jingdezhen, has become the foundation of Julie & Jesse’s ceramic work through which they attempt to capture and archive the changes the city is undergoing. Witness to the perpetual construction and deconstruction of the environment they work in and the entropy of ceramic production, has had a strong influence in the way they develop their work.

Irony started with Julie Progin & Jesse Mc Lin gathering iron waste on the sites of recently demolished military and car production facilities in Jingdezhen. Viewed by the duo as contemporary artifacts and witnesses to a city in perpetual change, the rusting scraps of metal were used to carefully steep and paint the most fragile and precious paper-thin porcelain referred to as eggshell or bodiless ware. The resulting pieces capture a fleeting moment during which the iron decays to leave an everlasting trace onto the porcelain.

The edition presents itself in a series of different size translucent bowl-like shapes with their inside surface decorated by the oxidizing iron waste.

The marks or paintings formed by the rust change in each shape as the metal degrades inviting the viewers to experience the transformation of the metal. The journey between a reality of a city in change and the imaginary scape formed by the landscape-like markings is the primary function of the pieces.

Irony is a paradox, merging frail and durable, an instant with permanence, precision of skilled craftsmanship and the serendipity of a naturally occurring phenomena – it is an attempt by the designers to reflect on the tendency of craft to perpetuate the past as well as a way to create a new archeology of Jingdezhen.

Irony is a collaborative effort done with Jingdezhen based master Mr. Wang. His expertise, skill and stories about producing the thinnest and whitest porcelain made this project possible.