I don't usually think about my dishes as being something that is designed - silver ware yes. Nor do I spend time contemplating dishes as design objects. However; as I moved into the new 4401 - which is smaller, quaint and older, about 70 years old - my neighbor gifted a couple of cool things. In this collection is a set of WWII era objects, a small set of ceramic dishes. Growing up in the 80's during the plasti-ware boom, ceramic was not common in our house. My grandparents for the most part were post WWII consumers and I was not introduced to designer dish wares. The salad bowls are the coolest little gems - they are a set of mix and match colored salad bowls by Russel Wright. These little bitches are designed in a way in which the hand can take a myriad of positions to hold the bowl - a small lip on the edge of the curve allows the hand different positions to caress, grip, hold, hang, drape, and set the bowl. I used dishes as necessary objects but paid little attention to the detail and care put into their creation. A cup, a bowl, a plate, a saucer, a tea cup, a mug, a pitcher ... analytically the basis of design for each centers on functionality: solutions on how to contain a food/beverage - how to keep these foods hot/cold - the lifetime durability of the object so that the user can reuse it multiple times. What sets these apart from crappy plastic bowls is that while the Wright bowls fulfill the functional obligations they also fulfill an aesthetic and functional need beyond the basis of design. Check out the links regarding Wright - I've noticed a huge draw to 30's and 40's design lately ...
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment