WALLPLATES

Un-Modular Modular

My work appropriates ideas from modern design to achieve completely different objectives. Like modular furniture the stacking bowls, wall plates and cup bus employ repeated independent parts that can be configured together in various quantities, to form a functional system. However, where modular interior design uses this system to make objects less specific and ultra efficient, my work uses it to make objects less efficient and ultra specific. By combining style and techniques of architecture and industrial interior design with those of a more intimate artistic practice this work explores new questions around the social value of physical things.

Wallplates are simple to use, inviting, elegant and, most importantly, inspire imagination both during and when not in use. Each of the sets can be ordered in any number and are interchangeable, so they fit the needs of the user. Like Shaker chairs hung on the wall to clear the floor for cleaning, a practical solution can also be a beautiful one that provides a reassuring sense of order.

By integrating dinnerware and its storage system, the object becomes part of life even when it’s not on the table with food. The process of removing it, eating from it, cleaning it and then returning it to its place is part of a cycle that emphasizes the relationship with the object, the occasion, and the community of people connected by it.

The dinnerware systems also suggest our relationship with home. Removed from its storage receptacle, the pot is portable and the place it nested bereft in its absence. When replaced, the feeling is a reassurance of returning home.

In spite of their inherent eccentricities, these pots are meant for use. They are easy to clean, fit well in their perch and beg to be handled. Through the impulse to use, then rethink use the objects initiate a relationship that elevates an everyday act into an occasion.