Philosophy of Emma Lacey Engaging Ceramics:
Tactility, emotional relationships with objects, durability, practical, materiality, authenticity
Shape design: quiet tactile function ware, attention to details like glossy and matte glaze colliding on rim
Industrial design inspired so doesn’t see herself as a potter
Business module:
-50-70% Wholesaling in retails: restaurants and shops like hakkasan, yauatcha, sakenohana (disrupted by pandemic)
-Direct sales to customers
-commission (barely, executing people’s vision isn’t her main interest)
Client seeking:
Finding wholesale targets in trade shows like Pulse, maison&objet paris, made London(the design and craft fair), London craft week, top drawer, designjunction, Ceramic Art London
Consideration: Do you fit in and stand out in those show?
Stands are expensive but good to gain exposure or build business relationships over the years
Staffs to help out the business:
Part time assistants like Jolie(3 days a week), Brigette(once a week), accountant
Do I teach to support my work?
-Help singular and focus in own vision in studio with the financial support
-Teaching is always a passion, very social comparing to own independent practice
-Enjoy the design and facilitating process in teaching eg how to built portfolio
--------------------------Journey--------------------------
BA in Brighton University: Wood metal ceramics and plastics
-Specialized in ceramics but also do metal
-Anthony Caro and sculptural element in 3D: harmonious sense of balance
Karin Putsch Grassi: Potter (assistant)
-market at Florence introduced function/design elements in sculptural vessels
-decided to learn more about design by doing MA design in ceramics at CSM
MA Design: Ceramics at Central Saint Martins
-Rationalize design and possible mass production in an already overwhelming industry/world
-Analysing Takeshi Yasuda, Carina Ciscato, Louise Taylor, Piet Stockmans, Hella Jongerius, Hering Berlin to learn personal interest: Traits of potter’s prints/movement on material, language of design in factory, meaningful engagement etc
-Alex Fraiser: tea specialist, working in the market store and learn symbolic value in tea ritual/ceremony
-Book to read: Jonathan Chapman: Emotional durability/Donald A Norman: Emotional Design
-Donald A Norman: levels of cognitive processing
-Attending Design & Emotion 2006 conference: Aiming at designing emotionally durable objects with the philosophy
-Cups of Takeshi Yasuda: Rough edge and seamlines of mould to enhance the tactile visceral reaction, unveiling materials and treatment
catalyst: defining comments/moments from tutorials/learning process(click)
Rosentile coffee cups:
-fully glazed and polished rim, impressed and fell in love as a craftswoman before learning about factory production
-Matte black saucer contrasting with glossy white cup
Investigation and MA Projects:
-Playful element in saucer: changing angle of saucer to prevent rocking of cup when tea is poured in
-Experiment of potentials in restaurant plating
-oval cups at Sketch(conceptual restaurant and tearooms):playful twist and engagement
-Tangibility on making/ceramics
-salt and pepper shaker for frevd
Industrial language in Everyday mug:
-Ergonomics and positions of handles, tactility, ritual, materiality
-First design: designed to be mass produced, scanned dent to put in CAD, then produced with slip casting
-constantly redesigning eg improving hard to clean angles
Sake ware set for hakkasan:
studio visits, compromise and insist on having elements of Emma Lacey within, Ended up producing for chain’s global sake ware supply
**remember that you need to be paid up front
Emily Estate and Newt in Somerset:
pushing the business by mass producing in 3 months
Spa tea set, restaurant
100 mugs:
Personal projects, staining glaze, visible details like speckles
Inspired more experiments
Positioning in photography helps seeing the work in different perspective
Selling in set of 6 or grids
Practice in Jingdezhen:
-exploration of forms, balance and weight without consideration of functionality
-interaction, satisfaction of clicking into rim
--------------------------Student Questions--------------------------
Thrown finger lines inside of mugs to avoid industrial feeling?
-Inner lines are shown outside through firing because it’s really thin, not trying to be too machine, sensibility
Throwing: only specialized in particular shapes or you can do any shapes?
-Learnt throwing from John Coback in Italy, but mostly through practice
-Challenging and barely throw big objects and plates, but could do
External business partners/networking:
-Accountant
-Business adviser(not necessarily, mainly short course instead)
-Hot/Hobhouse(industry-based training course for freshers, help building network)
Confidence:
-not always confident, but it’s about learning/practicing how to talk about your work, also passion comes across as confidence
-I have the choice of designing but barely does
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