One of my friends from the RCA is now working at the
National Glass Centre in Sunderland and asked me for a .pdf version of my
RCA thesis for their library. When I have finished converting it to .pdf, I’ll also send it to
the RCA library where it will be available to students.
And yesterday, I received an email from
a student at the Sotheby’s Institute who asked a number of incisive questions about my practice.
From time to time students have asked to use my work in their essays and
dissertations, so I thought it might be useful to reproduce the questions and
my replies.
You mentioned in your blog
that a new Arts and Craft movement may be necessary and that technology does
not warrant good design and that a material led process is still essential.
What do you think is the appropriate way to combine traditional craft with high
technology in this age?
In
Britain, at the present time there is a lack of joined up thinking by our
political leaders. The Chancellor, George Osborne stood up at the dispatch box
in the House of Commons to say that Britain's economic recovery will happen
through the hands of makers, in other words there is a need to apply our
creativity to manufacturing innovative products in the UK. Last week the
Culture Minister, Ed Vaizey was on Radio 4 championing British 'world leading
creativity'. However, down the road in the Ministry of Education, Michael Gove
was set to remove the Creative subjects from the curriculum through the
introduction of the English baccalaureate. Though the proposal has been
dropped, there is still a threat to the rating of schools through the use of
EBacc criteria where the creative subjects are not taken into consideration. Where
does he expect the next generations of creative thinkers to come from?
Hopefully,
you will be able to see where my tirade is heading. There is a real need to recognize
the place of making at all stages of the education system. It must go hand in
hand with the use of technology, in fact there is a need to be far more
creative with technology, so that coding should also taught in schools.
My
generation spans the digital divide, I grew up before computers and spent a lot
of time making and building stuff, it was what we did. So computers are
something that I have seen as 'other' whereas generations growing up with
computers and digital technology don't have the same potential hang-ups. The
way forward is not to differentiate between digital and non-digital tools. They
can be used singly, separately and in harmony. It's all about choosing the
right tool for the job. But in order to make the correct choice the maker has
to have experience of both sets of tools.
The
definition of the word 'craft' has evolved over the years. The Arts and Crafts
movement had a particular definition, relating to the inhumanity of the
Industrial Revolution. It may have been the blinkered view of a privileged
class, but it was very influential, encouraging generations of makers to head
off to the countryside to grow vegetables and make heavy brown pots! Urban
makers reacted against this in the 1970's and craft to a large degree became a
dirty word, especially as conceptual ideas seemed to be the only thing that
counted in the Art world.
I
think that the definition of craft is changing again, with academics such as
Malcolm McCullough, Richard Sennett, Glenn Adamson and Christopher Frayling helping to re-define
the word. And the boundaries between the disciplines are becoming blurred,
personally I define myself as maker, someone happy to inhabit and explore the
grey area between art, craft, design and technology.
To
quote Alex Coles, “…Eden’s work is persuasive evidence of how one of the
most convincing ways to extend craft today in order to integrate it more
closely with art and design is precisely by using cutting-edge technology to
trigger a process of conceptual and formal investigation. By aiding
experimentation in this way, technology is utilized as a means to an end rather
than simply being an end in itself.”[i]
Could you expand on why
and how you incorporate the virtual experiences? The QR code is a great example
of this. Does this reflect that decorative objects will need to serve
additional functions, to entertain its audience, to remain relevant?
A
beautifully crafted teapot does not require an additional contrived virtual
dimension to complete the users experience of brewing tea in it or appreciating
it, sat on a shelf in the kitchen. The owner of such an object develops a
relationship to it through use, through sharing a cup of tea with friends. Its
physicality is enhanced by those sensory and emotional experiences, it needs
nothing more.
However,
as information becomes increasingly available through data it is now possible
to not only realize information as objects but to interact with them in new
ways. Both the Mnemosyne and the Babel vessel have been acquired by museums
(Carnegie Art Museum, Pittsburgh and Aberdeen Art Gallery respectively). I plan
to work with their web designers to allow the viewer/user to interact with them
in meaningful ways, creating links to other objects in the museum and allowing
new stories to be told. I see them.
I
don't think these pieces are superior to non-interactive pieces, they simply
offer another type of experience.
What motivates and
inspires you?
You have included cultural
and historical references, as seen in the Wedgewood Tureen, what is their
significance in your works?
I
hang a story on culturally significant objects as a way of commenting on
making, encouraging a debate around craft and to tell a multi-layered story.
But they are also chosen to seduce the viewer by their familiarity. I want the
viewer to engage, to be surprised, to have their perceptions challenged.
To whom are you designing for? What type of home do you see your
pieces in?
Primarily
for me, it's self-indulgence. But I hope that this approach will connect the
objects to an audience. I hope that I make artworks with integrity and passion
and that the viewer recognises the energy and effort that goes into them.
What are your findings in
working with a synthetic material? Do you miss the tactile nature and the
warmth of clay?
My
eventual aim is to 3D print clay. I have collaborated with others to produce a
few 3D printed ceramic pieces, some of which I have successfully fired using
the same lead glazes that we used on our slipware. The aim is to bring together
the almost pre-industrial craft skills and materials that I previously used
with post-industrial manufacturing, thereby creating a new ceramic language.
Meanwhile, it is important for me to explore and fully exploit the technology
and materials available to me. Nylon is not clay, never will be, but I can
hopefully still use those materials to make meaningful objects. And they are a
challenge to experiment with, so i have been copper plating and exploring
silver plating amongst other trials.
Babel Vessel I:
I have read that the
Chinese 'hu' vessel was an inspiration to you. Can you expand on your choice of
this form and culture?
Unicorns adorn the side of
the vessel, what do they symbolize?
On
a visit to the British Museum I noticed the surface decoration of a 6th
century BCE Chinese ceremonial wine vessel, known as a hu, as it reminded me of the QR barcodes.
When
translated, the Chinese symbols tell of battles won or of heroic deeds by
emperors. Like the QR code, I wasn’t able to read them without a translator (or
an App). So the viewer can scan the Babel
Vessel with their Smart phone, which then connects to a video on my
website telling the story, providing additional information thereby creating a
simultaneous actual and virtual experience.
The
lion and the unicorn handles replace the traditional Chinese serpents and make
a cryptic reference to the uncomfortable relationship that has existed between
Britain and China at various times in our histories. They also (positively)
refer to the Royal College of Art (taken from the Royal Standard logo of the
RCA), without which I wouldn't have been able to make these things.
[i] Coles, Alex. ‘Michael
Eden, The Practitioner, Artist, Designer.’ SOFA 2011 catalogue essay.
Alex Coles is the author of
DesignArt (Tate Publishing, 2005), co-author of Project VITRA (Birkhauser,
2008), and the editor of Design and Art (MIT/Whitechapel). He also writes
regularly for the Financial Times and The Art Newspaper.
