“The Human Trace” tableware has been manufactured as a part of the project “People from the porcelain factory”, carried out in one of the oldest ceramic factories in Poland, Ćmielów, established in 1790 and active in fine porcelain production since 1838.
The porcelain set was produced on a factory production line by workers wearing gloves whose fingertips were dipped in cobalt salts. The traces of their touch remain almost invisible until firing, when they appear on the porcelain body, as the cobalt turns dark blue. In this way the porcelain tableware keeps the touch of the workers’ hands, revealing the role of the “human factor” in industrial manufacturing.
The project combines anthropological research with critical design, with the team consisting of an anthropologist, Ewa Klekot and a ceramist, Arkadiusz Szwed. It is a project in progress, financed by the Polish Ministry of Science and Higher Education within the framework of the National Programme of Development in Humanities.
The project had been recently presented at Design March festival in Reykjavik, Iceland at the exhibition organized by culture.pl
Authors of the project:
Arkadiusz Szwed, Idea | Design
Ewa Klekot, Anthropologist
Dated: 2016 (the project at the factory will be continued until 2018)
The porcelain set was produced on a factory production line by workers wearing gloves whose fingertips were dipped in cobalt salts. The traces of their touch remain almost invisible until firing, when they appear on the porcelain body, as the cobalt turns dark blue. In this way the porcelain tableware keeps the touch of the workers’ hands, revealing the role of the “human factor” in industrial manufacturing.
The project combines anthropological research with critical design, with the team consisting of an anthropologist, Ewa Klekot and a ceramist, Arkadiusz Szwed. It is a project in progress, financed by the Polish Ministry of Science and Higher Education within the framework of the National Programme of Development in Humanities.
The project had been recently presented at Design March festival in Reykjavik, Iceland at the exhibition organized by culture.pl
Authors of the project:
Arkadiusz Szwed, Idea | Design
Ewa Klekot, Anthropologist
Dated: 2016 (the project at the factory will be continued until 2018)
process // research
Human Trace
exhibition
publications:
www.dezeen.com/2017/03/29/human-trace-tableware-people-from-porcelain-factory-designmarch-2017-iceland/
www.label-magazine.com/polska-porcelana-z-ludzkim-sladem-ezp-7134.html
more info:
www.facebook.com/Peoplefromtheporcelainfactory/
www.dezeen.com/2017/03/29/human-trace-tableware-people-from-porcelain-factory-designmarch-2017-iceland/
www.label-magazine.com/polska-porcelana-z-ludzkim-sladem-ezp-7134.html
more info:
www.facebook.com/Peoplefromtheporcelainfactory/
