Where do I go from here?

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April and May have been busy, a pretty hectic combination of work and play. 

It started with a trip to Oslo National Academy of the Arts, where I was invited to give a lecture about my practice. It was also an opportunity to meet the staff in both the Ceramics department and in the 3D printing facility. The facilities are extremely impressive, all housed in a beautiful 19th century sail factory complex.

I am planning to return for a longer period in order to experiment with their ZCorp 310 that they have just started to use with ceramic powders. The plan is to create a network of 3D printer practitioners exploring the theme of ceramics, culminating in an event in the autumn of 2014.

A few days after my return to the UK, I set off for a holiday in France with my wife Vicky, our friend Jan and my bike. The trip by train to Montelimar was excellent, though carrying my road bike in a bag wasn't that easy. Whilst there I cycled from the Drôme, through the Gorge de L'Ardeche, down into Languedoc to see friends, then up through the Cevennes to be reunited with Vicky and Jan in Ispagnac, a beautiful village at the entrance to the Gorge du Tarn.

I had to cut the holiday short in order to return to London for Collect, held again at the Saatchi Gallery, where I was showing some new pieces with Adrian Sassoon. The show was definitely up to it's usual standard, and I was lucky to have the Prtlnd Vase purchased by the Art Fund for the New Walk Gallery in Leicester. The curators plan to open a digital gallery and had researched my work and in particular the Prtlnd Vase for their presentation to the Art Fund.

Whilst at Collect, I took part in the first ‘Fielding Talk: Lives in Craft, launched in memory of Amanda Fielding, the writer and curator who died in 2012. This event, …celebrates Fielding’s passion and knowledge for the sector through the voices and experiences of the most exciting and innovative makers in contemporary craft.’ Glenn Adamson from the V&A chaired it with Clare Twomey and myself in discussion around the theme of the relationship between makers and curators. The acquisition and positioning of ‘digital craft’ has been problematic for curators as there was uncertainty as to the placing of the work. Fortunately for my contemporaries and I, there now appears to be a confidence and keen interest in our work, though the interpretation of challenging pieces can still be problematic for the curators.

Back in Manchester, I have been continuing to explore the Mcor Matrix 300 printer that 'prints' in layers of paper. It has been a temperamental machine, but a technician’s recent visit appears to have made it operate more smoothly. I set it off this morning to print the first of 4 pieces to be used as moulds for the making of ceramic sprigs for a version of the Prtlnd Vase. The body of the vase was printed in 4 sections by Mcor, as our machine failed to build them. I plan to have a mould produced and if talks with Wedgwood succeed, I will slipcast it in traditional Jasperware.

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And this leads to the question I pose in the title of this piece, “Where do I go from here?’ The reason I ask this question is that I am going through a period of reflection about my work. Over the past 7 years I have produced a body of work that has investigated 3D printing through the interpretation and re-design of familiar objects such as Wedgwood and Sèvres ceramics, appropriating their cultural significance to make comments about craft, values and the virtual world that we increasingly inhabit.

As I have always said, I don’t want to use the technology for its own sake, there has to be an idea that underpins its use. I am now at the stage where I feel I need to go further, in terms of material and process. The aim has been and still is to produce ceramic 3D printed artworks, combining my previous experience and knowledge of ceramics history with ‘post-industrial’ manufacturing. But this is where Glenn Adamson steps in.

-->In his new book, ‘The Invention of Craft’ he states that “…new forms of practice will inevitably be forged through the synthesis of the analogue and the digital…”[1]

The Mcor Matrix printer alerted me to the journey the data travels between the computer software and the printed artwork. The only difference between the data used to produce the paper prints of the Prtlnd vase and the SLS version, is scale. However, unlike the SLS original the faceted sides look as though they have been made from folded paper. Something has happened in the process that gives the object a softer, ‘crafted’ look. So this version will not only refer to the relationship between actual and the virtual from the standpoint of our increasing engagement of the real world through a screen, but also record the material process.

The other thought-provoking piece of writing comes from Justin McGuirk in the Collect 2013 catalogue. He is talking about craft ‘fetishism’ and the difference between being seduced by electronic gizmos and crafted objects. “The philosopher Bruno Latour might argue that we are once again seduced by the ‘thingness’ of things. In his essay ‘Why has critique run out of steam’ he extrapolates Martin Heidegger’s distinction between objects and things. He writes ‘The hand-made jug can be a thing, while the industrially made can of Coke remains an object. While the latter is abandoned to the empty mastery of science and technology, only the former, cradled in the respected idiom of art, craftsmanship and poetry, could deploy its rich set of connotations.’ So we have a distinction here between the mute machine-made object and the poetic hand-made thing. Does this distinction help us?”[2]

And where does it place my work?

Do I fall between the 2 stools? And is this why I feel I need to bring a physical, tactile connection back into my work?

I shouldn’t care what the Adamsons and McGuirks think, as I am a maker not a critical historian, writer or philosopher, but even before my days at the RCA I have attempted to justify my output. It’s part of my methodology and one that sometimes weighs heavy.

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[1] Glenn Adamson, The Invention of Craft (London: Bloomsbury, 2013) p.166

[2] Justin McGuirk, Fashion, Fetish and Craft, (Crafts Council 2013) pp.19, 20

Essays, dissertations, theses etc. etc...

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 6^th 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.

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[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. 

MIRIAD activities...

 w/e 25.01.13 – The Prtlnd Vase

The Research Fellowship at MIRIAD moves on, with a certain amount of juggling, which I guess is very much the normal state of affairs when practice and research overlap so seamlessly.

My version of the Portland Vase, made a couple of months ago by SLS has given me much to think about, particularly around the relationship between traditional and digital making. The piece is a response to the way we increasingly experience the real world through a screen. Regardless of the clarity of our devices, it is still a 2 dimensional image that we are engaging with. Even Augmented Reality doesn’t hold a candle to the real thing. And though the Google Art Project sets the taste buds tingling, and may save you queuing in line to visit the Uffizi, can it be compared to the real thing. I’m sure Google would say that it’s not designed to replace, but to enhance the real thing, and that’s fair enough, but we are increasingly replacing the actual with the virtual visual experience.

My concern, as I’m sure you are aware if you have read any of my other ramblings, is that for a true understanding of the material world you need to get dirty and uncomfortable sometimes.

But back to the Portland Vase. It was chosen because it is a much revered, iconic object that has been copied in the past, most famously by Josiah Wedgwood, who borrowed the original Roman glass vase from the Duke of Portland in the late 18^th century and after many trials successfully created a version in his famous jasper ware.

My Prtlnd Vase is another interpretation of the original, but in my case I didn’t borrow the original from the British Museum. I based my designs on images gleaned from search engines. There were lots of identical images taken from one face or the other, but nothing from the side. The images were generally of a low resolution, so the information available for me to use was somewhat limited. But that was the point, an image is a pale substitute if information is required.

w/e 01.02.13 – Foster and Partners

This week starts with a trip to London, combining a visit to my dealer, Adrian Sassoon to discuss new work and forthcoming exhibitions. On Tuesday I will be visiting Foster and Partners with my colleague Toby Heys in order to see the work of Xavier de Kestelier and his Specialist Modelling group. It should be very interesting as they have a focus on 3D printing, including an exploration in conjunction with Enrico Dini of D-Shape to print buildings on the Moon from moon dust!

Later…

The visit went well, it’s a busy place overlooking the Thames, with hundreds of people beavering away on various projects. Xavier is responsible for Special projects and leads a problem-solving group who address a myriad of technical solutions.

My instinct is that our proposal needs to be at a much more advanced stage; really we need to have successfully completed a feasibility study and be at the proof of concept stage before Fosters would come on board. So we’re a little way off.

Whilst there I caught up with Gregor Anderson, who was a great help to me, both at the RCA and sorting out my data whilst he worked at the Digital Manufacturing Centre at the Bartlett. He runs the superbly equipped 3D modeling facilities at Fosters and appears to be very happy in his new role.

w/e 01.03.13

Vicky and I just spent 4 days in Venice, our first trip to the city. What a great place, lovely to get away from cars and enjoy the more leisurely pace of boats and walking. It wasn’t as busy as it can be and the weather, though perishing cold when we arrived better than forecast. So we explored and ate and explored and ate. And slept really well. We saw some of the famous sights, but also got off the beaten track exploring the Fondamenti and Calle of Canneregio, the quitter, northern sesterei of Venice. And I have my first experience of a Tadao Ando building, or rather a warehouse converted into an Art Gallery by him for Francois Pinault. The Punta della Dogana is right down on the tip of Dorsoduro and well worth the vaporetto fare. And the walk back to our hotel in Santa Croce was well worth it.

Vicky was keen to search the churches for painting by Titian, as she is giving a talk on the subject soon, but in terms of generating ideas for my own work the strongest impression was of hands, particularly their use in reliquaries. There were a good number of them, places like the Basilica dei Frari had a collection of them. The hand gestures vary, sometimes the fingers are bending forward and sometimes the hand is exaggeratedly elongated. Most have glass windows in the ‘wrists’ allowing a view of the supposed relic. In the paintings adorning the walls of museums and churches the painters appear to have given a lot of significance to hands. They are always expressive, stretching, reaching, imploring, rarely at rest. As they were always painted by the master, I suppose they were a statement of his skill, but they help to create a dynamic composition, a moment frozen in time.

Since our return, I have spent some time thinking about using hands as a starting point for a new piece of work. Hands are full of symbolic meaning and would make an engaging vehicle to explore.

w/e 08.03.13

 Alongside finishing the Vncnns piece for Adrian Sassoon, which will be shown at TEFAF in Maastricht shortly, my focus at MIRIAD has been on continuing to struggle with the Mcor Matrix 3D printer and help put together a grant application for the Graphene project.

Things moved forward in both areas, as Mcor have offered to print my Prtlnd vase parts and we had a promising meeting with Craig Banks, an MMU electro-chemist whose research focuses on Graphene applications. We think that we have the makings of a strong application (or two), so watch this space.

And talking of grants, my internal MMU large bid was successful, so I have about £6000 to spend on the restoration of the ZCorp printer.

On Tuesday, I had a scenic train ride to Sheffield where the architect, Sarah Wigglesworth had invited me to speak alongside the ceramic artist, Natasha Daintry on the theme of The Thinking Craftsperson. We both gave 15-minute presentations that led to a prolonged discussion and Q & A session. Sarah realizes that architecture students have little opportunity to engage in making and understand the thinking that underpins craft. Judging by the reaction, there is a strong case for the introduction of some sort of making sessions for architecture students and not just in Sheffield.

And then on Wednesday, I spent the day at the lovely Liverpool Hope University Creative Campus as a mentor on a Crafts Council Hothouse day. I was one of 3 mentors working with 10 emerging makers who have been selected to take part in the scheme to support them through the early stages of their careers, providing guidance on all aspects of their practice.

We used Edward de Bono’s 6 Thinking Hats method to engage in a thorough analysis of their work. The technique is very effective in maintaining the focus of a discussion and making sure it doesn’t stray off the subject.

Research

At the beginning of the month I started my new position as a Research Fellow at MIRIAD, part of the School of Art at Manchester Metropolitan University. It's a part-time position, which allows me the time to continue my personal practice, though the dividing line is somewhat blurred as the focus of the research is on Digital Forming. 

The project investigates Digital Forming, including 3D Printing.

There are 3 associated areas of investigation:

·      The relationship of traditional and digital craft skills.

o   How do the skills and tacit knowledge developed as a maker of ceramics transfer to new digital tools and technology?

·      The bringing together of actual and virtual experiences of an object.

o   An exploration of ways to ‘liberate’ the 3 dimensional object by enabling a simultaneous virtual experience.

·      The development and refinement of ceramic materials for use in 3D printing.

o   The successful outcome would enable pre-industrial knowledge and skills to be brought together with post-industrial manufacturing, creating a new object typology.

Through this project I aim to continue producing a body of work that uses the research to explore the cultural value of objects and how we engage with the physical in a world where experience is increasingly engaged with through digital media.

Here's a taste of a new piece that hopefully demonstrates some of the above.

Prtlnd Vase 2012 - Michael Eden.
Image Courtesy of Adrian Sassoon

Is Design just about rearranging the Cushions...?

Heading north in the Quiet Zone of the 18.30 out of London Euston is an ideal setting for reflecting on the days activities. I was on my way back to Kendal after attending the British Design Summer Reception at the House of Lords. 

Organised by the Associate Parliamentary Design and Innovation Group, it brought together many leading and influential designers, along with MPs, members of the Lords, journalists and representatives from the various organisations that sponsored the tables. Being on the Crafts Council table, I was pleasantly surprised to find myself seated between Tristram Hunt, MP for Stoke-on-Trent and Michelle Ogundehin, editor of Elle Decoration. 

Speeches by both Sir John Sorrell and Lord Bichard championed British design, and stressed the need for a strong united voice to convince Parliament that design is more than just making things look pretty, but something that should be at the core of business thinking. 

Apparently the Financial sector spent £92 million lobbying the government last year and that has appeared to have paid off. Design doesn’t have that sort of money, so we are going to have to use some of our creative thinking if we want to be heard. 

However, it seems to me that 'design' is one of those shape shifting words with a different definition according to the context in which it is used. 

My definition is something along the lines of 'the creative application of materials and/or processes.' That's probably over simplistic, but to make an impact surely that's the sort of definition required, as it not only covers making stuff, but can be applied to systems and services.     

And it's inclusive, so the Crafts Council shouldn't feel left out. 

OK, so we can dress that up with great examples, lots of lovely images, but what are we asking for? 

For me it would be some joined up thinking in government, where the Chancellor of the Exchequer doesn't stand at the dispatch box going on about how he “want(s) the words: Made in Britain, Created in Britain, Designed in Britain, Invented in Britain to drive our nation forward. A Britain carried aloft by the march of the makers" to be the battle cry that will save the economy, when down the road Education are undermining or should that be destroying Design and Technology in schools.  Where do they think the next generation of makers and creative thinkers are going to come from?

And I would also ask that there should be far more support for research that brings together art and science. There are so many great examples where collaboration has benefitted both camps.  

Vince Cable has been busy with his Made by Britain and Make it in Great Britain campaigns, with an exhibition starting in London’s Science Museum on the 24th of July. But as Michelle Ogundehin points out in her blog, why doesn’t the government recognize the central role that design plays in the success of companies like Apple, Dyson etc etc? And ‘why is it taking government so long to catch on when the UK’s design sector could be such a spur to economic growth?’

A poorly advertised exhibition in the Science Museum is not enough, what we need is a new Festival of Britain, an event that will clearly demonstrate the wealth of great design that we have in the UK, demonstrate how companies will benefit by embedding design thinking into their core activities, demonstrate to parents that Art and Design are relevant subjects for their children to choose at school and if the government would put some money into apprenticeships, give some disaffected young people a place in society. (That last bit might be going too far, but we can dream…)

Design Centrum Kielce - lecture notes

MAREK CECULA – artist, designer, educator and all-round dynamo has returned home to Kielce in Poland and created Design Centrum Kielce.
Marek invited me to speak at the opening of the centre, held in June. Rather than simply talking about my own work, I used the opportunity to discuss the impact of digital technology on craft and design and its place in Design education.

Synopsis:
Digital technology is having a profound effect on the way in which we engage with the world and with the objects that surround us. Many people think that there is a risk that these shiny new tools will lead to a loss of traditional skills. I would like to discuss the place of these new tools in relation to design education and use my practice as an example of one way to bring together the old and the new.

Lecture:
First of all I would like to thank you for inviting me today. It really looks like it’s full steam ahead for DCK and great for me to be here at the beginning of an exciting journey.
The creation of a new Design School at this particular point in time is very much to be welcomed as there needs to be a shift in thinking around the subject of design education.
I am not qualified to discuss the pedagogy of design education as I am a maker and that’s really why I’m here, but I do have some experience both as a student and a teacher. I’ll talk about being a student a bit later on; as a teacher my experience is mixed.

In the UK, many Design Schools are being seduced by the ‘Media of Attraction’ (Lunenfeld, 2001) where the novelty of digital technology leads to the abandonment of older technologies and the closure of traditional workshops. This inevitably leads to the creation of superficial objects, where there is little understanding of materials, processes or the 3 dimensional form. I have been lucky to teach in 2 establishments where the policy has been to keep the workshops open. It is where students can explore materials and learn through making. Though they are expensive to operate, workshops are recognised as having a value. However, this situation is rare, most universities are run by accountants who would rather fill their workshops full of computers; it's cheaper and you can pack more students in.
But don’t get me wrong; I love new technology and the creative opportunities it offers. Computers are miraculous and have reshaped the way we engage with the world. But they are an addition to the tools that makers can choose to use, not a replacement and that’s really what I would like to talk about today. Technology such as 3D printing is starting to fundamentally change our relationship to the things we choose to live with.
Here’s a great example. This chair, created by Dirk Vander Kooij is made by extruding plastic through the nozzle of a robotic arm.
The material comes from recycled white goods such as refrigerators and the use of this machine is an example of how the creative industries are appropriating technology and making it do exciting things it wasn’t intended for.

However, you don’t need one of these to access 3D printing. As I'm sure you know, these new tools are no longer confined to hi-tech industries. Already websites like Shapeways and Sculpteo are offering anyone who can afford it, the opportunity to customize a design or create their own and have them 3D printed and delivered to their door. As 3D printing becomes cheaper and more commonplace, are we going to see established companies allowing their customers to create personalized versions of their designs?
The technology to do this sort of thing is becoming increasingly accessible. I can use my phone to design a bespoke vase based on my profile, and have it printed and glazed. Would anyone like to place an order? I didn’t think so.

What effect is this going to have on design? Is this ability, available to large numbers of people going to produce better design? Are we going to see the mass democratization of design? Will it encourage more young people to study design or will they think they know it all just because they have some clever software? Or will it simply result in the world consuming more and more of its increasingly valuable resources to produce more stuff destined for landfill?

 It must be a good thing for more people to understand design and its creative potential. But access to this wonderful new toolbox is unlikely to produce better stuff. Working in the virtual world of the computer doesn't teach you about materials and processes. It should be underpinned by working with the hands, testing materials, exploring processes. In other words learning by doing. Getting involved in making things at an early age and staying involved must surely be the way forward and that is why I would like to congratulate Marek and his team for having the vision to create this ambitious new school.
As I said earlier, I am not rejecting technology, I am not saying that we need a new Arts and Crafts movement, well perhaps we do, but with a more inclusive philosophy to that of William Morris and one that embraces the new technology and recognises the craft of working with code.

I am not saying that I have the answers, but I would like to describe the journey that I have made as one possible way of creatively combining the old and the new...

(I then went on to talk about the relationship between hand and digital processes in the development of my work, but you've probably heard all about that before...)

The Tool at Hand

I have been invited by Ethan Lasser of the Chipstone Foundation to take part in a forthcoming exhibition, The Tool at Hand, to be held in the Milwaukee Art Museum later this year.
To take part, the invitees have been asked to produce an object using one tool and to produce a short video describing the process and our relationship with the tool.
I chose my MacBook Pro, the thing that I'm using right now to write this.

As I'm sure you're aware if you have followed my occasional ramblings over the past few years my interest is how the skills that I developed as a potter can be transferred to the world of digital technology, so Ethan's offer was definitely not to be missed.

Here's the video:

Michael Eden - The Tool at Hand from Michael Eden on Vimeo.

I have tried to keep it as simple as possible, I'm not sure how well it has communicated my relationship with my MacBook so any thoughts would be appreciated.

Post Craft? Post Digital?

I took part in the excellent FutureEverything Festival in Manchester this weekend. I was invited to take part in a discussion titled 'Post Craft'.
Now I know what you're thinking, because that's exactly what I thought - what's that supposed to mean?
This is how the Festival described the notion:

"Post Craft
In an increasingly post-digital world, there is a move towards a pre-industrial landscape. Eased by global connectivity, cottage industries are sprouting up everywhere. People are creating their own products, services, and art. They are rediscovering the satisfaction of creating a tangible product, the process of making, the lessons from making by hand.
This session brings together four people working at the edge of craft — a leading practitioner in modern ceramics, a design researcher, an interaction designer and a curator — to look at what craft can learn from digital behaviours, and the lessons it has to offer.
Session presented by Andy Huntington, James Boardwell, Michael Eden and Sally Fort"

And there's the other phrase -'post-digital'. Sat here at the keyboard of my Mac, I didn't know that we live in a post-digital age, did you?

I can understand that people need more than screens and mice in their lives and there's an inbuilt desire to express our creativity through whittling sticks, gardening, even walking on the hills, but to call this era 'post-digital' is so far from the truth. We've hardly got started; in my particular field of Additive Manufacturing we have hardly scratched the surface. To paraphrase Geoff Hollington 'If this was the First Industrial Revolution, we are now in the year 1800'.
There is so much potential for this technology, it is going to change the way we think about many of the designed objects that surround us. It allows for individualisation, customisation, distributed manufacture, repair of broken equipment. The list goes on...
However, when I hear of the 3D printing of human organs I am both excited and concerned. Yes, it could help to solve the shortage of organ donors, but surely it's not such a huge step to then change the DNA of 'living' printed structures? After all the human genome is likely to be Open Source if it isn't already.
Or is this science fiction?

Anyway, back to 'Post Craft'.
Sally Fort, the chair of the panel, asked for our understanding of what the term means. There was some scratching of heads, but we all basically agreed that it doesn't exist.
Craft is Craft is Craft, regardless of the tools or technology the maker chooses to use. It's the idea that should be at the forefront of the maker's mind, not the tool. In my experience as a potter, the tools 'vanish' when I'm throwing a pot on the wheel. I'm trying to capture the energy of an action, the tension in a line. And it's those qualities that I try to achieve through the mouse in my recent work.
So for me, it's all about whittling voxels.
Having said that. I choose to use new technology because it allows me to create 'impossible' objects, ones that I can't make on the wheel or with other conventional methods.
But both the starting and end point is the story that I'm exploring and attempting to communicate.


If you would like to read more about the discussion follow this link to the mini-site that Sally published.

And if you haven't been to Manchester, I would highly recommend the place. OK it's wet, but it's a great 21st century European city that looks forward whilst embracing it's past. It has a really creative buzz, but without so many of the posers that you find in postcodes beginning with EC.

yet more actual and virtual.....

These last few months have been both exciting and frustrating in equal measure. I have been continuing my investigations of the actual/virtual theme in my work with the design of a new piece, or pair of pieces called Amalthea. They are complex cornucopia like pieces, one filigree, its companion a solid version with raised surface decoration.

To begin with, I generated a type of QR code known as a ‘blotcode’ which links to a page on my website when scanned by a barcode reader, available as an App for some smart phones. I then extruded the 2-dimensional image into a 3-dimensional form using Rhino 3D software. The cornucopia shape of Amalthea refers to the wealth of knowledge available on the World Wide Web whilst the cryptic symbols within the filigree refer to the consequences this may have on society.
Objects often have stories attached to them. They can commemorate an event; they are often transformed into family heirlooms and passed on with the stories associated with them. Amalthea also tell stories, but these stories are online, so have the potential to include text, video, image and music. They can be added to over time, creating a repository of memories and information.
So when the viewer scans Amalthea with a barcode reader mobile phone App, it connects to a page on my website telling the story, providing additional information thereby creating a simultaneous actual and virtual experience.
I plan to offer a series of similar pieces where the QR code is generated for a client linking the piece to information specific to that person. So, as heirlooms, the virtual experience could tell the story of the journey of that object through the generations.

In the making of Amalthea I have become increasingly aware of the complexities of Additive Manufacturing and selective laser sintering (SLS) in particular. The machines are complex, with a myriad of controls that the operator/technician must become as attuned to as any craftsman does to their tools. It's certainly not a case of 'pressing a button' as some people think. And though I am not the highly skilled person operating the machine I need to have both a reasonable understanding of the technology and a good working relationship with the operator.

When my work was produced in France, it was made on a ZCorp 3D printing machine. This is far simpler than the SLS technology as it employs a liquid binder rather than a laser to build the layers. And it's one of these machines that we are going to use in an attempt to print objects in clay. This is the dream that I have had since I first heard of Rapid Prototyping quite a few years ago. Our project at the Bartlett School of Architecture in London will build on the excelent work of Mark Ganter and his team at the Solheim Laboratory at the University of Washington in Seattle. We are also grateful to Ronald Rael and the ceramics laboratory at the University of California, Berkeley for providing us with a detailed technical report of his team's thorough testing of ceramic materials.
The Open Source philosophy of this research is fundamental; thanks to the generosity of Mark Ganter there is a growing community of like-minded groups all ploughing the same furrow. By bouncing ideas of each other the momentum is increased and reliable materials will be available for the many, rather than the few.

Though printing the Amalthea in clay is probably a little way off, I am very excited by the prospect of being able to bring both my experience and knowledge of ceramics together with the emerging technology of the 2!st century.

more hand and glove........

I was at the opening of ‘Lab Craft’ in the Truman Brewery at Tent London last night. Curated by Max Fraser, it’s a Crafts Council touring exhibition exploring ‘Digital Adventures in Contemporary Craft’.
The exhibition followed on very nicely for the museum and gallery curators attending a Crafts Council Craft Curators Forum that I was speaking at in the morning. It had been organised to demystify the use of digital media in contemporary craft and help the curators position this type of work in their collections. The discussion was lively and partly centred on the relationship between the hand and the machine. For instance, where is the dividing line between a pole lathe and a 5-axis CNC milling machine? Both are tools controlled by a combination of hand and eye and though the latter is definitely a ‘hands-off’ tool, the thought processes required to produce a piece of work are essentially the same.
As I mentioned last week, the London Design Festival is on at the moment, but for me the highlight was the Anti-Design Festival, centred on Redchurch Street, in East London. The brainchild of graphic designer Neville Brody, it encourages risk-taking, experimentation and dismisses the notion that every creative act has to have a polished, commercial end product. For the visitor, used to the beautifully presented gewgaw, it may have been a bit of a shock, for me it was a breath of fresh air.

Officially part of the London Design Festival, but more like an offshoot of the Anti-Design Festival was a week of ‘Design Against the Clock’ events held at The Duke Street, St. James’s gallery of Established and Sons. I was involved on Wednesday when I was teaching the artist Gavin Turk to throw pots. The day went really well, Gavin was focused and determined and by the end of the day he had produced a couple of dozen simple bowl forms. The outcome was the experience and will definitely not be polished and highly finished range of commercial products.
Some visitors and staff members had their first experience of throwing pots and were all completely captivated. I have long maintained that creative expression is instinctive and part of the human make-up. For the lucky few who find an appropriate vehicle, great things can be achieved; for a large number it can be channelled through hobbies, including gardening and appreciation of the natural world, and perhaps for an unlucky minority who have never had those opportunities, a life of frustration.

Assemble Conference- some thoughts

The Crafts Council organised a conference timed with the launch of new reports on the vision for the future of Craft in the UK.
I was one of the panellists invited to make a short presentation and discuss our place as makers in terms of the portfolio lives that many of us lead.

The choice of the 22nd June for the Assemble conference was completely appropriate as I’m sure everyone remembers, it was the day of the ‘Axe and Tax’ emergency budget.
The audience in the lovely, converted St.Lukes church was made up of a good number from craft and art organisations who would have been wondering what effect the chancellor was having on their immediate futures at that precise moment. I suspect the feelings amongst the makers amongst the audience were a little more ambivalent. For one thing, the conference acknowledged that Craft is definitely out there in the zeitgeist, making is happening all over, from informal groups of pals creating their Christmas gifts for each other, to Louis Vuitton bringing makers of the bespoke into their flagship stores.
The design world now acknowledges craft and some would say, feeds off the hard won skills of makers. You don’t have to travel far down the high street to find industrial ceramics imitating hand thrown pots. But is that necessarily a bad thing? Isn’t it all part of an educational process, awakening the buyer to Craft?
Where does this interest come from? Is it a reaction to the period of austerity that we are apparently entering, or a reaction to the ‘hands-off’ digital world that most people’s lives revolve around?
Making stuff, growing stuff, getting your hands dirty isn’t just about economics or fashion; it’s an outlet for an innate force that we all possess. It gives us ‘agency’ as Matthew Crawford articulated in his ‘provocation’. It gives a real shape to our lives; it connects us, both to natural laws and to each other in very real ways. Why are there long waiting lists for allotments? It’s not just about fresh food; it’s about sharing, about human interaction and according to Martin Raymond of The Future Laboratory, it’s about anarconomy.
For CJ O’Neill and Andy Cathery the effects of ‘agency’ were extremely tangible, giving focus and a sense of ownership to young people in Stoke-on-Trent and a future to a group of disaffected youths in Cornwall. Fantastic work, making a real difference to peoples lives, but for the ‘moneymen’ listening to George Osborne, how do you put a value on self-esteem? Maybe we need adopt the GNH (Gross National Happiness scale) instead of GDP?
We were all in agreement that Craft Matters and Craft has Value, but how do we get that across to an audience ranging from policy makers to the public. The public is largely behind us, as vast amounts of statistics from Gerri Morris prove, but the craft items that the public buy is mostly made by practitioners who were trained when Colleges still had workshops and taught material and process knowledge. That still happens in a precious few institutions, but the policy makers have to be made to understand that it is a serious mistake to erode what little there is left any further.
‘Thinking through Making’ is not an empty mantra, it is a fundamental part of the creative process that has brought about robotic arms for the Space Station from a maker of automata, as just one example of the way in which this approach encourages transferable and lateral thinking. If the economy of the UK is to have a significant income from intellectual property, then those closed workshops need to be reopened.
Whilst I’m on my soapbox here’s a few more ideas- There should be a return to subsidised apprenticeships, as away of ensuring the handing on of skills. Independent businesses should pay less business rates than the ubiquitous big names that have helped to make our town centres so anonymous. These suggestions are part of a way to ensure a future where consumers can connect with their locality, where young people can remain or return to the community in which they grew up. This may sound all rosy and middle-class, but aren’t these ways to create a C2C sustainable society?
So how can we make this happen?
As Mike Press, the chair of Assemble so passionately said: ‘”We can seize or squander this moment”, and advocated that we all get out there and tell our stories. But to whom, and what stories?
Craft, as Assemble clearly demonstrated is far more than the making of exquisite, hand made objects, consumed by a certain section of society. At it’s most inclusive it is “the desire to do something well for it’s own sake” as Richard Sennett defines it; it’s also an approach, a way of thinking.
So the stories that need to be told must demonstrate how Craft shapes our daily lives, how Craft gives meaning to our lives, how we are all dependent on Craft, how Craft is fundamental to the sciences as much as to the arts, and how Craft is instrumental to most parts of the economy.

The Arts and the Election

Following on from my thoughts about the mutual benefit of art and science working together as a way of maintaining funding for the Arts, I listened to the debate between Ben Bradshaw, Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport and Jeremy Hunt MP, his Conservative shadow, broadcast live on the RSA* site on Tuesday.
It was encouraging to hear both politicians agreeing that Art, and Culture in general are well worth Government support. Apparently, for every pound the government invests in the Arts there is five-fold return.
They both agreed that there isn’t much point in reducing Arts spending to help save money, as the amount is miniscule in relation to overall government spending. Not only does it give such a healthy financial return, it also helps to maintain the Arts as a vibrant symbol of the Culture of the Nation.
It should be interesting to see whether all these positive words are adhered to after the election.
I am conscious that I am discussing the situation in the UK (excluding Scotland), so it would be very interesting to hear how Arts funding and the relationship between Art and Science operates in other parts of the world.

* Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufacture and Commerce The broadcast is available online here.

The Midwife and the Gravedigger

Having spent a few more days thinking about the Craft Matters campaign the more strongly I feel that the Crafts Council should encourage a more inclusive definition of craft and its place in society.
As I said before, Craft is not just concerned with exquisite, hand made, bespoke objects. Though there is a need and place for work of that type in society, if craft is to matter when it comes to its recognition, promotion and support by governments, the public needs to know how craft affects them in almost every area of life.
As Glenn Adamson says, "Craft only exists in motion. It is a way of doing things, not a classification of objects, institutions or people"*
As such, both the midwife and the person that buries you are craft experts, they have developed the tacit knowledge and skills necessary to safely bring you into this world and to leave it with dignity. At every stage in between craft shapes our lives, it is what differentiates us from the other species on this planet. Craft has even helped to shape our bodies, both in an evolutionary sense and in the way our bodies are affected by physical activity.
In getting this message across a recent Radio 4, Point of View programme could be very helpful. It was the last of a series by Professor Lisa Jardine who used the example of crystallographer, Dorothy Hodgkin to demonstrate how science and the arts can both benefit through collaboration. Lisa jardine referred to a letter to the Observer signed by many eminent thinkers who are concerned that future government spending cuts will sacrifice the arts in favour of the sciences, a policy that appears extremely short-sighted.


Adamson, G. Thinking through Craft. Berg 2007, p4.

Does Craft Matter?

I went along to the Crafts Council launch of 'Craft Matters' at the House of Lords on Tuesday and an interesting tea party it was.
The campaign aims to raise the profile of craft in the mind of the public, in education and in business. The speeches focused on the making and acquisition of exquisite hand crafted objects and each of the speakers described why craft matters to them. You can say why craft matters to you here.
My contribution applies a much wider definition to the notion of craft, the short version being that 'Craft matters because it is the fundamental building block of the creative industries'. I used that term because of its association with DNA and the fact that craft skills are needed in many areas of science as much as they are in the arts and crafts.
The longer version is:
'Craft matters because it is not only the fundamental building block of the creative industries, but is a process that brings together the hand, the head and the heart in order to engage with, explore and interpret the world around us.'
The longer I am involved in creating work using advanced technology the more strongly I feel that successful pieces rely on a combination of my pottery craft skills, the development of new skills plus a developed sensibility to the 3 dimensional form. Together, a new world of creative possibilities has opened for me, neither superior nor inferior to my previous practice.
As an inveterate maker, concerned with the the use of materials and processes for expressive purposes, I am now more fully engaged with the notion of craft than I have been for some time and it matters.

So, does craft matter to you?