News

8 December 2010
2.30-5.00pm
Hongik University
Seoul, South Korea

As part of Design Korea 2010, I will be speaking at a design seminar hosted by Hongik University in Seoul on 8 December 2010. The event introduces ideas of inclusive and sustainable design and research, based on the work of the Helen Hamlyn Centre for people-centered design research at the Royal College of Art and the UK design practices Studiohead, Gavin Thomson Design, and Studio Bec. It is supported by the British Council Korea and the Korean Institute of Design Promotion.

On Saturday, 4 December 2010, I will act as a team mentor to Korean design students at a one-day Inclusive Design workshop held at the Design Center Busan. The participating students are part of the Korea Design Membership organisation.

The Design Center Busan will also hold a public seminar on Monday, 6 December 2010, where I will speak about the links between inclusive design and sustainability, based on the work of my own practice Studio Bec and that of Julia Lohmann Design.

The events will be led by Julia Cassim, Senior Research Fellow at the Helen Hamlyn Centre for people-centered design research at the Royal College of Art. They are supported by the British Council Korea and the Korean Institute of Design Promotion.

As part of the ‘Collacqueration – Designed in the UK – Lacquered in Japan’ exhibition programme, designer Julia Lohmann and I took part in the workshop ‘The Art of Japanese Lacquer’ in the Art Studio of the V&A Sackler Centre on 30 October 2010.

Parallel to Maki-e and Chinkin lacquerware demonstrations by the Japanese master craftsmen Takashi Wakamiya, Yoshinori Shibayama, and Akira Sugimura from Wajima prefecture, I completed two Chinkin-illustrated bowls. Since I cannot equal the mastery of the Wajima craftsmen I decided to use the bowls like sketchbooks, engraving quick illustrations of people and renderings of letterforms. The Chinkin tools I used are similar to those used in etching.

At the V&A, I coated the engraved bowls in clear lacquer and wiped the surplus off like from an etching plate, leaving lacquer only in the lines of the illustrations. Then, I applied gold pigment to the whole bowl and used a polishing compound to remove the surplus, resulting in golden line work. The bowls are on display at the Embassy of Japan, 101-104 Piccadilly, London W1J 7JT, from 15 October – 30 November 2010. More information

The gold-stained Chinkin line work emerges

Designed in the UK – Lacquered in Japan

15 October – 30 November 2010

Embassy of Japan in the UK
101-104 Piccadilly

London W1J 7JT

www.collacqueration.com

www.emb-japan.go.jp

info@collacqueration.com

Lacquer is versatile, durable and organic. It is a sustainable material, equally applicable in its use today in Britain as it has long been in Japan throughout history. This exhibition combines the skills of artists and designers working in both countries.

Expert lacquer craftsmen from Wajima and Nara in Japan have joined up with leading UK-based designers to create some of the very best contemporary crafted design pieces. Gero Grundmann, Max Lamb, Julia Lohmann, Emiko Oki, Yuri Suzuki and Yamaha in the United Kingdom submitted designs for realisation by master lacquer craftsmen Kazutaka Furukomi, Yoshinori Shibayama, Takashi Wakamiya, Hideki Wakashima and Akira Sugimura in Japan.

The result is a project engaging designers, artists, makers, teachers and students, and reveals the potential of working together, with lacquer, in various media, across a variety of professions and in different cultural contexts.