Start & collaboration
The connection to Christian Elving started from a search of Gijs Bakker for a good porcelain producer. Christian Elving was still working for a heritage brand (Lyngby) back then. An exhibition at Looiersgracht 60 in Amsterdam marked the second moment we met, this was when I approached him to start a collaboration. For me it formed a possibility to work in larger numbers and produce for a bigger audience, one of my long cherished wishes. Christian has a taste of his own and he is one of those rare persons where it’s possible to talk about the artistic side of things. Along the way we developed a friendship.
A good example of his distinct artistic taste is Tri Angle, an early design he selected during a studio visit. Tri Angle is not exactly an easy design to produce. He is eager to see our designs and shows genuine interest in the motive and meaning of such. Christian has enabled the production of the Urushi Console/Table and Pink Stool. He had confidence, takes risks and invests. The same goes for Fat One. With Christian's help we can express ourselves critically within this world, with the designs as we envision them.
Materials & color
Karakter is the only company we work with that produces on a larger scale. It has a lower price (compared to the galleries) and therefore a wider reach. Some designs automatically fit in here. The collection for Karakter is therefore consciously created with a view to production, material and volume.
Gradually we have become advisors and artistic sparring partners for Karakter. The studio advises on color and material and provides ideas for presentations.
Console/Table
Console/Table was initially conceived as a table. As it is rather narrow, it probably functions better as a console. Nevertheless, to use it as a table, with your legs flattering along the belly and being very close to each other is a special and rather intimate experience. It proved impossible to widen it, because the legs and top had to be even in width, to stay true to the line which is its origin.
Coffee Table
Coffee Table was initially designed for Wallpaper Handmade. Wallpaper had linked us to an Italian company that works with brass. Christian liked the design and had the patience to eventually develop it together with DiMa. It turned out to be very hard to manufacture, many credits to Damiaan and Mitch from DiMa that they’ve managed.
TriAngle
Is a puzzle of 12 similar parts, one of the earlier designs, a first exploration of the tri-angle. I was completely fascinated how the slanted lines run to a zero point and how the inner lines run up past the outer lines, a spatial happening.
The complexity of the puzzle disguised my inability to come up with something less rigorous.
Glass Carafe
The glass and the carafe are based on the same formal principle, when you turn the glass up side down to place it on top of the carafe the line of the neck continues in the stem of the glass. Carafe and Glass are mouth blown into the mold.
3dwn1up
Is a critical questioning of how many elements you need to arrive at the idea of a chair. 3dwn1up consists of 5 parts of the same shape, the largest flat part is the seat, 3 elongated parts act as legs, these point to the center to make it as rigid as possible, the 4th elongated part is placed parallel to the seat to give the most possible comfort.
Support
Support consists of a container and a handle, it is made of tin, the handle is cast/massive and the container is hollow/forced, they are useless without each other. The handle allows the container to stand at a zero point, the handle alone would just stare mindlessly into the distance.
