FASHION/TEXTILES/ACCESSORIES VISUAL COMMUNICATION INDUSTRIAL ...

48 INDUSTRIAL/PRODUCT/SPATIALINDUSTRIAL/PRODUCT/SPATIAL 49CULTURED CUISINENew cultural references inspire designers to update tableware classicsARTS THREAD highlights three productdesigners who take a new look attableware products through the lens ofdifferent cultures.Jiyun Park is a graduate of KingstonUniversity’s MA Product + Space Designcourse. From South Korea, Jiyun’s finalproject concerns the use of kitchen scissorsin Korean dining cutlery and how scissors‘are used extensively both at home and inrestaurants for preparing and serving dishes,but are an incongruous presence that makesno concession to a sense of traditionalcuisine or refined dining etiquette (thetraditional Korean cutlery set is chopsticksand spoon—so no knife). Foreign visitors areoften surprised to see scissors at the table.’Jiyun’s Gasae (the Korean word fortraditional scissors) takes its inspiration from theuse of chopsticks and Jiyun’s aim is to create aset of cutlery for elegant dining at home and foruse in Korean restaurants around the world.School of the Art Institute of Chicago‘sMorgan Carter looks at how design canexpose the benefit of shared culturalskills—even in hindsight. In Poured Relations,Morgan explains how ‘the poignantlysymbiotic relationship between the NativeAmerican’s knowledge of natural resourcesand the early American settlers skilful useof cast irons is highlighted through thismaple syrup warming and serving vessel…witness the commonalities between theestablished and settling communities of TheEarly Americas and its diverse wealth ofresources and settlers. It is this very idea ofshared understandings, along with individualaspirations and needs that led to this design’sraw concept and final articulation.’The Tea Cabinet by Femke Roefs ofDesign Academy Eindhoven looks to the teadrinkingcultures of Japan and the Middle Eastto reinvent the tea trolley. Femke believes thatthe act of drinking tea with colleagues andfriends also fulfills an important social role andso has created a mobile tea trolley on castorsmade from bamboo, complete with handcraftedcopper kettle and accompanying heatsource, plus room for cups, saucers, sweetsand all sorts of teas.Femke concludes: ‘the trolley acts as aluxurious centrepiece to reinstall this age-olddrink with a sense of occasion, transforming themundane into an experience to be savoured.’Opposite Poured Relations, Morgan Carter, School ofthe Art Institute of Chicago, morgancarter.net Photo:Sara Condo. Materials: Cast Iron, Maple Wood &Terracotta Oil BurnerAbove Gasae, Jiyun Park, Kingston UniversityLeft The Tea Cabinet, Femke Roefs, Design AcademyEindhoven, femkeroefs.nl Photo: Rene van der Hulst