User:Emma Rijk/Content work

I started with the interest in thin ceramics that take a different form. For example; clay becomes textile, like on the picture. When i started to roll different ceramic sorts into a thin piece i decided i wanted to make my own machine. To begin I bought a spaghetti machine to find out wat the best material would be to put in between two rollers. After finding te right substance i wanted to create my own rolls that give the material shape. Eventually i want to try folding a line on the ceramics and shape i into a line of dishes. The dishes will have the look of paper or a product you would normally throw out but have the quality of a long lasting product.

The process that mostly inspires me is the pressing of the materials and the idea of giving a new look to a material. The pressing machine has a nice combination of manual labour and machinery. By changing the rolls in the machine, the machine can make a endless amount of different object were the crafstman doesnt need to master every sort in, by simply rolling the rolls passed each other, any pattern or extrusion in the roll can make the material change shape. Also, to use the material in a different way for a everyday purpose gives the object an extra dimension. So not only is the material itself a different texture, it also gives a different vibe because of the way it is build after that proces. I am thinking about folding dishes from the flat material.

The content of my work is based on a combination of a few techniques, first of all i want to create a part of a tool that can be replaced with different parts. Ive learned more about materials and the experimenting with them, i did this in my proces of finding the right substance for my spaghetti machine. But also, i found a project that doesnt really fit in the story of Ruskin or in the line of the industrialism, my tool is literally a combination of mastering the right combination of material and the right combination of rolls that need practice, but then again its also a machine and the actual movement that gives the material shape is a repetive, not hard movement of basically circling a wheel foreward to make the rolls move the material in between. So I would say, is my machine really a machine that makes the user feel detached from the object and a constant, braindead movement, or is the crafter enough involved in the ‘preparation’ of the actual proces that it makes him feel more attached and fullfilled when he makes the object.

In the end it falls under these categories;

- Making a tool

- Experimenting with materials

- A position in a larger debate