Formworks
Year: 2017
Dimensions: various
Materials: clay, resin
Limited edition
Photography: Raw Color
Special thanks to: Jeroen van Veluw
Resellers:
France: Toolsgalerie
Formworks is a series of brutalist vases by Studio Mieke Meijer. The moulds are constructed from plasterboard, resulting in a texture reminiscent of board-formed concrete.
Slipcasting is a technique for the production of ceramics. A liquid clay body slip is poured into plaster moulds and allowed to form a layer, the cast, on the inside walls of the mould. Making a slipcast object usually starts with a model from which a plaster mould is been made.For the Formwork series Studio Mieke Meijer constructed moulds from plasterboard, a gypsum-based building material being used to make interior walls and ceilings. By doing so a texture appears that reminds of board-formed concrete walls as often applied in brutalist architecture.
Before plastic and metal, wood was the forming material of choice for precast and cast in place vertical concrete. At the beginning of the 20th century wood was cheap, readily available and could withstand the significant weight and pressure associated with a concrete pour. The impression that the wood forms made on the concrete was just an accepted by-product of the process .The technique made a come-back in the last few years mainly for aesthetical reasons.
Architectural references are always recognisable in the work of Studio Mieke Meijer. By rescaling and re-contextualising the built environment, the studio creates functional interior objects known for their strong, autonomous character. The objects are named after their original function: cooling tower, grain elevator and coal bunker and available in a limited edition of 5 (large edition) and 15 (small edition).
