I saw Kritine’s work at the recent ICFF, and I loved these dished because they redefine the way we eat by simply experimenting with the form of the ancient bowl and plate. The sculptural manipulations suggest possibly picking up the a bowl rather than dipping into it (as an example). As well, the plateware accentuates the food not as a backdrop but as a participator in the food the same way Frank Gehry’s Bilbao museum engages its art.

kristine morich: Landscape Tableware

Tear a piece of paper from your notebook. Crumple it up. Now begin to curve the piece of crumpled paper into the form of a vessel. What you get is a vague resemblance of what Paper Thin, a collection of ceramics by Agata Nowak, is all about. The amazing thing to me is a crumpled piece of paper is just that: paper. It’s not clay. When you start to warp and distort clay into what looks like crumpled paper while simultaneously mimicking the thinness of paper what you end up with is an understated ceramic virtuosity that ranks up there with Chuck Close’s photo-realistic paintings. That is, these objects mimic the natural form as naturally as possible as to become an obsession in recreating exactly what the eye sees in a medium unrelated to the original object. The end result is a deep appreciate of how rigorous each artists’ technique tells the story of the object.

I met the maker of the Blaue Blume Teacup at the 2008 ICFF, and I still have about one hundred of posts left to do covering the fabulous designers I met while at the show. This was one of my favorites. The design feature a baroque cup and saucer set in pure white porcelain. The twist is the addition of the legs of a beautiful woman which double as the handle to the cup. The beauty of this cup is it gives me the opportunity to fondle a pair of smooth silky legs without getting a slap across the face from my wife. Thank you Undergrowth Design for helping me expand my fetish.

Mixko, as their namesake indicates, is a  company that mixes multiple unlike things together to come up with completely new meanings. They look at an object like a whistle, for instance, and say, “Hey, if the scale of that whistle were multiplied in size by, like four hundred times, then that whistle would make a mighty comfortable lounge chair.” Of course, their mixing does not stop there.  They mix cartoon bubbles with plates, candles with joysticks, and my personal favorite: dog shit with jewelry. The one item informs the other in such refreshing and revealing ways. But the thing that makes Mixko extra special is that they are so young yet so prolific as to beg the question: what will Mixko be in thirty years when the design mashup matures? My answer is that Mixko may rule the earth at that point.

The concept of  The Origin Washstand by Nothing Design Group kind of hits you over the head with a beautifully sculpted river rock with the strength of its metaphor. But as literal as its form is pulled from nature, there is no denying that being able to control a faucet with something as simple as a stone is somehow very cool. It’s as if every time you wash your hands you are transported to an ambling riverbed in a world created by a god named Muji.