FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Elsewhere: A Poetic Porcelain Tableware Set

Yuhua Li's Elsewhere is a porcelain tableware set that blends tea and floral art, drawing from the Chinese aesthetics and philosophy, but also subverting them with a daring design. The pieces have a white finish and an indented design with small cut-outs showing an inner layer. The cut-outs contrast the solid and the void, the perfect and the imperfect, the real and the imaginary. They lure the user to discover the hidden beauty and meaning of the objects, and to flee from the dull reality to a different world.

This design is made of bone china using the slip casting technique. It went through four firings: the first one was a high-temperature sintering, the second one was a medium-temperature glazing, the third one was a low-temperature decalcomania, and the fourth one was a low-temperature silver plating. Unlike ordinary bone china glazes, the design chooses to use a non-glossy white glaze with the intention of displaying a kind of ivory texture, and an indented design with small cut-outs revealing an inner layer.

Elsewhere is not just a functional and elegant tableware set, but also a poetic and symbolic expression of the human condition.

This object is a set of porcelain tableware that can be operated by pouring hot water into the teapot and the vase, and adding tea leaves and flowers. The object transforms by creating a visual and aromatic contrast between the tea and the floral art, and by revealing the inner layer of the pieces through the small cut-outs. The interaction happens by inviting the user to appreciate the beauty and meaning of the objects, and to enjoy the tea and the floral art.

The project started in May 2015 in Nanjing and finished in March 2016 in Nanjing. Elsewhere is a design research to create a porcelain tableware set that combines tea and floral art, drawing from and subverting the Chinese aesthetics and philosophy. It used a mixed-methods approach with 40 participants from different cultural backgrounds.

Elsewhere is a porcelain tableware set that combines tea and floral art. It draws inspiration from the Chinese aesthetics and philosophy, but also challenges them with a bold design. The pieces have a white finish and an indented pattern with small openings that reveal an inner layer. The openings create a contrast between the solid and the empty, the perfect and the imperfect, the real and the imaginary. They tempt the user to explore the hidden beauty and meaning of the objects, and to escape from the dull reality to a different world.

-END-