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Throbbing Stillness Waka by Maru Meleniou

Throbbing Stillness Waka by Maru Meleniou is a highly esteemed winner of the very prestigious 2022 A' Design Award Parahi in Hoahoa Toi me te Whakaaturanga Toi Competition Category.


ParahiToi· 2022

Throbbing Stillness Waka

by Maru Meleniou

Client: Maru Meleniou Ceramic art &design lab

A' Design Award Parahi Winner in Toi Category

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Verified Award Winner

Verify Award Status for #136403

Colors

The Design

About Throbbing Stillness Waka

Ko te Throbbing Stillness tetahi waahanga o nga waka e torotoro ana i nga whakaaro waitara, nga ariā me nga paatai. Ko te whakararu o te Throbbing Stillness ko te mea hei utu mo te mahi e tumanakohia ana o te ipu puawai, e kii ana te noho o tetahi waahi ka taea te korero atu ki te kaimakitaki. Na roto i tana ahua pararopi ka taea e ia te whakawhiti atu i te pakari o te reo me te ahua e wiri ana me te kaha nui. Ko te ahua me te tae e whakanui ana i nga ariā penei i te kore kau, te kaha, te roha.

The Recognition

About the A' Design Award Parahi

Ko Throbbing Stillness Waka te toa o te A' Design Award Parahi, he whakaaetanga tino whai mana e hoatu ana ki ngā hoahoa kōeke e tohua ana mā te auaha, te mahi mōhio me te whakaaro hōhonu. Ko ngā toa Parahi he mahi pukenga e rite ana, he auaha mīharo, e whakatūturu ana i te wheako nui, te whakaaro me te mōhio-ā-ringa o ā rātou kaihoahoa. E tūmanakohia ana ko Throbbing Stillness Waka he taonga whakanuia, whakamīharotia, aroha nui, he ngaio, he auaha hoki. Ko tēnei hoahoa i toa i te Parahi e whakauru ana i ngā tikanga pai rawa i te toi, te pūtaiao, te hoahoa me te hangarau, ā, he tino mīharo ki ngā taipitopito. Ka whakatutuki a Throbbing Stillness Waka i ngā hiahia, ka pā ki ngā hiahia, ka whakaoho i ngā kare-ā-roto, ā, ka kume i te pākiki.

Behind the Design

Press Kit

Credits, team members and technical details provided by the designer.

Unique Properties
Throbbing Stillness is not the vessel that flowers will be beautifully arranged in. Throbbing Stillness is a vessel that aims to contain abstract ideas, thoughts and images. A vessel that contemplates the concept of "vessility".
Dimensions & Packaging
Height 40cm
Tags
Sculptural vessel, Naked ceramics, Contemporary Ceramics, Handbuilt ceramics, Raw minimalism, Slow design
Production Technology
It is a hand-build ceramic vessel, with the coiling technique, an ancient technique that involves creating forms without a pottery wheel, using the hands, fingers, and simple tools. That way small details, differences imperfections and qualities mirror the honesty of the creative process. A slow almost meditative process that after years of practise creates a unique relationship between artist and medium.
I used stoneware clay and painted it with porcelain slip, glazed and fired at 1220C
Design Challenge
The most challenging part was to work on the piece as much as I would not manipulate clay to the point that it would lose its properties and its own life and substance. To create an object that carries the message powerfully. An object simple in form and yet not simplistic.
Research
I am interested in the materiality of my medium and I wish to highlight its raw nature and properties. After practising with a variety of colors and glazes I realised that all this would be a kind of cover up, making it hard for the medium to carry its message. So I decided to move forward with my material being almost naked.
Inspiration
My inspiration comes from the book White by Kenya Hara, Zen Buddhism and the human body.
In the field of ceramics, one creates forms to contain the emptiness. The purpose of a vessel is to hold nothingness within, a purpose greater than its function. White is delicate, fragile and from the moment of its birth it is destined to be “polluted”. My vessel is not trying to be a perfect white, rather it carries a layering, in an attempt to search for a way to feel whiteness.
A vessel, a human heart, a vital organ, or a musical instrument always inhaling/exhaling, pulsating in a space of closeness and familiarity yet distant and unknown. A space out of time, far from personal feelings and agendas that is dedicated to personal contemplation.
Project Duration
Throbbing Stillness was created in 2020 in Athens, and was exhibited in Milan Design Week 2021 at 1000Vases
Operation Flow
Human beings are designed to communicate.
We define ourselves through relationships and interactions with our environment, with others, with the objects that surrounds us.
Throbbing Stillness is a unique object that aims to offer a space for connection, an invitation to interact.
Image Credits
Image No1, No2, No3 No4 Nikos Koustenis
Image No5 Maru Meleniou

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