Collaborating with ODLCO

Are iron works and wabi-sabi antithetical? Typically, but not exclusively, examples of wabi-sabi objects refer to earthenware for the Japanese tea ceremony. Preserving qualities of wabi-sabi that are rough, natural, simple, and accessible to consumers may only possible through industrial methods when considering the iron production and its costs.

In choosing iron as a material two methods are most practical for an atelier: casting in lost wax or ramming patterns by hand. Unfortunately, the products remain inaccessible as everyday objects, commanding prices of art pieces. To be affordable industrial production is called for. Green sand casting and standardized equipment make each piece uniform, but should not be considered perfect.

The lost wax process used to make the protoypes shows every intention, flaw, and detail in craftsmanship from the wax model. This method embodies humble and imperfect qualities of wabi-sabi, but is cost prohibitive. Like most prototypes they aren't modest in price; inaccessible to most. The collaboration with ODLCO took the design of four experimental iron pots into mass production; the greatest outcome for me as a designer is the transformation of the Wabi Nabe project from being merely an "expensive reminder of a dynamic moment" (Koren 85).

In every method blemishes of some sort will be unavoidable, the degree of these are lessened as control practices are more refined. In the final production run each of these pots are hand poured and finished, the hands of the craftman are evident; touch-up marks from a grinder will be a detail that varies from piece to piece giving them their own distinct character. Therefore, the design of each piece down to the most minute detail can be considered and appreciated.

Organic forms are represented by the handles, and overall the design remains modest. Details such as a flush-resting lid and the inset trivet ring (in place of another lip on the bottom) keep the profile minimal: all aesthetic considerations otherwise in line with wabi-sabi.

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