/ Crafted Connections / DDW’24

Show at Dutch Design Week – Microlab Hall
19.10.2024  – 27.10.2024

Ceramics: Glazed with wood ash
Collaborator: Studio van der Zee
Wood: Donated by Staatsbosbeheer / Hollands Hout
Movie Edit shown at Design Week: Adrian Levander and Jakob de Tobon.
Additional Images: Olya Olenic 

During Dutch Design Week, craftsman Rutger van der Zee will transform a tree trunk into furniture parts. Wooden puzzle pieces are combined with ceramic elements, designed and produced by Marte Mei, that are glazed with wood ash from the same trees. Together, they form a cabinet that works like a puzzle and explores the interaction between craftsmanship and natural processes. The performative work a work in progress of design, craftsmanship, and natural processes, as the craftsman responds to the wood’s inherent properties. The modular ceramic elements emphasise the adaptability of humans working with what nature provides, starting with the material first and shaping the design around it.

From Commodity to Entity Craftsmanship does not start in the woodworkshop, but in the forest. By carefully planting, managing, and harvesting trees, a natural product is designed as it grows. Staatsbosbeheer was established to manage forests with the goal of producing as much homogeneous and useful wood as possible. Converting empty grazing land into a site for useful wood production. Currently, forests are expanding faster than they are being harvested and the collective perception of trees as a mere resource is shifting towards recognizing forests as autonomous systems with rights and high ecological and intrinsic value. How do we relate to this shift, from commodity to entity, in a time when the need for local and sustainable materials is becoming increasingly urgent?