The article that I suggest you read today about design, a Japanese artist and a material like ceramic, all topped off with a mini interview. Shigeki Hayashi creates ceramic sculptures that belong to the world of manga and science fiction made with an ancient technique. Merge the new and modern with tradition and established technique in time is definitely a good design practice.
If you visited the FuoriSalone 2015, during the Tokyo Design Week, you've surely encountered the sculptures of Hayashi Shigeki and you've surely wondered why a subject so strange.
The subject of the current production of the Japanese artist are children, little more than infants, hi-tech with armor and sparkling bike that seem to derive directly from the manga culture of robots.
What makes a designer Shigeki Hayashi noteworthy?
Why I speak of good design practice?
The design you see in the photos is rooted directly in the most ancient Japanese culture, once again the myths and legends of the land of the rising sun became an inspiration for modern design. But only if you know the right way to interpret and it is the case today.
Not only the technique he uses to work clay and create pottery dates from the 13th century, but the choice of material is very interesting: ceramics can be used for casting. In fact it is an extremely malleable material in which one can immediately glimpse the possibility of industrial-scale reproduction although in this case does not exist.
How works Shigeki Hayashi?
The first part of his work is to create a sculpture with clay from which then draws several plaster casts.
I make the prototypes with regular clay and make plaster casts of them. Then I pour the plaster, modify those plaster masters very carefully and create second plaster casts. Then I pour the slip into them and throw the remaining slip away. After taking the pieces out from the cast, I work on some final details and then put them into the kiln for the biscuit firing.
The process is long and requires several steps completed by the artist personally, including the final assembly phase of the sculpture. I let you an interview with Shigeki Hayashi unearthed during the Fuorisalone 2015 here in Milan.
Q: Why have you chosen children, technology and the porcelain in your projects?
A: Why use children as theme is because I believe that their presence let secretly with the human condition, independently from the age, from the language or the culture of individual.
Which theme for sculpture, I believe the child represents the most genuinely profound and intriguing. The very fact that children exist is more positive and vigorous life itself.
Technology and the future image are topics that have interested me since I was a child, and in particular the works of science fiction.
While continuing to use a traditional material such as clay, I try to convey an image of the future and, at the same time, this globally universal material is able to express something which is exceedingly Japanese.
I chose consciously to use clay as a means of expression since the beginning of my career.
When I was in University I was deeply inspired by the work of Fukami Sueharu, porcelain artist, and I felt I wanted to create works that were using this material. In other words, I wanted to sculpt works that could only be realized with the help of porcelain and am currently pursuing this goal in my current work. Technical level, having to use porcelain as a form of expression, I have often found myself having to face many trials and tribulations.
Among all types of clay, the reason why I chose the porcelain is due to the fact that I can use it for works composed for casting, but also for its industrial beauty, it's “strong” futuristic and technological image that relates to the world of science fiction, and for the fact that, moreover,, the human skin can be expressed “softly” through the porcelain.
Long ago the porcelain in Europe was defined “the white gold” and practical porcelain vessels made of this material historically appreciated now can be purchased at reduced prices throughout Japan.
You can see the multiple dimensions of intrinsic from different angles too porcelain. What material for sculpture, it can be said that porcelain is a material extremely interesting.
Q: What do you think of modern European ceramics?
A: I find that in Europe there is a hierarchy in the materials used for sculpture. Less brittle is the material, the higher the place it occupies within this hierarchy. The stone, bronze and metal are the highest steps, ceramics and terracotta occupy lower positions, while the wood, the fabrics and paper are even lower positions. In the course of history of Europe, after experiencing the history of destruction and rebirth instilled in war, what remains objectively passes the test of time and remains in the history, and this explains why these materials are so appreciated.
In Japan, however, while not claiming that there is a hierarchy of materials, it is much less observable in Europe. There is the beauty of the stone, the beauty of pottery and the beauty of wood. The existence of these hierarchies strongly influences the awareness of the artists who create and express themselves through their works.
The place or the environment from which an artist or an art world strongly influences the elements that can be created. Europe has a way of making ceramics, while Japan follows a direction. Personally, although I always keep an eye on consciously the direction in which Japan, I do not want this paradigm hindrance my creativity and that is part of this consciousness Japanese that I strive to find new perspectives and possibilities of expression.
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