the object without a story

Acquired by MUDAC!

2010-11-10T08:11:00.001-08:00

We are very proud and happy to announce that The Object without a Story was acquired by MUDAC - Musée de design et d’arts appliqués contemporains in Lausanne - Switzerland!

They have now in their collection of glass pieces the prototype of The Archetypical Vase, together with the stories that accompany it.

We would like to thank very much Mudac for the great attention and care they had through all the process, especially the curator Bettina Tschumi.

Soon we will add pictures here, but if you are in Lausanne don't hesitate to check this wonderful museum!

Dutch Design Week 2010 - Onomatopee

2010-10-20T14:34:00.000-07:00

During Dutch Design Week 2010 The Object Without a Story will be on show at the exhibition Pre -specifics: Access X! by Onomatopee.

This show is very special for us because it will accompany a publication and also it will be the first time we exhibit more than one object.

We are proud that The Archetypical Vase photo is illustrating the poster and folders of Onomatopee's program:

Here goes some more information:

Opening and book launch: 23 October, 19h

Dutch Design Week: October 23-31

Where: Onomatopee next-door, Bleekweg entrance C, Eindhoven

Tours: every dutch design week day from 13 to 14h

PRE-SPECIFICS: ACCESS X! not only showcases luring products, spaces and concepts by contemporary artists, designers, architects and others, but actually also provides insight into their strategies. The exhibition thus features both sensory works and accountable strategies and motivations. The accompanying publication offers further notions into designed culture's X: its productive conditions and modes of mediation.

Contributors:

Platform for Pedagogy (US), Uglycute (SE), Olaf Nicolai (DE), Dexter Sinister (US), Joana Meroz / Andrea Bandoni (NL), Unfold (BE), Metahaven (NL), Lust (NL), Claire Fontaine (FR), Société Réaliste (FR), Ryan Gander / Abake (UK), Dave Hullfish Bailey (US), Florian Conradi / Michelle Christensen (DE).

The Object Without a Story at the new dutch Glass Museum

2010-09-21T12:35:00.001-07:00

We are happy to announce that we are part of the opening exhibition of the Glass Museum of Holland! The Archetypical Vase is in exhibition since June 23rd, when the opening took part with our majesty the Queen Beatrix.

The exhibition is called "Blown to Life" and goes till the 27th of march 2011.

The museum is in Leerdam, the same place where our prototypes were made!

For more information on opening hours: www.nationaalglasmuseum.nl

The Object Without a Story: january 2010

2010-01-30T11:53:00.000-08:00

This was a french month for The Archetypical Vase.

Apart from being displayed at Tools and in the pages of the most recent edition of AD France, it took part in the event "Maison and Objet", in Paris. It was part of the exhibition "Hybrid" by Francois Bernard.

The other good news is that the vase will have another exhibition in Holland, it will be just before summer, at the new National Glass Museum in Leerdam. This is very special, since the first prototype of the Archetypical Vase was made in the glass studio of this Museum.

The Object Without a Story: december 2009

2010-01-30T11:24:00.000-08:00

We are happy to say that The Archetypical Vase is now represented by Tools Galerie in Paris, France.

The vase was also published at AD France dec 2009/ jan 2010 as one of the "100 cadeaux" suggested by the magazine.

Happy 2010!

The Vase seen from the window at Tools Galerie, Paris.

photo by Timothée Magot

The object without a story on FRAME - nov/dec 09

2009-10-30T14:50:00.000-07:00

THE OBJECT WITHOUT A STORY at the DUTCH DESIGN WEEK

2009-10-30T14:39:00.001-07:00

17-25 october 2009
Graduation Galleries
Design Academy Eindhoven

Archetypical Vase at the Frozen Fountain Amsterdam

2009-10-15T08:48:00.001-07:00

THE OBJECT WITHOUT A STORY
is now available at

THE FROZEN FOUNTAIN

Opening: Saturday 19 September
17:00 > 19:30

Prinsengracht 645 - Amsterdam

click to see some pictures on Facebook

Some stories about the archetypical vase...

2009-09-07T08:26:00.000-07:00

Story 1 - The archetypical vase

The Archetypical Vase communicates its complex and fascinating history to the user by being molded by different transparent layers of classical vase forms. The different silhouettes of the different layers of vases compose the ornamentation. The fact that the interior cavity refers to a womb and the external suggests a funerary urn refers to the cycles of life and death of the vessels themselves.

Story 2 - The archetypical vase

The apparition of this vase first came in a fascinating yet disturbing dream: it was at the same time the child waiting to be born as well as being the very container of the child. The visceral image of an object pregnant with self-similar offspring transcends rational discourse. The Archetypical Vase’s sensual and feminine forms spin tales of creation, simultaneously capturing interpretations of the past and generating new myths for the future.

Story 3 - The archetypical vase

The different kinds of fine balancing acts involved in the process of mouth-blown glass were the starting point for the Archetypical Vase. In order to create each shape different techniques and considerations are involved. This allows for the exploration of the range of virtuosity of the mouth-blower, his ability in mastering different aspects of the craft directly resulting in the stylistic differences between each of the vases. The Archetypical Vase is a tribute to the accumulation of hundreds of years of experience involved in this ancient and fertile craft.

Story 4 - The archetypical vase

The archetypical vase is a collaboration between Andrea Bandoni and Joana Meroz. Having made an in-depht analysis of hundred of stories accompanying design objects, they used the most significant words and expressions to create random stories. The designers then created the objects described by these random stories, one of which is the Archetypical Vase. Although the stories sound coherent, they are in fact completely arbitrary, thus questioning the validity of creating and understanding objects through stories.

Exhibition at design academy eindhoven

2009-08-11T15:08:00.000-07:00

JULY 2nd - 5th 2009
IM Master Graduation

http://masters.designacademy.nl/

"Narrative Objects" or "From Vormgever to Woordgever" - a brief overview on the project

2009-04-11T09:46:00.000-07:00

“Stories” are everywhere in the design world. We started noticing that contemporary objects are always accompanied by “stories”. Finding this intriguing we made a preliminary research into contemporary design and their stories to create overview of this relationship.

We started realizing that the story had a more important function than we expected, noticing that they even shaped the way we viewed the objects we were researching.
We decided to focus our thesis on two questions:
- Does the mediation of the story change our relationship to an object? How?
- Can I as a designer manipulate the stories in favour of my object? In which ways?
We chose to make a survey to investigate if the viewer reacted differently to the same object when it was presented with no story, one story, or three different stories.
- So we had to create the objects to use in the survey.
Some considerations in making the object:
- Design archetypes: the lamp, the chair and the vase
- Able to correspond to a variety of different stories, as specified in the survey.

But how to make an object that could be described by many different stories?
- There is no physical similarity between different contemporary designs

- However when we look at their stories, something interesting starts happening: there is a correlation in the way objects are described.

This was very intriguing, so we made a text analysis by studying the story’s “form” and “content”. In terms of “form” we noticed 3 typologies of stories: process, history, abstract.

The “content” of the stories was broken down by categorizing each single word into linguistic and design-related groups.

The most prominent words and phrases were placed in the List of Most Representative Words.

Once finished with the analysis we joined the 3 classes of information: Iconic Object, Story Category and the Most Representative Words.

Three random combinations were chosen to create the stories of the objects. This system was used to create 3 stories, but now we will use only one as an example:

The Archetypical Vase

Based on the three stories we made three objects.

Once the objects were made, we could finally do the survey.
The survey sample was: designers, artists, critics, and non-design related people.
On a parallel track we gave a workshop during Lodz Design Festival in Poland to investigate the different ways designers can use stories to create objects.
- At the end of the workshop we had stories with two objects and objects with two stories. We found that it is possible for an object to have two different stories that are equally valid, one created before the object and one after, but it is impossible to identify which of the two stories is more authentic.

The full analysis of the results of the survey and workshop led us in answering the questions we had posed in the beginning:
1. Does the mediation of the story change our relationship to an object?
- Yes. Through the survey we found that 100% of designers believe the story interferes in the perception of the object.
1.1 How?
Through the workshop it became clear that the most practical use of the story is as a tool for designers to legitimize aesthetic decisions.
The story can be used as a walking stick to sustain an object.

2. Can I as a designer manipulate the stories in favour of my object? In which ways?
Yes, it’s possible to change the ways stories mediate our perception of objects.
For example, we created 3 objects based on 3 stories that “sound right” but are totally arbitrary. So the stories don’t reveal any authentic information about the objects.
This exposes the fragility of the idea that the story reveals the truth of an object.

Most people accept the mediation of the stories even when they know the stories are fictional: during the survey we found that only 50% of the total sample says a true story matters.

- What is crucial is the mediation itself. Are we looking at a world with subtitles, where the textual language is more important than the presence of the object?

Proposal:
- Stories don’t reveal the truth about an object but we are still obsessed with them. So what can the function of the story become if it no longer has to “explain” an object?

In the survey, when asked why a story was needed most people answered because it “gives added pleasure”. If the story can bring “extra” qualities, we as designers can take advantage of this opportunity by manipulating the points of interaction between viewer and object.

The object should be the starting point for multiple interpretations rather than it being monopolized by the “official” one. This should be seen as a proof of the object’s narrative power and not as a loss of focus. With this proposal the viewer would become a co-creator of the meaning of the object.

First images of the object without a story

2009-04-11T09:30:00.000-07:00

Making of the object without a story

2009-04-11T09:29:00.001-07:00

The blowing of the glass at Bernhard's Glass Atelie, Leerdam.

A team of 5 glass makers was necessary.

The first object without a story ever made.

The blowing of the glass at the Nationaal Glasmuseum, Leerdam - Netherlands.

Marek & Marek: the best team of glass masters ever.

Climax of the performance that shapes the object without a story.

Marek Bartko is considered one of the bests glass masters of Czech.

The making of the handles in glass.

The object without a story before the cutting.