Czech gifts, czech souvenirs > Porcelain vase Unlimited

Unlimited

by Maxim Velčovský for Qubus design  (2001)

The shape of this vase is based on an original, serially manufactured shape. Each year, the porcelain factory manufactures tons of porcelain that undergo extensive quality control in the course of production. When the slightest fault is found, whether it be visible joints after the splitting of the mould, bubbles in the glazing or dots caused by cobalt or iron contamination, the product is broken or marked as third class quality. The first class quality goods without defects are decorated and gilded and sent off to be sold for considerable sums to first class people without defects. The so-called rejects end up in the factory container, which is marked as ecological waste and emptied in the appropriate dump. I was struck by the severity, essentially the elitism, of this system. In this setting, I decided to produce imperfect products that would otherwise be labelled as rejects. My personal sabotage involved deforming products that were already unusual; I left details that seemed natural to me, details that were logical features of an individual technological approach to production, but that would be considered undesirable from the perspective of the thousand-year-old tradition. I considered joints after the splitting of the mould and other "defects" to be natural décor....  www.qubus.cz