Shifting Perspectives, and my project HOLDING (dessau), examined how personal experiences and cultural background influence the way we see and interpret a place. Using porcelain as the final medium, the project challenged me to transform my observations of Dessau into small, reproducible objects that communicate more than simple function. Rather than creating traditional souvenirs, the focus was on developing objects that capture memories, emotions, misunderstandings, and moments of discovery. The process combined research, sketching, model making, plaster mold fabrication, porcelain casting, glazing, and finishing, encouraging experimentation alongside traditional craft techniques. The final collection was exhibited in an alternative souvenir shop, where the objects offered a unique perspective on place and identity. The project demonstrates how design can preserve personal narratives and reveal that even the smallest objects can carry layered stories about culture, memory, and belonging.
Learning The Basics
The course began with learning the basics of porcelain. We were presented with the opportunity to make cups from a collection of molds from out old factory. My cup began with a fairly modern and simple shape that was then adored with parts and pieces of a Baroque style figurine. The combination of the cup with the Baroque figurine created a surreal-ish style object that can't really be used as a cup - it becomes strictly decorative. The cup became a catalyst for the souvenir project.
Research / Souvenirs / Initial Concepts
As someone who prefers experiences or found objects over bought souvenirs; usually collect rocks, press leaves, buying second-hand things from a flea market, or photographing important things is completely sufficient for memorializing travel. Places can be also remembered by how they smell, taste, and feel. This mindset helped guide my research into what souvenir I wanted to create. I started with concepts of time capsules, postcards, and pocket-sized architectural objects. This led me to want to create a box to house all three in some way and act as a holder of found objects from travels. The idea eventually morphed into the final concept - which was to collect textures of Dessau, cast them in porcelain, and display them in wood boxes that are wrapped in cyanotype prints. Creating a complete package complete with branding that doubles as art in itself.
Collecting Textures, Making Molds, and Casting
Visitors coming to Dessau are met with many new experiences, new ideas, new challenges, and new feelings (again, physical or mental). The idea of “texture” developed after reflecting on the objects collected, memories made, and photographs taken during travels – textures felt by both hand and foot. For example, many people touch the buildings and objects they encounter. They feel their way through new places and can remember how their favorite buildings feel – the smooth vs the rough columns, the patterned vs the plain pathways. In a simple way, people collect these “textures of place”. Translating this into a souvenir that represents Dessau and that could be executed in porcelain came naturally. Using clay, the textures of Dessau were collected, molded in plaster, and cast in porcelain. The real question was which textures to collect. For me, it had to be personal. This made me realize that I think about Dessau into three categories: the Bauhaus, the Dessau of Today, and the Enlightenment.
The Textures - Dessau of Bauhaus, of Today, and of Enlightenment
As an undergraduate, I was exposed to the design ideologies of the Bauhaus; for me this represents the first category. I was intrigued and inspired by the designs (architecture, art, furniture, graphics, etc.), materials, and methodologies. This category manifests as textures related to the designs executed by the members of the Bauhaus. This includes the ridged pattern of the columns on the iconic Bauhaus building, the not-as-smooth-as-you-think concrete wall of the Meisterhäuser, the intricate lines of beech wood chair, and a manufactured texture of metal radiator – all of which represent the industrial and modernist movement.
And when I came to Dessau for the first time, I was introduced to category two, the Dessau of Today. This category is about existing in the present moment. Category two is about the little things I felt, saw, or experienced that felt immediately “Dessau” to me. Weirdly, this includes operating a dreh-kipp-fenster, opening beers with a lighter and having a cigarette, the rough stucco of the exterior and the smooth concrete forms of the interior of Building 4.
Soon after I settled into life in Dessau and started to explore, I learned about Leopold III and the Enlightenment; my category three. In the late 18th century, Leopold created a world within a world by bringing exotic plants, fruits, animals, and arts + architectures into Dessau. He built gardens and galleries that exposed the residents of Dessau to a wide world that they had no access to. This manifests as the hard granite pathways felt under foot, oak bark felt on imported trees, the feel of stucco from Schloss Georgium, and complexity of pattern from a simple pinecone.
The Results: HOLDING (dessau)
The final products celebrate the beautifully complex and delicate nature of porcelain. I was inspired by the classic porcelain finishes (matte and gloss) and colors (white and blue). Some textures are pure glossy white, while others are matte, and every combination in between. The juxtaposed of very rough textures into glossy white porcelain creates a dynamic object that feels like the place from which it comes while simultaneously creating new impressions of the place. The porcelains are paired with a wood display box that is wrapped in a hand printed cyanotype print (an art work in itself) with a photo and coordinates of the place in which the texture comes from, as well as a brief description of the texture and how it ties into the theme of the project as a whole. This combination is reminiscent of the classic blue and white patterns that is so indicative of porcelain. The porcelains hopefully become objects that remind us of our travels but also inspire us to stay curious, keep traveling, collect and hold more texture.
The project is a new type of souvenir that can represent any city in the world - potentially introducing HOLDING (to a city near you)!
