I make objects which challenge what I know about the world of man-made utilitarian objects. Rather than changing the form of the thing directly, I attempt to reinvent part of the processes that make the object. In this way, the logic that produces the thing becomes the focus of the work, and by following this logic it’s possible to achieve ideas and forms I am incapable of pre-conceptualizing. I find this approach results in things that are much more evocative, complex, less obvious. They are able to respond more clearly to generalized and abstract ideas such as “containing” or “connecting”, they tend to be not quite fully resolved.
digital production tools are blurring the boundaries between the serially-produced and the unique. They allow us to make the sort of controlled objects possible in industry, while also allowing a responsive what-if?-lets-try-it-now process one longs for as a maker. But their greatest quality is their new-ness which demands the imagination of original object languages. They are free of known traditions, archetypical forms or endlessly paraphrased references. At this particular moment, they are offering the possibility of tremendous expansion of our notions of what the human-made material world can be.
I’m a designer and researcher working predominantly with ceramics and an Associate Professor of industrial design at the Rhode Island School of Design.
digital production tools are blurring the boundaries between the serially-produced and the unique. They allow us to make the sort of controlled objects possible in industry, while also allowing a responsive what-if?-lets-try-it-now process one longs for as a maker. But their greatest quality is their new-ness which demands the imagination of original object languages. They are free of known traditions, archetypical forms or endlessly paraphrased references. At this particular moment, they are offering the possibility of tremendous expansion of our notions of what the human-made material world can be.
I’m a designer and researcher working predominantly with ceramics and an Associate Professor of industrial design at the Rhode Island School of Design.
The studio is located at
Nicholson File Art Studios
350 Kinsley Ave bldg 38, Providence, RI. USA
Nicholson File Art Studios
350 Kinsley Ave bldg 38, Providence, RI. USA
Get in touch at jhopp@risd.edu
