no models 2015-2019 — Yonatan Hopp

No Models 2016-2019 early editions

No Models is an ongoing project which explores a unique method of casting ceramics into folded chipboard molds. The molds, or models really, were initially planned on "Google Sketchup", a free CAD program whose limited set of tools created simple volumes which I found honest to the vectoral nature of 3d modeling.

Untitled
2015

laser etched and glazed stoneware

Untitled
2015

screen printed and glazed stoneware

Colored engobes are printed onto the cardboard, and the 3d shapes are transferred to cardboard using laser cutting. The ceramic slip cast into the mold, being an expert at imitating other materials, copies the textures and details of the folded cardboard perfectly. A very particular esthetic emerges, on the one hand rough and imperfect, and on the other delicate and precise.

Untitled (cup)
2016

laser etched and glazed stoneware

Patterns on the surface of the objects are created by laser etching and silk screening on the cardboard, before it’s folded into a mold. The shapes, textures and surface patterns have become a direct reflection of the particular combination of tools and methods used in the making. These material and technological agents, more and more, are collaborators rather than passive means.

Untitled
2016

laser etched and glazed stoneware

Untitled
2015

stoneware

Untitled
2015

screen printed and glazed stoneware

Untitled
2015

screen printed and glazed stoneware

Untitled
2015

screen printed and glazed stoneware

As an industrial/ceramic designer I’m interested in the relationship between contemporary digital designing and fabrication methods, and handcrafting processes. I’m part of a generation that exists on the cross-roads between analog and digital practices in design, being trained at RISD with paper sketching and cardboard modeling, and then entering into the professional world of CAD and rapid prototyping.