No Models for Paul Smith's Mayfair shop
No Models is an alternative ceramic production method based on disposable slip-casting molds made of flat materials that can be printed, laser cut and folded into an endless variety of shapes with an endless variety of surface decorations. The recycled chipboard molds are first designed in CAD and then printed and cut to shape. Ceramic Casting slip is then poured inside to capture the interior of the form. A very particular object esthetic emerges, on the one hand rough and imperfect, and on the other delicate and precise.
The objects are a result of a collaboration between all the agents involved- the softwares, the lasercutter, the cardboard, the casting slip and the kiln. Each agent leaves their marks of production: The primitive geometries of "Sketchup" (3d modeling); the texture and details of the cardboard model-mold; the way the heavy ceramic slip warps and reshapes the mold; the precision of the laser etching used to create the surface patterns.
layout for tests - workflow
forms “unfolded” for laser cutting
cast ceramic studies
3d sketch - an evolution of form
early studies for form colors and patterns.