GLITCH. Fuck The Porcelain
Targi Rzeczy Ładnych | Warsaw | September 2021
The vast majority of proprietary ceramics, which today celebrate its popularity, would never pass through the strict eye of a factory audit, thus gaining the status of the third quality, i.e. waste. This name, in industrial language, applies to an object that is unfit for use and to one that contains more than 4 flaws separating it from the ideal.
The ease with which we reject the third quality, considering it worthless, and the accompanying outclassing by users of the second quality, is simply a system error - a GLITCH - a loss that we cannot afford facing a climate crisis and dwindling resources. It is estimated that the amount of used tableware that is thrown away in Japan alone exceeds 100,000 tonnes in one year. If we add industrial waste to this figure, that is, spent products rejected from production because of their defects, the total amount is 140,000 tonnes. The Fuck The Porcelain exhibition is a manifesto aimed at changing this paradigm.
Due to the high food hygiene standards, kaolin, quartz and feldspar of the best quality are used in production. Unfortunately, what is the advantage of porcelain objects, i.e. their non-flammability and insolubility, makes them indestructible, and thus an almost unprocessed material, which we lose irreversibly every year (not to mention the energy and water costs incurred in the production process).
Moreover, recent forecasts suggest a significant increase in production in this sector. In 2020, the global market for commercial ceramic tableware was valued at $ 32.5 billion and is expected to reach $ 51.5 billion by the end of 2027, while sales of ceramic tableware at the same time will grow from 26.6 billion to 38.2 billion units.
The first edition of Glitch Lab - Fuck The Porcelain is to restore the third genre and give it a new life through artistic intervention, thus increasing its market value and building a unique collection available at the Targi Rzeczy Ładnych fair in Warsaw. The exhibition and the products inspired by it are the creative rebellion of Arkadiusz Szwed, who, immersed in the factory and educational process, sees the duality of existing standards and wants to start a dialogue between creators, producers and recipients. The project draws attention to the complicated and multi-stage production process of ceramic objects and the highly qualified knowledge of factory employees who watch over it to eliminate errors.
Glitch exhibition and stand. Fuck The Porcelain provokes us to evaluate how to value an object today.
Glitch LAB team: Marta Łempicka, Joanna Rymaszewska, Arkadiusz Szwed
exhibition curator: Dorota Stępniak