GLITCH. TRUE PORCELAIN LASTS FOREVER
10-27 February 2022 | Bęc Zmiana bookstore, Warszawa
Using the attention of Valentine's Day and more and more often anti-Valentine's Day, we wanted to emphasize the fact that although the durability of love can be discussed nowadays, the longevity of porcelain is a fact! The exhibition is a bold paraphrase of the saying TRUE LOVE LASTS FOREVER, in which the word LOVE was manifestly replaced with the word PORCELAIN.
Porcelain is one of the most noble materials. Unfortunately, due to its advantages, such as non-susceptibility to low and high temperatures (including non-flammability), chemical resistance to acids and bases, water impermeability and high mechanical strength - porcelain is almost indestructible. As a result, every year, through production, we irreversibly lose (not to mention the energy and water costs incurred in the process) valuable natural resources, which we cannot recover after firing.
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 increase from 26.6 billion to 38.2 billion pieces *.
As users, we are constantly bombarded with advertising campaigns, and Valentine's Day has become one of the stronger marketing tools for commercializing our feelings and relationships, but also for questioning our values. Therefore, inspired by the body & mind positive approach, we decided to show porcelain as a material in a new light.
For years, the industry has been putting pressure on the perfect form of the product, treating everything that deviates from the prescribed norm as a defect. The consequence of this approach is, among others, devaluation of the third grade porcelain tableware, despite their full suitability for use. This way, about 40,000 tonnes of fired porcelain are thrown out of factories very year in Japan alone **.
The Glitch Lab collective, under the curatorial supervision of Dorota Stępniak, once again restores third grade porcelain, giving it a new, full-fledged character through artistic intervention. Visible provocative slogans such as taste me, lick me, touch me, born broken or nope refer both to the nature of porcelain as a material and to Valentine's and anti-Valentine's relationships. The crowning piece of the project is the BĘC totem.
The Glitch Lab Team: Marta Łempicka, Joanna Rymaszewska, Arkadiusz Szwed
Curator: Dorota Stępniak, Content Story
*Global Ceramic Tableware Market Report, History and Forecast 2016-2027
**Yoshikazu Hasegawa, Ceramic Tableware Recycling by Green Life 21 Project - Efforts for sustainable manufacturing in a traditional local production area