Posted by sabine7
Interview | 05 Apr 07 | Comments (3) | Stumble
Cynthia Hathaway is the designer behind the Souvenirs Revisited, a selection of ceramics representing an up-to-date take on Canadian pottery, shown recently in Toronto, but is also an important player on the international design scene, and is currently based in the Netherlands. A graduate of the Design Academy in Eindhoven, Hathaway now teaches there, as well as running her own freelance practice with clients such as Droog.
The deer with a new take on antlers and the sinking Inuit and polar bear ceramic pieces that you have designed clearly reflect a point of view regarding Canadian culture – can this direction be reversed, or do you believe that is it already set in porcelain? Would this idea of sinking socio-cultural icons work in the European arena, in Holland, for example?
The ceramics are based on forms of souvenirs that at one time were very popular as gifts and as representations of Canada. I have manipulated them to reflect a more up - to - date version without the distancing factor of kitsch or sentimentality. We are living in a highly sensitive time in the sense that we cannot hide anymore behind the glitter. Our Canadian landscape is changing drastically, as it is globally, so the cultural challenge is to communicate responsibly our identity that makes one think through beauty of form and dialogue. It’s not the time to be romantic. It’s the time to have our symbols reflect reality. So yes, points of view can and must be changed, and evolve to meet the current situation that is hitting us between the eyes.
The cultural icons of Canada vs. Holland are of course very different. Canada has raw nature on its list of icons and their attached stories; the “wild west” of adventure, the untouched environs where one can come face to face with a grizzly, or even a native tribe that still lives in teepees or igloos. Holland’s list is of an extremely obvious, manipulated and controlled nature, which provides a different kind of romanticism. Here, Man has shaped the landscape and even its animals in the way he sees fit for primarily practical reasons. For hundreds of years, the fight against the sea has been incredibly successful creating farmland in precise blocks and canals as straight as a pin, and in the subject of animals, they have been manipulated in breeding to support aesthetic concerns of which cow would look best from a king’s balcony. This intense control may make it easier to pinpoint and read icons because they are so manipulated and clear. There’s no room for spontaneity, and a needle can be found in a haystack here because it could never have been lost in the first place.
To challenge a point of view regarding its icons, I could make a hole in the dam, or set the tractor loose, or add a cow with wings to a field (I have done this as a student) and I so easily upset the fine-tuned balance between romance and practicality. So yes, I think the manipulation of cultural icons would raise a lot of heads here as it would anywhere, but as a creative you have to choose those icons that could communicate best the message. All countries have their treasures “to pillage”…. however, it is not about exploitation but communication of an honest and meaningful message.
The world is already full of 'stuff' – as a designer, why do you choose to create more?
In the saturated world of bad ideas, I aim to always question why, and am never glib enough to be happy with “why not”. That’s irresponsible, and that’s when the landfill sites are stacked higher. I make conscious decisions in my design process that peel down to the bare necessities in material, function and form in order to keep it clean. In fact, I often try to stick to the regeneration of things and experiences that are already out there. With my highlighting of them and their readjustment, they sing again. For instance, I have choreographed an underwater ride for the famous Dutch Efteling theme park by taking its Directors through a local carwash, blind folded, with a specially designed soundtrack, and popcorn. I have also designed cell phone donation lines that connect to existing bread and jam-making street machines scattered throughout Holland (see the KesselsKramer 1001 Things to Do publication). I have been inspired by actual shopping receipts collected from a local supermarket’s floors, carts and parking lots to create a publication of scenarios about identity and activity for the print company Neroc (see KesselsKramer “Meetings with Neroc”). And I have created a documentary that question and challenge concepts of high and low design inspired by the furnishings in living rooms exposed when passing by open windows in Holland. So if I create more, I try to at least use and be inspired by what is already out there. We have so much at our doorsteps as reference and production material, from human behaviour to the existing stuff around us. You just have to be honest and don’t fear what’s already handed to you on a platter.
I love the narrative in these pieces. Its almost as if they are melting or fading away. Becoming extinct....
Will these ever be for sale or are they only art pieces...? they are so incredible!
Hi,
These pieces are available for retail at www.thesouvenirshop.ca
Thanks for the great post and comments!
Todd Falkowsky