Story 2. Dimension
Wall-mounted Vase “Dimension”
The vase is designed to pinch the wall and pull it forward, creating a curved surface without boundaries from the flat wall where flowers can be inserted.
Achieving a smooth and beautiful connection between the flat surface and the three-dimensional curve proved to be unexpectedly difficult, and I had to adjust the shape of the curved surface many times.
Production stated : September 5, 2020
Production completed : October 14, 2020
Materials: Clay, wood, glass, resin, iron wire
Fusion of wall and vase. Between 2D and 3D.
During the production process of my previous work “Cloud“, I came to the idea that the wall-mounted vase could be seen as an existence that blurs the boundary between the outside and the inside.
For my next theme, I attempted to give shape to “existence on the
boundary”.
I aimed to make the distinction between the wall and the vase infinitely uncertain.
By minimizing the three-dimensional presence of the vase, the
flowers arranged within it would only remain as “presence on the
boundary”.
A two-dimensional surface : Wall.
A three-dimensional object : Flower.
The wall and the flowers, the surface and the objects, the two-dimensional and the three-dimensional.
This vase is designed to maintain that neutrality.
The "Wall" is the boundary of space.
The “Wall” is an entity that separates us, who exist in a three-dimensional space, from the concept of a two-dimensional plane.
“Existence to separate” means that the other side of the wall and this side separates spaces. It means that a two-dimensional plane separates two spaces.
Source: Doraemon Vol. 9 "Pass Loop" - Shogakukan Tentomushi Comics - Fujiko F. Fujio (1975)
The secret gadget from Doraemon, “the passing hoop” can make a hole in a wall and travel through it. In one episode, it was also used to connect different places by bending the connection between the entrance and exit walls.
I think this represents well that “walls” are the boundaries of space.
If we were to liken the “boundaries and walls of a space” to acoloring book, then the”lines” used to separate the colors would be the boundaries. Lines are nothing more than boundaries, and they are not meant to be colored.
Photo by Mareena Metsmaa on Unsplash
However, actual walls are thick and have insulation and soundproofing materials.
On the other hand, living in rooms on a daily basis, we may not be conscious of the thickness of the walls.
We are inside a “box“, called a “room”. Inside that box, we place objects and three-dimensional items such as furniture, beds, and bookshelves.
Walls are meant to be firm and clear since they are boundaries. For example, if the walls were soft or squishy, it might make us feel uncomfortable.
We may feel like touching squishy walls, but it would compromise their function as boundaries.
Source: The Matrix (1999)
In the movie “The Matrix”, there is a scene where the main character’s hand fuses with a mirror. It creates a fear and discomfort that the boundaries of the world become ambiguous and one’s own existence becomes unclear.
In this work, a part of the wall are softened and fused with the vase.
The challenge in production
Generally, walls are hard and do not deform. This vase [Dimension] seems to have a deformed wall so that flowers can be inserted, or the vase seems to have been flattened and fused with the wall. Either way, it is an unusual state.
The tactile sensation created by the sense of discomfort and the curved shape of the object can make it appear as something “creepy”. Care was taken in the design process to make sure that this creepiness was not prominent.
When trying to completely connect the flat surface with the curved surface, the part where the flat surface transitions into the curved surface would stand out and create a greater sense of discomfort and mismatch.
Therefore, an additional frame was added as an outer rim to camouflage the part where the true wall surface and the vase surface are connected. The original idea was “fusion”, and this solution was not ideal but rather a compromise to achieve the intended design.
However, the end result is that the imbalance of the shape disappeared and it seemed to have worked out well.
The frame is an object used to hang two-dimensional works such as paintings and photographs on the wall.
Adding the frame gives the impression that the vase and flowers are popping out as a three-dimensional object from within the frame.
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