Flat Craft - bachelor projects 2022

FLAT CRAFT

Bachelor Project 2022

Royal Danish Academy Crafts in Glass and Ceramics

A book, a website, a photograph are all by their nature, a form of flat craft.

We, as makers, are united by our creation of three dimensional objects. But for many, our work will be seen in a two dimensional depiction.

The title FLAT CRAFT is a reflection of the aforementioned but also of our experience during the education. When the pandemic hit, we were half way through our first year and the effect of this virus, in the form of disruptions to our education, lingered.

Our learning is rooted in the material, but during this time we were pushed online. Throwing courses around the wheel became Rhino drawing classes played out on zoom. We each needed

FLAT CRAFT

to come up with new ways to express our craft and translate it on and offline.

We wanted to underline that instead of lamenting lost possibilities, our role is to adjust to the new reality, not just waiting to go back to “normal”. We don’t understand ‘Flat’ in a negative way, but rather as a word that is revealing new qualities of craft. ‘Craft’ is too often illustrated as a slow, over-romanticized movement, but we seek to question that perception.

Our exhibition will also be depicted in the form of a virtual exhibition where the notion of ‘Flat Craft’ will be relevant again, with our three dimensional objects being represented in a new dimension somewhere between the ones we know well.

Royal Danish Academy

Crafts in Glass and Ceramics

Bachelor Project 2022

FLAT CRAFT

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From left to right: Marlene Gartner, Gabriella Gormley, Laurie Coline Pin, Phillip ‘Swede’ Hickok, Mercédesz Kancsár, Sidsel Holsteen Davidsen,

3rd Year students

Crafts in Glass and Ceramics

Léa Tarakdjian, Anna Rolighed Thyme, Marie Breyen Hauschildt, Bastien Chomienne, Julie Tagholm Hansen, Annika Hviid, Zuzanna Skurka

A special thanks to: Augustinus Fonden William Demant Fonden Sparekassen Bornholms Fond Otto Bruuns Fond William Demant Fonden Martha og Paul Kerrn-Jespersens fond Den Hielmstierne-Rosencroneske Stiftelse Aage og Johanne Louis-Hansens Fond Klint-Fonden Beckett-Fonden

Anna Rolighed Thyme Annika Hviid Bastien Chomienne Gabriella Gormley Julie Tagholm Hansen Laurie Coline Pin Léa Tarakdjian Marie Breyen Hauschildt Marlene Gartner Mercédesz Kancsár Phillip ‘Swede’ Hickok Sidsel Holsteen Davidsen Zuzanna Skurka

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Anni Nørskov Mørch HANDS ON – HANDS OFF

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metaMe Anna Rolighed Thyme

A filter on my phone shapes my face as if it were made of clay. It makes me look like one of my Bratz dolls, unapologetic as they were. As I try on different skins, which one suits me best?… This ain’t for me… !

Getting lost in a video game, building a world with a pixilated character as my skin – these activities take me to another world, I’m in control of my smiley, my ego, my appearance. Who will I be in Metaverse, and where is myCloud?

Taking an open-minded, inquisitive approach, I’m exploring my digital presence through the earthbound material clay.

The bust has been used many times in the past to portray a person or a type.

BitMoji, MeMoji, etc., are digital avatars, modelled by me on my screen, created to express myself while texting, a personalised emoji. By portraying my digital me’s, I call into question the stories we’re leaving behind for future species should the Cloud disappear one day.

On the dark side, we have the Cloud, described as something white and fluffy, a natural phenomenon. In physical life; square metres upon square metres of heavy, constantly operating servers and drives, requiring batteries, back-ups, and cooling. Saving memories, creating a BitMoji, Be-Real’ing with friends, or buying a digital piece of land, all have a physical presence somewhere.

In metaMe I explore the gap between our digital and physical imprints. What happens when digital elements are removed from our screens and transformed into a physical presence?

Anna Rolighed Thyme

metaMe

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Anna Rolighed Thyme

metaMe

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Anna Rolighed Thyme

metaMe

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Translating Value Annika Hviid

A coin represents a certain era when its value was bound to the metal it was made of, such as gold, silver, or copper.

Modern-day coins only imitate this.

When we read a book or watch a play, we must believe in the representation in order for it to make sense. Similarly, a coin is fiction, a representation that exists because we believe in it, the difference being that the coin also has a real impact and real consequences.

During my research, I became familiar with stone money from Yap, a small island in the Pacific Ocean. Their currency consisted of round stone disks that could be up to 4 metres in diameter and weigh up to 5 tonnes. The material and physical presence were not what determined their value. If a stone was lost overboard and sank to the bottom of the sea during transport, its value would still exist , because its existence was based on oral history, trust in the community and belief.

Similarly, digitised reality challenges our perception of value, which has changed from being bound to a physical, tangible material to something intangible. Cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin are a new extreme and are what my project revolves around: the translation of value and the transformation from abstract to tangible, from immaterial to material.

Annika Hviid

Translating Value

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Annika Hviid

Translating Value

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Annika Hviid

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Singularity Bastien Chomienne As far back as I can remember, I have always been fascinated by space. It is endless, enormous; we are doing our best to understand it, yet each ground-breaking discovery raises new questions and more hypotheses. We will never completely comprehend it; it is a place where dream and reality merge.

My main goal is to show people how space can be captivating and beautiful.

I want them to feel amazed and inspired like I do when I look at the stars. I do that through this installation but also through the story it tells.

Exploring the infinity of space, I seek to transcribe its mind-blowing immensity and beauty into my art. I am mostly inspired by the way galaxies and especially black holes are structured, and how the laws of gravity and physics affect the patterns and behaviours of the universe.

After a successful collaboration of scientists in 2019, a picture of a black hole was taken. This celestial body is impressive; being actually what remains from the death of a sun after it imploded, a black hole is full of secrets. Its gravity is so intense that no matter can escape from its never-ending attraction, not even light itself. In its centre, gravity is so powerful that it distorts space and time to a point where time is slowed down to the extreme. All the matter a black hole sucks in must get out at some point; it becomes a white hole, the exact opposite of a black one. Black holes turn almost instantly to white holes after their creation, but because they bend time to such an extreme, we will not be able to see this until two billion years from now.

This is only one of the many wonderful stories from space. Keep an eye on the sky.

Bastien Chomienne

Singularity

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Bastien Chomienne

Singularity

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Bastien Chomienne

Singularity

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Lithium: My Irreplaceable Element Gabriella Gormley This project is part of ongoing research into lithium. In seeking to further understand the material from an artistic and philosophical perspective, I have chosen to interrogate lithium’s identity as a treasure.

As a crucial material used to make batteries, highly sought after in the increasing electrification of our lives, lithium’s identity as a treasure is best, and perhaps only, reflected in its soaring prices on the commodities market. I seek to expand this notion of value by representing it, visually, as a treasure. I hope to communicate a wider understanding from my unique relation to this material, as a, by now, long-term consumer of it as a psychiatric medicine.

In pursuit of this aim, questions around the notion of ‘treasure’ have arisen. From royal acquisitions to global databases and personal collections too, I have been exploring what constitutes a treasure and how the contexts in which a treasure exists are vital to their perceived value.

In addition to exploring physical treasures, a crucial turn in my process was to think about the active verb of ‘treasuring’ and relating this to my own practice.

I realised that I treat clay with utmost care and attention when I’m working with it on the wheel. Treasuring its fragility and tending to its surface, I pursue its potential in perfection. Therefore, throwing and specifically throwing in the already highly valued material that is porcelain, have been charged choices.

It is through these choices that I seek to honour the fine materials of antiquity next to the desired materials of late modernity.

Gabriella Gormley

Lithium: My Irreplaceable Element

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Gabriella Gormley

Lithium: My Irreplaceable Element

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Gabriella Gormley

Lithium: My Irreplaceable Element

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Movement Julie Tagholm Hansen

This project did not start with movement, but with a feeling of pressure to perform - causing me to stand still which made me panic. Because standing still seems dangerous in a society where you have to perform in almost everything you do.

And when you are standing still you are not performing. Therefore, it was important to me to create objects that could express movement at different paces.

In Movement I have created objects that depict movement in different ways, with the point of departure being the vessel. I find it fascinating that the objects depict movement by standing still. They depict motion without actually moving.

But at some point the clay was movable.

I am captivated by how soft clay turns into hard ceramic, and how I can capture a moment of movement.

Throwing on the wheel automatically creates movement and I used this process to incorporate motional energy into some of the objects. The imprint of the hand was important to indicate an intuitive expression.

Working with different techniques gave me the opportunity to work at different paces to suit different moods.

Julie Tagholm Hansen

Movement

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Julie Tagholm Hansen

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Julie Tagholm Hansen

Movement

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Let’s play!

Laurie Coline Pin

Glass is an incredible material to work with. Its three main components, silica, potash, and soda, are provided by the Earth. These are, however, limited resources which will become so scarce in the future that glass, as we currently know it, will no longer exist in less than 40 years. More precisely, we won’t be able to produce new clear glass. Each one of us has a role to play and no one should stay blind to this serious problem.

As a glass artist, I seek to find a sustainable alternative to the production and use of this precious resource. To achieve this, I collect, recycle, and only use glass that is already around me; especially bottle glass which is found everywhere. This enables me to produce locally and shrink my carbon footprint at the same time.

My project, investigates the unexpected, artistic potential of bottle glass which I experiment with to find new Earth-friendly workflows. I also want to inspire other craft glass artists to follow a more responsible path and question their own working method.

I’m now inviting you to play and experiment together with me to achieve a more balanced and sustainable future together.

Laurie Coline Pin

Let’s play!

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Laurie Coline Pin

Let’s play!

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Laurie Coline Pin

Let’s play!

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The Glass Experience Léa Tarakdjian

The project was prompted by my profound curiosity in scientific kids’ objects.

As a child, I didn’t understand the science behind them. To me, my interest began when I realised that my parents were unable to explain how scientific phenomena worked. The only thing that I could do to solve this mystery was to dissect the object. Years later, I’m still examining objects and thinking, ‘How does it work?’.

I feel the same excitement of discovering something new when I’m processing glass. The complexity of the material and its many scientific properties are a playground for my investigations.

This is how I started experimenting in the studio: by collecting more scientific objects, exploring them, understanding their properties, experimenting, and pushing the limits of glass as a material. The process of working on multiple objects widens the scope of possibility in which science and glass converge.

Léa Tarakdjian

The Glass Experience

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Léa Tarakdjian

The Glass Experience

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Léa Tarakdjian

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something that comes out of something Marie Breyen Hauschildt

A sentence that is on my mind is when something comes out of something.

It is a sentence that has its roots in the Danish word ‘abjekt’ – (body “waste”) – But in can be understood in all ways possible; It could symbolise a feeling of something that is finally “out there” and freed from your mind. Or more concrete scenarios like: a baby that is born; a pimple that finally pops; a volcano that erupts or something/someone that has been hiding and suddenly reveals its existence.

I investigate shapes and stories that somehow mimic this movement and transformation of something that goes from somewhere to somewhere else.

To make this even more clear, I incorporate the element of water/liquid into my project. By filling objects with liquids and closing them again, their story becomes a new story.

The transformation/change that happens in the story by simply adding another element, which at first sight seems transparent and almost indiscernible, is what underlines how easily a change can happen from one thing that “was” to become something else that then “is”.

Marie Breyen Hauschildt

something that comes out of something

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Marie Breyen Hauschildt

Something that comes out of something

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Marie Breyen Hauschildt

something that comes out of something

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The Storytellers Marlene Gartner

For this project, I intend to bring back an ancient way of storytelling on a pottery piece and connect it to a contemporary context. My compass is the field of the infamous ‘Grecian Urns.’ The main question that I asked myself is how can I associate the storytelling of the Greek Vessels with today, the 21st century.

I am deeply interested in how human behaviour has changed over the past 2,000 years and how human activity has impacted our planet.

My artistic approach to ceramics is to use the carving technique, Sgraffito, to depict playful narratives. I use clay as a 360-degree canvas for my colourful illustrations.

My aim was to maintain the shape of these special vessels, but during the process, I transformed them into my own mode of expression. I toy with the dysfunctionality of handles to emphasize the nature of the non-functional objects that I have created. The intricate patterns are an important part of the past that I incorporate into my ceramic objects.

I am inspired by what is happening in the world around me and the impact of human behaviour. I am quickly affected by world events and try to process my feelings through my work. In my visual work, I deal with the subject of humanity, overconsumption, new technologies and environmental degradation.

Marlene Gartner

The Storytellers

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Marlene Gartner

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Marlene Gartner

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Under Pressure Mercédesz Kancsár

As a craft artist, I’m often inspired by nature’s beauty and strength. I find the convergence of its different elements interesting and fascinating. The connections where contrast is discoverable have the most profound effect on me.

Through my works, I choose to create useful objects. This gives me the opportunity to investigate and question the fine line between utility and aesthetics.

I work with my hands to explore ways of enhancing my objects with different qualities, qualities that connect them to their function.

Seaside cliffs were my source of inspiration for Under Pressure, my bachelor’s degree project: the different visible layers of epochs and materials weathered by the forces of nature. These materials contain important, valuable minerals that enable us to grow plants and cultivate food. My aim is to create a fermenting jar that references all the nutritious items put into it, as well the soul from which they originate. In so doing, the jar mirrors the process of fermentation.

Made by hand and infused with tradition, patience and love.

Mercédesz Kancsár

Under Pressure

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Mercédesz Kancsár

Under Pressure

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Mercédesz Kancsár

Under Pressure

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Hope in Decay Phillip ‘Swede’ Hickok

Through this project, I aim to move away from traditional vessels and superficial beauty to explore a deeper level of beauty that lingers in darkness and decay. I am particularly interested in texture, movement, and the way that my objects interact with the space they occupy. I seek to create a large scale, multi component piece that twists and wraps around its environment. Heavily fungal and plant inspired, I have incorporated roots, spores, and vines that twist and grow.

Mycology is a deep passion of mine and I believe that by creating art inspired by mushrooms, it can create a dialog around them. Mushrooms, being cleaners, they decompose the dead leaves, and branches that litter the forest floor.

They also decompose animal’s corpses and break them down into nutrients for the forest. There is even ongoing research being conducted that shows that certain types of oyster mushrooms can break down plastic. Decay and death are often seen as intimidating, ugly, and feared; but both processes are necessary for life. My aim is to embody the beauty if this process in my art; to create something morbid, yet beautiful.

To capture the Hope in Decay.

Phillip ‘Swede’ Hickok

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Phillip ‘Swede’ Hickok

Hope in Decay

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Phillip ‘Swede’ Hickok

Hope in Decay

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Things We Sit On Sidsel Holsteen Davidsen

My work is driven by a desire to create ceramic objects which occupy the space where design and sculpture converge.

In this project, I interpret selected objects that we surround ourselves with in our homes. The objects involved in my I work are Things We Sit On – objects that usually give us some kind of pleasure or help us in our everyday life.

In my investigation of Things We Sit On, function is an afterthought. The functional elements have been changed to such an extent that they challenge our perception of how objects we sit on look and feel.

The viewer might question, Can this thing hold my weight? Will I get hurt by sitting on it? Is it made to be used?

In my work, I aim to challenge the things we already know through provocation, humour and individual expression which then override comfort and utility. I want to make it difficult to decide whether the work belongs in a living room or a museum.

Sidsel Holsteen Davidsen

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Sidsel Holsteen Davidsen

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Sidsel Holsteen Davidsen

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BRICK WORKS: analysis of post-natural geologies Zuzanna Skurka

BRICK WORKS is a cross-disciplinary project about the potential of a brick withdrawn from its social and historical importance. The aim is threefold: to rethink how we manufacture bricks; to reflect on the customer of bricks; and to point out the contradictions in concepts of human-centered and nature-centered design. How should bricks be made in the XXI century, where and for whom? The form of a brick speaks about the human body; the size referencing a human hand. Its materiality reflects changes in geology as well as geopolitics. A single brick does not hold many functions, but it does communicate architectural potential. There is beauty and possibility in this ubiquitous object. Yet it is entangled in so many of our current issues. Brick as a composition of the materials extracted from the ground, for centuries was reflecting the potential of local geologies. But since more than three-quarters of the world’s bricks are produced in South-East Asia, that is a fantasy from the past. What is under the ground of the regions we live in, especially the urban areas, is far from a romanticized idea of the untouched.

Human-made materials outweigh the Earth’s entire biomass, and the subterranean landscapes reflect this, as well.

Going back to ‘local’ is proposed as one of the solutions to the global climate crisis. But being local is not free from global responsibilities. Local extraction focused solely on local raw, and natural materials is a problematic practice. As is the division between the natural and the artificial, human and nature. To bridge this gap, I want to better understand the materials around us and find a way to share this understanding.

My process of brick production starts with finding the extraction site, usually a fragment of a road or pavement dug up for repairs. At the end of the construction worker’s workday, it becomes my research site. It is a rare chance to analyze the structure and systems of modern geology that are hidden from us. It looks chaotic, random, mutant! It is hard to name and distinguish what is the function of all these elements. What is nutritious to the ecosystem and what is fundamental to the social needs?

My bricks are naive material translations, immediate prototypes made out of materials extracted from local holes dug out in Nexø, on the island of Bornholm, Denmark.

Zuzanna Skurka

BRICK WORKS: analysis of post-natural geologies

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Zuzanna Skurka

BRICK WORKS: analysis of post-natural geologies

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Zuzanna Skurka

BRICK WORKS: analysis of post-natural geologies

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Anni Nørskov Mørch Independent curator and writer, Chair of the Danish Arts Foundation’s Committee for Craft and Design Project Funding

Name Namerson

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HANDS ON – HANDS OFF

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‘Cueva de las Manos’, ‘Cave of the Hands’ in Argentina, takes its name from the stencilled outlines of human hands.

We were here!

That is the testimony they have left us, connecting them and us over the span of estimated 13,000 years, leaving us with the question: What mark will we leave on this Earth?

With this catalogue, 13 glass and ceramics students mark their bachelor projects from the Royal Danish Academy.

Anni Nørskov Mørch

HANDS ON – HANDS OFF

Their materials have the most local origin one can imagine; as they could literally use the materials that were right under their feet. The class however is global in its nationality dispersion and in the scope of its ideas.

The glass and ceramics students’ earth-bound craft carry the weight of traditional skills and cultural heritage and in their bachelor projects they demonstrate how they carry these traditions on into the context of now. On the heavy backdrop of multiple global crises, the resourcefulness, sensitivity, innovation, and beauty of these bachelor projects serve as an uplifting premonition.

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The acute contemporary context of climate change is combined with an ancient way of storytelling by Marlene Gartner, when she uses the carving technique sgraffito to draw playful narratives inspired by the symbolic power of the Cueva de las Manos.

Laurie Pin and Zuzanna Skurka address the same crisis through material and manufacturing innovation by exploring the potentials of bottle glass as a new resource in art making and by literally turning alternative materials into the bricks of a future trying to overcome the contradictions between human-centered and nature-centered design.

Anni Nørskov Mørch

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HANDS ON – HANDS OFF

The two materials, glass, and clay are mastered by very different sets of techniques, one hot, risky, and rapid, the other temperate and carefully evolving in phases. Traditionally the one material is praised for its transparency the other for its utility as a vessel. Both practices carry the traditions and symbolism of generations and in the right hands and minds also the potential for transformative reflection and action.

Mercédesz Kancsár and Sidsel Holsteen Davidsen investigate the fine lines between utility and aesthetics, design and sculpture. Julie Tagholm Hansen makes an experiment of the

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classical cylinder shape, while Swede (Phillip Hickok) aims to move away from traditional vessels by exploring the ambiguous beauty of fungi and plants in large-scale glass work.

The curiosity of scientific exploration on earth, in space and into our own bodies translate into works in the versatile and challenging medium of glass: Léa Tarakdijan’s interactive installation has found its inspiration in playful scientific objects; Bastien Chomienne’s technically taxing largescale glass pieces in outer space, while Marie Beyen Hauschildt has turned her focus on a curious investigation of body waste and more

Anni Nørskov Mørch

HANDS ON – HANDS OFF

abstract eruptions and appearances.

The 3,5 years of education and developing their individual artistic voices were challenged by the sudden flatness of online education imposed by the covid-19 pandemic.

Suddenly the glass and ceramics programme was hands off and heads up in the (virtual) cloud. Consequently, some of the students’ projects never found a form in clay or glass but ended up as concepts or 3D-rendered objects. Now as bachelor students, they have chosen to embrace and play with the digital conditions that contrast the hands on nature of their education by making a

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virtual exhibition alongside the physical exhibition on four consecutive locations.

The experience of having to translate her visions of clay into the virtual cloud has inspired Anna Rolighed Thyme to take back ideas from the digital world and embody them in clay, thereby exploring the tactility of the digital world. The heightened sensibility to different definitions of value in a digitized reality has become the theme of Annika Hviid’s experiments in clay and glaze, while Gabriella Gormley explores the notion of treasure with inspiration from found objects and personal collections.

Anni Nørskov Mørch

HANDS ON – HANDS OFF

Dear 3rd year. Noblesse oblige. The talents you have honed during your education on Bornholm are in high demand. In other words, we need you.

Because only works that spring from deep necessity – be it artistic, ecological, social or practical – has a place on this Earth from now on. Highly skilled craftspeople with an artistic sensibility are what this world craves.

So, congratulations to us – we are going to be seven new ceramicists and six new glass artists richer. And a huge congratulations to you. Your bachelor projects suggest that you will leave a meaningful and gentle mark.

This catalogue is published to coincide with the exhibition FLAT CRAFT Catalogue Editors: Anna Rolighed Thyme Annika Hviid Zuzanna Skurka Design: Orin Bristow Photography: Kasper Palsnov Various photos taken by the students themselves Print: Prinfo Trekroner – Denmark Paper: Munken Lynx Rough GalerieArt Gloss Typefaces: Akademi Display – Ultralight, Bold

Copyright 2022 Royal Danish Academy Royal Danish Academy Crafts in Glass and Ceramics Stenbrudsvej 43 DK-3730 Nexø Bornholm – Denmark www.royaldanishacademy.com Crafts in Glass and Ceramics

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Group Portrait

Bornholms Kunstmuseum Gudhjem 24.06.2022 – 11.09.2022 CLAY Keramikmuseum Danmark Middelfart 23.09.2022 – 20.11.2022

Name Namerson

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Project/Section Title FLAT CRAFT

Glasmuseet Ebeltoft Ebeltoft 23.09.2022 – 20.11.2022 Bygning A Copenhagen 25.11.2022 – 08.01.2023

FLAT100 CRAFT Bachelor Project 2022 Anna Rolighed Thyme, Annika Hviid, Bastien Chomienne, Gabriella Gormley, Julie Tagholm Hansen, Laurie Coline Pin, Léa Tarakdjian, Marie Breyen Hauschildt, Marlene Gartner, Mercédesz Kancsár, Phillip ‘Swede’ Hickok, Sidsel Holsteen Davidsen, Zuzanna Skurka

Crafts in Glass and Ceramics