The way that we have come to eat and share food is constantly changing. Every time my family comes together to celebrate, there is always a feast, with placemats, tablecloths and family recipes. And at the end of the feast, there are always leftovers. Which then my friends and I usually then eat in front of the TV for the rest of the week. Then there’s the meal that I, along with most of my classmates, eat hastily before class, stuffing the last bite of the chicken wrap from the café in my mouth. Then there’s the meals that we eat alone, after a long day of working. And then there’s the samples of cultural food, whose names I can’t pronounce, that people bring in, leftover from families visiting from foreign countries.

My fellow classmates and I in the fourth year Industrial and Interaction Design program were challenged to design tableware for contemporary production based on three concepts that describe how we eat now: material, culture and ritual.

During the research we examined possibilities close at hand – the facilities on campus and the local market – and in a more global sense – technological innovations and experimental products – to make our ideas come to life. The materials that we used for our tableware range from ceramic and wood to glass, plastic and silicone. The processes we used to create our pieces include slip casting, 3-D modeling and CNC machining. Our end goal was to create innovative and compelling new work for the table, anyone’s table.

The fourth year Industrial and Interaction Design class invite you to join us for our exhibition of a new product collection, Form Follows Food: Tableware for How We Eat Now, in the Warehouse Café, 350 West Fayette Street on Friday, May 1 from 2 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. All students are welcome to attend.

The exhibition will include a close examination of the works that my fellow students and I have produced. Each designer will have the opportunity to explain their thought process behind their tableware and how it implements the three concepts of material, culture and ritual. Guests are more than welcome to ask the designers any questions about their works. As the exhibition will be held in the Warehouse Café, guests can feel free to order food from the Café while walking through.

The designers whose works will be featured at the event are Tyler Bryant, Ian DaRin, Jean Carlos Del Moral, Connor Dowd, Kyle Graves, Evan McDonell, Brian Perrault, Ryan Pierson, Tan Pint, Connor Slover, Rohan Thakore, Ryan Winter, Sally Zheng and Nick Zidzik.

We would like to give a special thanks to Professor Patty Johnson and the Industrial and Interaction Design Program at SU.

Please come and join us for a delicious interactive experience however you want to eat.

Signed,
Evan McDonell and the 4th Year Industrial and Interaction Design Program

Published on April 30, 2015 at 12:29 am