BCXSY: Stamppot

Initiated by the Kazerne Lab, Stamppot is the result of BCXSY collaboration with Twinkelbel, a day care center and ceramic workshop in Eindhoven, The Netherlands.

Stamppot consists of a series of ceramic objects that contain a relationship to tableware. While referencing typical Dutch vegetables, the forms remain amorphous; they are designed to be interpreted.

This openness is as much a part of the end product as the production process. One of the main desires was to create a project that would allow room for each client to explore their own level of understanding, and show off or even further develop their own handwriting.

During initial interactions, the designers of BCXSY discovered that the clients at Twinkelbel have a wonderful affinity for their home country, and a pure enthusiasm for all things ‘Dutch’. They were inspired by this energy and wanted to create a project that would reflect this link in a meaningful way. Stamppot is a very traditional Dutch dish created from the combination of potatoes mashed together with different vegetables. Because of the simplicity of the recipe, there are countless ways it can be interpreted. They were inspired by how the approach of the Twinkelbel workshop, where no single individual is responsible for the entire process, is very much like a cooking recipe.

Stamppot starts with the addition of a light gray pigment to the clay body before casting, referencing traditional Dutch tableware. After the ceramic shapes have been bisque fired, clients are given an image of one of the four vegetables that are most common in the stamppot recipe: potatoes, kale, onions and carrots. Using a color palette tailored to each vegetable, they are then asked to glaze a given form with their own interpretation of the image, emphasizing texture and pattern. In this way value is added, where the glazing process is not simply an illustration of the vegetable on a blank canvas, but rather the entire form begins to embody the vegetable, taking on whichever characteristics the artists choose.

While some of the styles are more representational, others are more abstract and the connection to the original inspiration may seem very remote to the viewer. The emphasis in this collaboration is on ingredients. Ingredients are, by definition, individual parts that are combined to make a whole. This is the approach of the Twinkelbel workshop, it is the basis of a cooking recipe, and it is the story telled by Stamppot.