Project 1: Cups that Relate
For this project, we were tasked with creating a set of cups that relate somehow in texture, shape, theme, color, etc. I chose to do a “trashy” theme with similar colors.
Ideation Process
I had the idea of doing a trash can cup because I love ceramics that look like something else. I also thought of the connection between consumption in society and actual consumption of food/drinks and how to make those two things relate. I love drinking tea so I decided that having the trash can lid would allow me to steep bags of tea.
Images/ Sketches
This was a sketch I did of my idea for the trash can cup. I initially just had the worm handle and then the idea grew from there. I wanted to make indents to make it appear like the trash can was bent but that wasn’t structurally manageable.
This was my sketch for the other cup. I was thinking of making it creepy and having the tongue be the handle, so the relation of the cups would be an unpleasant handle. I wanted the mouth to be drooling into the cup as well.
This was my backup plan if my first two ideas were too ambitious. I was going to make flies out of clay and then slip and score them onto the mug.
The Process
Stage 1
Above is one of my mugs when the clay was wet and I had added the trash items and handle on. The handle was being held in place by a rolled up newspaper.
Stage 2
Above is a picture of my trash can mug when it was bone dry and I had painted some underglaze onto the details.
Stage 2
Above is a picture of my trash mug bone dry after I applied some underglaze to the details.
Stage 3
Above is a picture of my mugs dipped in clear underglaze before being fired in the kiln.
Final Product
Below are images of the final cups after being fired in the kiln. The mug on the left is the “trash” mug where I molded pieces of clay to resemble pieces of trash. The handle is meant to be an old banana peel, so I curled it and used yellow and brown underglaze to make it realistic. The cup on the right is the “trash can” cup where I made it resemble a trash can. The lid is a separate component that can come off of the cup but is meant to be used when steeping teas. The handle I made to resemble a worm, and I wrapped smaller pieces of clay over one rod of clay to get the appearance of a worm. This creates a bumpy texture when holding it. I used a scraping tool to take away clay on the trash can to get the rivets you would normally see. These cups are similar in size, color, and theme. They also both have a 3D element to it, as I added pieces of clay to the base shape.
