For me, New Crafts is a movement in design that breaks serialization by involving traditional practices augmented by present and future technologies. Within this project, I envisioned myself as the designer and the craftsman—which have separated because of mass production. Carlo Martino echoed G.C. Argan’s observation of the craft production process, that “[the craftsperson’s] work is derived from an old tradition [which] makes a precise initial conception superfluous.” (Micelli, 2016, p. 56). Whereas, design is “an intellectual process through which specific qualities [are] bestowed on an artifact” (Micelli, 2016, p. 57). Through Kiri, I sought to merge these two practices back together, as well as to find a balance between “workmanship of risk” and “workmanship of certainty” (Pye, 1968, p. 20). Inspired by the Kiridashi, a Japanese wood marking knife, I designed my own interpretation of it by adding affordances, as well as other functional necessities while creating a continuity between the traditional and the new. As a representation of handcraft, the blade was manually filed from a single piece of extruded steel for twelve hours. In representing new production methods, the handle and the sheath were modelled digitally, and 3D printed with a bronze and polylactic acid composite for nine hours. The grain-like quality of the 3D prints also demonstrates the underlying beauty of imperfections. While the honeycomb pattern is a visual representation of the unseen details and of functional aesthetic.

The blade, handle and sheath were crafted as explained above. The stand is 3D printed with a black polylactic acid filament.

Dimensions

15 cm x 3 cm

︎ previous