Shahar Livne
Atelier for Bespoke Conceptual Material Based Design
Shahar Livne -Conceptual Material Designer and Researcher
Memento Mori
2016 - ongoing
“A Memento Mori ('remember that you must die') is a symbolic reminder of the inevitability of life and death. Ceramic casting in traditional plaster molds, creates erosion in the plaster. The acid in the clay slowly breaks down the plaster, weakening the mold and deteriorating it, thus making the dialogue between the two materials their ''Swan song''.
A ceramic collection of sculptural functional objects inspired by the parallel line between the process of ceramic casting and growth and decay of organic beings.
Through experimenting with different ways of creating “erosion” or "wilting" processes in plaster molds through hand manipulation, the final object is a collaboration between the physical and the mind and acts as a "photograph" of a moment in time of the process.
The starting point of the process is an archetype shape or a geometrical shape, gradually, the material is taken off from the mold in a three-dimensional matter, changing the shape until the mold can’t “take it” anymore and breaks. Each shape can be cast but as the mold develops, the former shape will never be reproduced again. While working with the mold, a dialogue between the material and the creator begins, a hand made ''conversation'' between material and human, documented through representational shapes.