Semiprecious

Semiprecious consists of three sculptures, made with traditional, labor-intensive techniques and materials, such as gold plater copper, marble and cast porcelain. Each sculpture could essentially be used as a water pipe, an object that has a rich history going back to 16th century Chinese nobility, although today seen in an obscene light. The work plays with the tension between the fine, refined forms and aesthetics of high-culture and the illicit, law-transgressing connotations associated with the sculptures’ possible applications. The sculptures were originally exhibited at a prestigious auction house in Helsinki, thus inaugurating it as a makeshift tribunal where this cultural tension stands to be examined.

Each sculpture was accompanied by a book charting the challenges and joys of the work process throughout one year. The books were produced in collaboration with photographer Jukka Ovaskainen, graphic designer Jaakko Suomalainen and Maria Tasula who wrote the texts. The advertisement film was produced in collaboration with Taito Kawata / Cocoa.

Semiprecious was exhibited and auctioned at Bukowskis Helsinki in November 2013. In 2015 the sculpture Blunto was exhibited at the Stockholm Design Week and the sculpture Boyo at the Design Museum Arabia in Helsinki.

The film: Man Yau / Semiprecious