Opposite: Seeking to
strip away the anonym-
ity of most dishware,
the designers included
portraits of the individual
farmers in the exhibition
and stamped each piece
with the location of the
corresponding farm.
Above: Armed with
a bucket and shovel,
van Ryswyck strides
through the sandier
fields where the tulips
are grown and collects
the soil to be turned
into clay for the vases.
a winemaker identifies and exploits the soil characteristics—or
terroir
—that imbue a wine with flavor emblematic of its region, Sterk
and van Ryswyck explored terroir as it relates to pottery, with lit-
tle thought of commercial gain. “Oh, people did approach us, saying
‘Great, now that we know all the different colors of Holland, we
can make this in China and color it with pigments,’” recounts Sterk,
a shudder of horror in her voice. “And we said, ‘Absolutely not!”’
Soon after graduation, Sterk and van Ryswyck set up their studio
in Eindhoven, and were approached by designers Jurgen Bey and
Rianne Makkink to expand the soil project in the Northeast Polder,
where they had just established an artist-in-residency program.
(A polder is a tract of low-lying land protected by dikes.) Approxi-
mately 460 square meters, the area was drained and reclaimed
from the sea some 70 years ago to improve flood protection and
create additional land for agriculture, and is divided into about
2,000 plots—all neatly cataloged and numbered. “This was a perfect
chance to continue our research into regional soils and the links
between crops, earth and clay,” says Sterk.
When only five farmers responded to their newspaper ad
seeking a packet of dirt in exchange for a tile made from the clay,
Sterk and van Ryswyck started driving around with buckets and
shovels, approaching farmhouses with their graduation project in
hand. “The farmers were skeptical that we would be able to make
anything from their earth,” says Sterk. “They were like, ‘Good luck,
ladies!’ But they were also very kind, offering us coffee, driving
us around on their tractors, and sharing information about the land.”
The designers soon learned that the crops had been matched
carefully to the composition of the soil. Most of the fruit—pears,
apples, strawberries, tomatoes—comes from the southeast, while
the sandy, chalk-rich land in the northeast and northwest is used
for grazing cattle and harvesting tulips and onions. The heavier mid-
dle soil, endowed with iron oxide, supports potatoes, carrots, beets
and other root vegetables, and turns a deep orange when baked.
And trees grow in the clay-dense soil, which turns a deeper red.
Using a map of the plots and a soil map, van Ryswyck and Sterk
selected some 80 farms. “It took us a whole summer to collect the
dirt,” recalls van Ryswyck. “Friends would ask, ‘Didn’t you do this
dirt thing already?’ But we were really happy. Before, I was not
too aware of the seasons, but they helped to shape our work. Sum-
mer was for going through the fields, collecting samples, learning
the history. Winter was for working indoors with the clay and
shaping the project. It’s given us a different perspective on time.”
Once the dirt was collected, they were ready to make the clay.
First draining the soil to a fine powder, the designers dried and sift-
ed it several times to remove the roots, twigs and shells that could
cause cracking. Then they remixed it with water and pressed the
clay into molds. Pieces include a place setting—bowl, plate and cup—
as well as serving vessels and bulb vases, which were influenced
by their research into the evolution of dinner sets. “Our grand-
mothers had a piece for every function, with all kinds of shapes and
subtleties. For example, a potato bowl has two handles placed hor-
izontally, but on a soup bowl they are vertical,” explains Sterk.
“W e played with how the embellishment changes the function.”
At the same time, they didn’t want to create a historical replica
of dishes from days of yore, or “end up with some kind of hobby
project,” as van Ryswyck put it. Instead, says Sterk, they sought
to create a link from past to present, “using these basic shapes that
are sober and strong, rather like the farmers,” but embellished with
traditional materials. The ceramic, glass and pewter accoutrements
are part of the Dutch decorative legacy and were derived from
venerable old factories, such as the blue ceramic feet and handles
taken off pieces in the Royal Tichelaar Makkum line, glass
chopped off Royal Leerdam Crystal, and pewter spouts and han-
dles removed from old carafes and pitchers.
At the suggestion of their London gallerist, Libby Sellers, the
designers ended up blowing the glass directly into the tulip vases,
where it protects the porous, unglazed pottery. When the Polder-
ceramics were complete, the studio asked photographer Paul Scala
to pose them with local crops, resulting in a series of still lifes that
allude to the lighting and mood of 17th-century Dutch painting.
The evocative photographs accompany the exhibition wherever
it is shown. “Our primary goal was to tell a story about the farm-
land,” says van Ryswyck, “and give it a historical context.” When
people see the exhibit, they see the color of the tile, the sugar in
a pot made from earth where sugar beets are grown, and a portrait
of the farmer who works that plot. They get a new understanding
of the land.” Every vessel is geo-stamped with the number of the
corresponding farm plot. And to make the story about the ground,»
june/julyio american craft 051
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