Ideas About “The Meal"

My foremost inspiration for this assignment came from the Greek practice of symposium. This was essentially a drinking party that was an opportunity for people to share and develop philosophical ideas. My goal in this project is to construct a modern symposium but I plan to remove the normal layers of social interaction. I plan to serve a meal consisting of only water, alcohol and Soylent. This meal will only require cups and serving pitchers.

I looked into the original symposiums and their many traditions, I have decided to draw inspiration from the tradishonal form of the Ancient Greek Oenochoe. This style of pitcher was used to serve the wine I plan to use this form as inspiration for my alcohol serving vessels.

I also was interested in the more minimalist work of Careen Stoll, particularly in the way that the forms of both pitcher and cup are reminiscent of each other. I find the idea of having a set of glasses that are matched to their pitcher attractive. The use of color on the interior portions of the pieces I find effective as I plan to have little or no color in my own work for this project.

I also found the more open and clean forms of Karen Swyler’s work to be very interesting. These open vessels with tapered lips and diagonal lines I find to be energetic and visually interesting. I Plan to use some of these shapes and design elements in my own work. I also find myself drawn to the more minimalist pure white of these vessels as it offers no distraction from the skillful design.