Reflection 7

The Series of Functional Disorders started during the residency Project Network I at Guldagergaard in Skælskør, Danmark, back in January 2018. Still today, this project takes an omnipresent part in Lorie Ballages current research. It aims to represent the potentialities of failure – thrills that arise from unfortunate events, loss of control and uncertainties. The error has an inherent aura of resistance in which resides the nuances, the mistakes, the flaws, all the things that define us as individuals. If we look at an object properly it is like the surface of a mirror: a reflection of ourselves as creators. Its imperfection is an analogy of our humanness. Used primarily for our everyday functional objects, ceramic – which has always surrounded us – offers us infinite possibilities of creations. Nevertheless, these materials remain still very connoted to the functional. Paradoxically, it is the failures of handmade to match mass production technical brilliance that makes it attractive. In this glorious failure resides the nuance, the mistakes, the flaws, all the things that make for humanness in objects. The functionlessness creates an uncanny situation where the identity of the object disappears to reveal its real own image. In the end, it is always about embracing the useless beauty of creation.

Materials: Glazed high fired stoneware, concrete, polymer clay, extruded synthetic rubber, paint.