From Saturday 20th July to Sunday 4th August, Liam Hopkins (Lazarian) and his team will be installed in the Bench Self Made Gallery in Manchester’s Northern Quarter bringing The Alchemy Collection to life; a ceramic collection produced in real time.
The experimental collection, based around the unique properties of ceramic slip, laboratory glassware and victorian drawing machines, will be produced on site in the gallery, culminating in an evening view open to all on Thursday 1st August.
This is the latest project from internationally acclaimed studio Lazarian, based in Manchester and set up by Liam Hopkins in 2006, which has to date produced works for, among many, the MOBOs, V&A and Habitat. Liam recently curated the Gerald and James exhibition in New York, featuring 105 of Lazerian’s Gerald dogs designed by artists including Oliver Hibert, Jimi Crayon, Tatiana Arocha and Stanley Chow.
Liam Hopkins on The Alchemy Collection: ‘The current trend in 3D printing urged me to look back at traditional machines that don’t rely on computers and have human interaction, bringing a sense of soul and meaning to an item produced. I’m drawn to create pieces that will be completely unique; the converse of a 3D printed object that can be repeated thousands of times with no sense of individual value.
‘These thoughts combined drove me to redesign a mid 19th century drawing machine to work with ceramics and bring its beautiful geometrical drawings to life in 3D. Experimenting with housing the ceramics in different lab glassware releases different amounts of slip. The machine’s speed and direction can be changed by the artist or designer to create a totally different outcome for each piece.”
Liam, his team and The Alchemy Collection machine will be installed in the Self Made Gallery for two weeks from Saturday 20th July to Sunday 4th August. Visitors are invited to come and view the collection as it develops and watch as the art is created.
