Julian F Bond makes his Pixel Vases using a specially developed casting machine that ensures every piece is totally unique.
Julian's Pixel Casting Machine is a system for making vases that are unique every time, despite coming from the same mould. Plaster rods can be pushed in and out to change the shape of the cavity inside the mould, which he then casts in earthenware. "I've created an interface," he explains. "You can't really make mistakes with it and you're actually making something that is very technical, which couldn't be made by hand."
The resulting range of vases, dishes and cups features a stepped outline as though the clay surface had been pixellated on a computer screen. Due to the unique outline of each piece - stepping out in some places and inwards in others - the silhouette changes when seen from different angles. "Unlike vases thrown on a wheel, with these every view you take of it has a completely different profile," says Julian.
Working in small batches of 20 to 30 pieces - dictated by the sized of the kiln - he casts, dries, fires and glazes every piece at his own studio, a shared workspace inside a former peanut-packing factory in the creative east London district of Bow.
Julian F Bond creates unique homeware and ceramic products in east London, using a specially developed casting machine.