Scareware is a tableware set consisting of 6 plates based on scars. A lot of people have scars and very often these scars are associated with pain. However a scar always tells a story. It tells you where a person was at a certain time and there’s always a setting or context linked to a scar. It’s a physical representation of a memory.
Fascinated by these stories, I created a setting where they could be told. Whenever thinking about having a good conversation I think about dinner parties, having a meal together, getting people around the table.
In the hopes that tableware can be conversation starter, Scarware aims to tell all of the sad, hard, happy and funny stories in relation to scars. In order to spread awareness and to get the conversation started on scars.
Scarware was not only a means to translate scars into ceramics but to also think about how these scars could fulfil a functional purpose within a plate. This is expressed throughout the series.
A scar that becomes a cutlery holder, a plate which can be broken up to serve tapas, a scar that becomes a gutter to serve a sauce or even just a hole in a plate where you can put a sauce cup on, or just use it as an egg-cup.
This way the translation of the scars doesn’t only serve a decorative purpose but also a functional added value.
In a performance setting Scarware is presented on a black table with black chairs in an all black room, accompanied by a video. In this video the first thing the participants are asked to do, is to sit down around the table. In the video you see moving images of people’s scars. In a voice-over you can hear the story behind the scar told by the person who has the scar. These stories are followed by several other video’s of scars without audio they function as a silent slide show. This gives the opportunity to the participants to think and talk about scars. They can talk about personal scars they have and the stories and memories connected to them or they can discuss what they just saw in the video. The setting provided a safe space for conversation as they’re all gathered around the table without any distractions.
