Friday, January 16, 2009

the ceramic-chimes that dont normally chime..




i designed these giant ceramic-chimes a few months after we moved to our permanent/current beruntung-house, so that i could 'hear' the stronger & cooler winds that we get to enjoy now that we live nearer to and in pleasant frontal view of the banjaran titiwangsa.. besides the stronger & cooler winds coming down from the surrounding highlands (we can see genting highlands clearly), our house also immediately faces a large recreational field equivalent-sized of 2 football-fields, hence no other buildings infront of the house to obstruct the banjaran wind-movements onto my gardens most of the times..
i decided that one side of my car-porch would be the perfect location to hang these ceramic-chimes to capture these winds.. and also the perfect location to subtle-ly showcase my ceramic products to any passing motorists in my neighbourhood, ahha.. ;)
the ceramic-chimes (or maybe we should call it ceramic-mobiles?) consist of upside-down square-shaped ceramic-containers that are joined & tied together by colourless fishing rod that went through a small hole at the base of each ceramic-box.. hanging on the same rod inside the ceramic-boxes are clay-marbles that would knock on all inner-sides of the boxes to create the chime-effects.. additional chiming sounds were expected to be derived from the ceramic-boxes knocking on the outer-sides of each other when the winds pass by..
we coloured & glazed them soft-green, simply because that was the same glaze-colour being utilised for another production-order that went on in my factory during that same time and i didn't want to create so much hassles for my production team by asking for another tone.. and also because the soft-green was pleasantly natural to my eyes and my garden-theme..
i'm very pleased with the design of these ceramic-chimes.. my house-architect that is my dear good friend atZaida had also nodded her approval when she first saw them hanging.. the simple square-shapes arranged in one straight-line to cover almost half the length of my porch captivated our senses and aroused further inspirations in both of us..
but, but.. the ceramic-chimes don't normally chime..!! :(
a design error on my part..?? most chimes are flat objects that are light & flimsy and easily moved by the passing winds.. if ceramic-clay is used as the basic material, the thickness of the finished & fired 2D-chimes would normally be less than half-cm.. my ceramic-chimes on the other hand, are thicker, glazed (added thickness & weight) and in 3D-forms, therefore much more heavier to be easily moved by any passing winds, hence don't normally chime as they should.. :(
or maybe it was designed heavier and sturdier on purpose to sustain the stronger banjaran-winds..?? that could also have been in my head because i remember thinking 'what if one of the ceramic-squares break?' and i wouldn't have the height and elevation to dismantle everything just to replace one broken piece..
so my ceramic wind-chimes don't normally chime on most days.. but when they do CHIME, i could hear them all the way from my soho at the furthest end of my top-floor.. and i'd immediately know that my nights would be cooler than usual and my garden would be messier with dried leaves strewn all-over.. and i'd be immediately warned that the banjaran-winds have come passing by in greater forces, but secure in the knowledge that my chime-pieces would still remain intact to captivate and inspire us in many more years to come..



4 comments:

RozIlah Kamarudin said...

Nampak cantik.. pls udpload videos of the bells when they chimes..

sure best

The Ceramic Designer said...

mmmm.. VIDEOS of the chimes, huh??
let me settle other unsettled issues first, kay..?? ;)

_deli said...

Salam,
"...maybe it was designed heavier and sturdier on purpose to sustain the stronger banjaran-winds..??"
Iya ke angin gunung tu lebih tegar? Rasanya kalau angin amarah pasti pecah juga chimes semua tu...
Bet the sound of it truely evoke "...it works, and serve its purpose"

The Ceramic Designer said...

wksalam hi hello deli..
yes, the winds here are stronger & cooler.. or maybe because its a detached, stand-alone building (if compared to our previous terrace-linked-house) that allows us to feel the winds all around us, mmm...

i think i'll add more chime-sets to existing ones and arrange them much closer to each other so that we could hear any little movements caused by any softer winds.. so that the chimes would chime ALL the time, mmm...