The Mould

Martin Woll Godal 
Are we in a post-industrial society all the time we actually have industry?  
 
Nowadays, a lot of industry has moved out. Some industries have shut down because they’re no longer relevant. Then, there are new industries that arise, but perhaps it’s not as common today for people to work in factories or work in production. So… there’s a lot of knowledge that also disappears.  
 
So... The Mould was made at the old porcelain factory in Gustavsberg. There were workshops, artist residencies, and masterclasses there in connection with an exhibition series and a book production called Afterglow. The starting point for the project was the porcelain industry in Scandinavia, which has largely been relocated to countries with lower labour costs. The goal was simply to research, explore, and see what we could find. 
 
For me, it was important in the work to showcase the importance of the hand in some way, or the trace of someone actually doing something. Emphasizing the human aspect. 
 
For my part, working with the archive, I found many different types of moulds. Press moulds, indentation moulds, and regular moulds for casting liquid clay. They handled the moulds manually all the way through the process. Which of course means that you get marks and wear and tear on the moulds. And what I did with these plaster moulds was that I... I took casts of the plaster moulds. So, I made a new plaster mould for the plaster mould. And then I cast the mould back into porcelain so that it becomes a replica in porcelain of a plaster mould. Which is then repeated, and then the marks and traces in the original plaster moulds are repeated once again, and preserved in the porcelain. 
And the shelf is also made to be practical… to look practical and functional. Just like the shelves in the factory do. 
 
I think society can probably quickly forget the roles of the craftsmanship in factory production. But, I don't think awareness is necessarily lost. There are enough people who... Who have joy and interest in making things. So even though it doesn't happen in factories to the same extent today as it did in the past, there is something human about making things.