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Tray concept for Vandalorum
In the beginning of 2020 Jenny Nordberg was commissioned by Vandalorum Art and Design Museum in Värnamo to design their new canteen trays i collaboration with Åry Trays in Nybro, Småland.
The trays at Åry usually get their decorative top layer via a printed paper or fabric. Creating a pattern or illustration to be repeated on the trays does not lie within Nordbergs field of expertise. Instead she wanted to tweak the production process, especially the pressing of the multiple veneer layers which forms the tray itself. The initial plan was to experiment at the tray production site but then Corona happened. The factory was closed for outside visitors. Instead she got a stack of veneers sent to her studio and the process continue in a Covid-adjusted manner.
The standardised side of production, such as the making of canteen trays, has always appealed to Nordberg. Maybe not always the outcome but rather the un-used possibilities that appears around it. Nordberg searched for an interference with the material that would enable a seamless float into the standardised production but still allowing each tray to become different. Various paints, brushes, pens, antennas, tools and methods were tested to achieve a result that did not interfere with the next industrial step. The studio cleaning mop together with a screwdriver eventually became the ultimate interference tool. She then used this as a large rotating paintbrush and painted directly on the veenere.
275 canteen trays, each different, were painted for Vandalorum and the pressed by Åry Trays.
PRODUCTION VIDEO
Video and sound by Andreas Kurtsson. -
