LAMY

Edition 2023 dialog urushi ray

 

 

Nature has inspired artists throughout time. In music, in poetry, in painting. Seasons, plants, animals and the four elements – all formative companions and eternal sources of life. The LAMY dialog urushi ray edition is the interpretation of a natural structure on a technical instrument, enriched by the careful hand of an artist with a natural, warm feel.

Urushi has been used in traditional Japanese arts and crafts for thousands of years. It can take up to 30 years from the manufacturing of the lacquer to its use. The quality of this natural material is unrivalled even today – thanks to its resistance, its intensity and its auratic beauty, which instantly casts a spell over onlookers.

 

This limited edition of 50 unique pieces captures the fascination of urushi craftsmanship in an extraordinary dilogy.

An extraordinary symbiosis. Tradition and modernity. Asia and Europe.

The encounter with contemporary materials and processing methods shows Urushi in a new light. Virtuoso lacquer art meets a fountain pen whose form and function are equally testimony to masterful craftsmanship and technical excellence: LAMY dialogue.

The fountain pens are available individually as the
„ray gold“ und „ray palladium“ für 2.700,-€ UVP
to purchase.

 

The basis of the two designs, ray gold and ray palladium, is the symbiosis of the lacquer with the element of water. When applying each wafer-thin layer of the Japanese lacquer, a great deal of feeling is required to achieve an appealing result. That’s why brushes made of badger and deer hair are used. The subsequent process of spraying fine droplets of water onto the lacquered surface again requires a great deal of dexterity, as only the right mixture of these elements leads to the desired result. Ultimately, the naturally warm appearance of the surface is achieved by the polymerisation typical of urushi, as it occurs more quickly at the edge of each droplet than under the droplet’s dome, thus creating the unique decor and tactile feel of the surface.

For the ray palladium and ray gold models, the carefully pre-treated stainless steel case parts are given a high-quality coating using a PVD process. A very fine layer of urushi lacquer is then applied on top. The structuring process is then finally applied to the lacquer by using a brush and spraying fine droplets of water.

While the clip and ball valve of the ray gold model are polished and gold-plated, the ray palladium model has a galvanically matt-finished clip and shiny palladium ball valve.

 

Just as a musician masters his instrument, an urushi master is in full control of the Japanese lacquer. It takes years of practice, calm and discipline to apply the wafer-thin, translucent layers of lacquer, which have the consistency of liquid honey, with perfect evenness. But, in addition to this virtuosity, an urushi master also requires intuition and sensitivity in particular.

 

“I work in tune with the material. I hear and feel more than I see. I regard that internally as a way of penetrating the surface”,

says Schmid. The Bremen artist created the LAMY dialog urushi ray edition. Working on and finishing each individual fountain pen requires a great deal of time and patience. Because too much or too little of anything, be it when applying the lacquer or subsequently spraying the fine water droplets, can be of crucial significance for the artistic result. It is never possible to predict exactly when this process will reach perfection. The material defines how long it must be left.

 

Manfred Schmid, born in Bremen in 1958, has been interested very early in Japanese culture. He started his professional Career in another demanding craft profession, the marquetry. In this area he was 10 years self-employed, when he decided to study Japanese lacquer techniques in Barcelona. At the Escola Massana and the Escola Llotja he laid the foundation for his current profession. From 1998 to 2004 Manfred Schmid learned and perfected urushi lacquer art in his studio in Barcelona. Since 2004 he lives and works back in his hometown of Bremen. From here, he has perfected his work, and participated in national and international exhibitions in the USA, Japan, Spain and Germany

 

Die japanische Kunst hat über Jahrtausende vieles hervorgebracht, was man im Westen schätzte weil es eigenständig war, von den Materialien und den Formen, oft geprägt von schlichter Eleganz und unaufdringlicher Schönheit. Vieles hat auch die westliche Kunst beeinflusst, vieles konnte trotz intensiver Bemühungen nicht kopiert werden. Es gibt auch einen Ausdruck in der japanischen Sprache, den man nicht übersetzen kann, der in einem Wort eine ganze Philosophie in der gestalterischen Umsetzung widerspiegelt: shibui. Man kann sagen shibui steht für Schlichtheit, für Eleganz, für unaufdringliche Schönheit, für japanische Ästhetik. Oder man sagt einfach shibui steht für etwas Vollkommenes, über das man nicht erst nachdenken muss, etwas das als angenehm wahrgenommen und akzeptiert wird.

Was hat uns Japan in seiner Tradition ebenso gelehrt? Die Perfektion, den Willen und die Geduld in der Umsetzung handwerklicher Fähigkeiten. Man stelle sich den Moment vor, in dem die schwarze Tusche eines Pinsels das weiße Papier berührt: das Schriftzeichen muss unmittelbar und perfekt umgesetzt werden, es gibt kein zurück und keine Korrektur. Man muss eben perfekt sein in dem was man tut. Manfred Schmid hat sich dieser Perfektion verschrieben. Er arbeitet mit einem Material, dessen schwer kalkulierbare Natürlichkeit ein Miteinander erfordert, wie es bei kaum einem anderen Werkstoff erforderlich ist. Urushi, der Saft des japanischen Lackbaumes, lässt sich nur mühsam und mit viel Geduld verarbeiten. Ein Material, dessen Eigenschaften oder dessen Eigensinn eine Symbiose erfordert, die man als Lackkünstler mit dem Material eingehen muss, man muss sich miteinander verständigen können.

Tapped from the lacquer tree and refined in various ways, Japanese lacquer is applied in wafer-thin layers over a long period of time. It does not dry; it hardens slowly under the influence of a highly humid atmosphere. It hardens while remaining flexible nevertheless. It has a cool appearance and yet it is pleasant to the touch. Building up the layers of lacquer is a complex process. One could liken its structure to that of the human body and the way it is made up of bones, flesh and skin. In the case of lacquerwork, what one sees is the skin; one looks at the surface. But the surface can only be as good as the foundation, like bones in the form of substrates and flesh in the form of primer coats. Patience and precision are the indispensible prerequisites for the success of the work as a whole.

Eine schnelle oder unkonzentrierte Vorgehensweise rächt sich meistens erst ganz am Ende in Form einer unschönen Haut. Das Grundprinzip beruht auf einer zur Oberfläche hin immer feineren Struktur der Schichten bis zur endgültigen Versiegelung in den letzten Politurschritten. Ursprünglich seit Jahrtausenden als Schutzüberzug verwendet, entwickelte sich urushi sehr schnell zu einem Dekormaterial von einer überraschenden Vielfalt. Das im japanischen Lackbaum befindliche Enzym Laccase verleiht dem Lack Eigenschaften, welche ihn weit über den Härtegraden anderer Lacke stehen lässt. Dies ermöglichte die Entwicklung der für Japan typischen Einstreutechniken in Edelmetallen oder Perlmutt, bei welchen das Lackmaterial mindesten so hart sein muss wie das eingestreute Material.

Als traditionelle Grundfarben gelten der Schwarz- und der Rotlack, wie er auch noch heute bei zahlreichen japanischen Utensilien Verwendung findet. Manfred Schmid hat sich vor allem dem tiefen Schwarz verschrieben, der Grundfarbe in ihrer Tiefe, ihrer Brillanz, ihrer Schönheit. Der Schwarzlack wird durch die Beimischung von Eisenfeilspänen hergestellt. Das Eisen löst eine chemische Reaktion und die Verfärbung des Lackes aus, aus welchem anschließend die Späne gefiltert werden. Hierdurch entsteht eine Material von einer scheinbar unendlichen Tiefe, in welchem sich keine Pigmente befinden. Durch diesen Umstand ist es möglich, durch mehrfachen hauchdünnen Auftrag eine Dichte und Tiefe im Material zu erzielen, welche häufig an Glas erinnert.

When processing Japanese lacquer, manual labor is also necessary but it entails quite a gentle manner of implementation. The wafer-thin layers are applied with brushes made of human hair, then sanded with natural charcoal and polished using leather and oil. Japanese lacquering masters like to polish the final layer with the skin of their fingers or the ball of the hand, which is viewed as the finest structure and a personal investment on the part of the artist. In the production of lacquer objects, immediate contact between the artist’s skin, the material and the individual layers renders a unity between the form, the raw material and the human being engaged in the process. This unity also reflects itself in the forms of objects produced by Manfred Schmid.

Diese Einheit spiegelt sich auch in den Formen der Objekte von Manfred Schmid. Es sind eigentlich Gegenstände wie man sie als Nutzobjekte kennt, umgesetzt als solitäre Kunstobjekte von eigener Kraft und Aussage, Objekte die man anfassen und auch benutzen sollte, aus Respekt vor der Perfektion oder auch schlicht aus Angst vor Beschädigungen als Skulpturen versteht und positioniert. Manfred Schmid spielt mit den Materialien und Formen. Er verbindet das tiefe Schwarz mit Silber, das glänzende Schwarz mit dem Matten, bindet in der Oberfläche strukturiertes  Rot mit ein, oder kombiniert die Lackoberflächen mit einer sichtbaren Holzstruktur. Optische Zusammenspiele, die sich konsequent an der Schlichtheit der Objekte orientiert, die keinen Raum für gestalterische Spielereien lassen, die in ihrer Formensprache ruhen, den Betrachter aber animieren sich mit den Reflexen und visuellen Lichtspielen auseinanderzusetzen.

Die Partner von Manfred Schmid sind ebenfalls Perfektionisten in ihren eigenen Fachgebieten. Auch hier geht er eine Symbiose ein, die sich konsequent durch sein gesamtes Schaffen zieht. Er hat sich in vielen Jahren der mühsamen Arbeit, des mentalen Erklimmens des Berges Fuji, ein handwerkliches und künstlerisches Niveau erschaffen, das selbst in Japan seines gleichen sucht. Er ließ sich nie beeinflussen, er ging seinen eigenen Weg durch Höhen und Tiefen. Und er wird seinen Weg weiter gehen, im Stil der japanischen Tradition und mit japanischem Handwerk, aber in seiner eigenen Formensprache und mit seiner eigenen Signatur, welche jedes Objekt zu einem Unikat werden lässt und jenen Begriff wiederspiegelt, den man auf sein gesamtes Oeuvre anwenden darf – shibui.

Günther Heckmann

 

  • Auguste Papendiek Preis der Sparkasse in Bremen 2012
  • Sonderpreis der Ishikawa International Urushi Exhibition 2009
    “Hideo Nakashima Award”, Kanazawa, Japan
  • Justus Brinckmann Preis ’08, Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe Hamburg
  • Bayerischer Staatspreis ’07 für herausragende Leistungen in Innovation
    und Gestaltung von japanischen Lackobjekten (IHM München)
  • Nominierung für den Auguste Papendiekpreis ’06, Bremen
  • Form 2003, Tendence Lifestyle, Frankfurt, Main
  • Stipendium der Carl Duisberg Gesellschaft für japanische
    Lacktechnik an der Escola Massana in Barcelona, Spanien

 

  • Sonderausstellung “Meister der Moderne”, München
  • Dimensionen, Große Gefäße, Galerie Handwerk, München
  • Kunstmesse München
  • Ishikawa International Urushi Exhibition 2009
  • Sonderausstellung „Japanese Laquerware“ im Ritz Carlton Miami, USA
  • Galerie Bells oficis, Barcelona, Spanien
  • Sonderausstellung “Form 2003” Tendence Lifestyle, Frankfurt, Main
  • “Portrait” Bayerischer Kunstgewerbeverein, München
  • Grassimuseum, Museum für Angewandte Kunst, Leipzig
  • Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe, Hamburg
  • Staatliche Kunstsammlungen, Schloss Pillnitz Dresden

 

 

 

  • Grassimuseum, Museum für Angewandte Kunst, Leipzig
  • Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden
  • Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe, Hamburg
  • Museum für Lackkunst, Münster
  • Grassimuseum, Museum für Angewandte Kunst, Leipzig
  • Grassimuseum, Museum für Angewandte Kunst, Leipzig
  • Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe, Hamburg
  • Heisei Memorial Art Galerie in Shibuya, Tokio

 

PRESS

PORTFOLIO

Die Objek­te der Rei­he „Reli­gio“ wur­den in der kans­hitsu-Tech­nik, einer Tex­til­ver­kle­bungs­tech­nik gefer­tigt. Es han­delt sich hier­bei um eine sehr alte tra­di­tio­nel­le Lack­tech­nik zur Her­stel­lung von Grund­kör­pern (Inro, Scha­len für Spei­sen, Rüs­tun­gen der Samu­rai etc.). Reli­gio bedeu­tet Rück­bin­dung an den Ursprung. Ich arbei­te mit die­ser Tech­nik los­ge­löst von tra­di­tio­nel­len japa­ni­schen Gestal­tungs­prin­zi­pi­en. Die­se Gefä­ße, mit denen ich neue Wege im Aus­druck mit uru­shi beschrei­te, las­sen Raum für Asso­zia­tio­nen. Es sind Gefä­ße ganz ohne Ver­klei­dung, direkt, unmit­tel­bar, ursprüng­lich und kraft­voll.

„A trea­su­re chest for prin­ces and kings“

The desi­re to design a cabi­net which bor­rows on a rich tra­di­ti­on esta­blished during the reign of Augus­tus the Strong by Mar­tin Schnell and his lac­que­red fur­ni­tu­re craf­ted in Dres­den has final­ly been ful­fil­led after several years of deve­lop­ment thanks to the Ger­man Work­shops in Hel­lerau, with whom I col­la­bo­ra­ted clo­se­ly to pro­du­ce this object. The inte­ri­or of each pie­ce is manu­fac­tu­red indi­vi­dual­ly using a dif­fe­rent type of wood. This ren­ders each pie­ce a uni­cum world­wi­de. The efforts requi­red to exe­cu­te such a pro­ject are enor­mous and they would not have been pos­si­ble without the coope­ra­ti­on of the Ger­man Work­shops. All metal fit­tings requi­red for the cabi­net such as ball bea­rings, sus­pen­si­ons, door moun­tings etc. were custom-desi­gned and tested on a pro­to­ty­pe befo­re being manu­fac­tu­red in their final form for the cabi­net. The basic idea was to imple­ment this his­to­ric fur­ni­tu­re tra­di­ti­on in a con­tem­pora­neous fashion. In addres­sing this chal­len­ge, we were not only delight­ed to be employ­ing an anci­ent tech­ni­que in our use of Japa­ne­se lac­quer but also to be drawing on old tra­di­ti­ons from the Baro­que and Renais­sance peri­ods through acqui­si­ti­on of a veneer made of Hun­ga­ri­an flower ash. This wood was used in tho­se times to ennoble cabi­nets, cas­kets and other objects meant for kings. It is very dif­fi­cult to pro­cu­re, howe­ver, espe­ci­al­ly in the width requi­red for our cabi­net. We were real­ly lucky to find a sui­ta­ble amount at a veneer dealer’s shop near Würz­burg. During the manu­fac­tu­ring pro­cess, 2 of the 3 she­ets were rui­ned; thank God the third one stay­ed intact. In cases of such extre­me cur­vat­u­re like the kind which you find in this cabi­net, use of such britt­le, wavy-grain veneer brings you to the limits of what is even pos­si­ble. The sec­tions for which app­li­ca­ti­on of Japa­ne­se lac­quer was envi­sa­ged were sub­jec­ted to spe­cial cli­ma­te tests to find a sui­ta­ble, non-defor­ming mate­ri­al which could with­stand the high humi­di­ty requi­red by Japa­ne­se lac­quer while it sets. The lac­quer, glos­sy on the out­side and app­lied using struc­tu­ring tech­ni­que on the insi­de, posed a gre­at chal­len­ge due to the size of the sur­faces. Thus we are all the more delight­ed to be able to pre­sent this cabi­net to you now.

CONTACT

Manfred Schmid
Bocholterstrasse 27
28327 Bremen

mobil +49 (0) 176 – 22 17 37 52
info@urushi.de

www.coaching-manfredschmid.de                                                                                     www.lamy.com
www.dwh.de
www.coredynamik.de                                                                                                   

Manfred Schmid
Bocholterstrasse 27
28327 Bremen
mobil +49 (0) 176 – 22 17 37 52
info@urushi.de

Fotos Lamy: Tillmann Franzen
Fotos: Matthias Hornung
Objektfotos: Manfred Schmid

Umsatzsteuer-Id.-Nr.: DE 220862557
inhaltlich Verantwortlicher: Manfred Schmid

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mobil +49 (0) 176 – 22 17 37 52
info@urushi.de

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