TBI Q&A: Robert Foster
Australian designer Robert Foster talks about his design practice F!NK, his design philosophy and balancing the hand-made with production and commissioned projects.
Foster will be speaking about balancing business and artistic practice at the upcoming Balance Design Symposium in Napier.
Foster is the keynote speaker at Balance - a design symposium, on from May 8-9 at the Hawke's Bay Museum and Art Gallery.
Other presentations draw on designers and commentators from a wide range of disciplines and experiences. These include Candywhistle, Chris Jackson, David Trubridge, Douglas Lloyd Jenkins Genevieve Packer, Katy Wallace and Lucy Hammonds.
Robert Foster
During what hours of the day do you feel most inspired?
In the quietness of the late evening when everyone has gone for the day and I have the workshop to myself and I can experiment and make object and create ideas in my head. I really enjoy dreamy state as I am falling asleep or just before I wake up and my mind is catch between conscious and subconscious state. The hardest part is to remember all of these thoughts and record them in a book I keep beside my bed.
How would a good friend describe your aesthetic or style?
Organic, streamlined, whimsical, zoomorphic, animated and colourful.
What aspect of your creative practice gives you the biggest thrill?
Pulling things out of the void. Finding the perfect solution in combining a technical and aesthetic problem. I really enjoy problem solving and offering a new prospective or discovery to the things around us. Like encapsulating complex thoughts ideas and emotions into a single piece.
How does your environment affect your work?
Generally on a subconscious level it feeds my visual langue in the way that I use texture and surface, colour and hue, of the line and contour of a form. I do not like to deliberately or literally take elements form my environment and place them in a work. I think it is far more entertaining to allow your subconscious to present its interpretation and find to your self enlightened and inspired by your own discovery at the finalization of a work.
Do you like to look at the big picture or focus on the details?
I enjoy the complexity of fine detail but I have also learnt to stand back using this to feed the big picture. The big picture has a different dimension and getting older has allowed me to see how little bit by little bit the big things that I imagined or projected happened or are happening. Patience takes time!
What's your number one business tip for surviving (and thriving) in the creative industries?
Find that point where all aspects of running a creative business provide the maximum return financially and in terms of personal and community satisfaction. Good business is mutually beneficial to all and it must start with your self and permeate to the rest of the community. If it means something to you and is enjoyable to you, then others will see that and be attracted to it.
Don’t copy other people’s ideas; build your own ideas, processes and language. Create your own niche and show determination and patience to grow it and to educate an audience about it. It will require great will but people will recognize this over time, besides if you are really serious about starting a business you have to be aware that it is a long term commitment, so don’t expect miracles overnight.
At some points you need to assess the business and weigh up if it is bringing the balance of returns which were originally important to you which may mean making the difficult decision to end or radically changing the direction of the business to give satisfactory outcomes.
Which of your projects to date has given you the most satisfaction?
The most satisfaction have been the ideas that I have generated whilst fighting to keep a balance between one off hand practice and machine mass production. To explain, being able to evolve ideas and ways of mass producing objects that were originally hand made artistic creations pushing the boundaries of production; or on the opposite extreme discovering things that machine production can have on my work off work exploration.
Tell us a bit about F!NK (its beginning and growth)
I started FINK in 1993 as a way to obtain a bread and butter income to support my art practice, since this time it has grown into an internationally recognised Australian design company. FINK started out its operations in an artist run co-operative (Australian National Capital Artists Co-operative) in a 60 square meter space, which at the time seemed huge.
We now have a full functioning factory of 500 square meters and there never seems to be enough space for all of the projects. FINK, my hand made practice and commission projects run in parallel symbiotic paths that have become a conglomerate of passions.
My partner Gretel Harrison joined the company in 1997 and she concentrates on the financial, sales and marketing side of the business which has greatly freed me up to concentrate of the R&D, designing and production sides of the business. Her support has significantly led to the growth of the company and our strong brand recognition. We both have input into the ongoing design direction, management issues, one off work and what we want the business to say and achieve.
Although I have designed most of the FINK range we also invest in working collaboratively with other artist/designer in developing new products. This not only helps to bring fresh ideas and new material experience into the company but also helps to impart our manufacturing knowledge onto emerging artists, encouraging and promoting the industry.
Tell us a bit about your design philosophy
I believe that the rigorous training during my education
under Norwegian silversmith Ragnar Hansen plus my continued and dogged exploration into aesthetics and technique has given me the tools to sit well and on the periphery of the design world.
Unlike much of the design domain, I prefer in most cases to start a design concept by making the work by hand with my skills as a maker rather than using digital 3D modeling and then translating the actual prototype into tooling solutions digitally or by taking direct castings for tooling to allow the production of the work. I strive to transfer the same character and quality that exists from one realm to another.
Contemporary design is a product of the industrial revolution which indirectly and ultimately managed to disassociate itself from the hand made, priding objects that have uniformity and mechanistic persona.
To be a Fink is to be some one of dubious character that associates with the underground. We strive to recount and reflect the quality and nature that exists in one-off hand made work, giving the consumer an opportunity to afford pieces which have the quality and essence of one-off work while remaining affordable to most.
Fink fundamentally challenges the notions that functionality is not necessarily boring, and that useful and visually exciting are mutually exclusive. While embracing and reinventing the urban and utilitarian, Fink is shamelessly unafraid of running with quirkiness and frivolity that captures the heart and imagination.
Each article in the Fink array has a story of evolution and development, often involving technical and aesthetic innovation. Each radiates its own persona, reflecting the strength of its distinctive design.
You like to work with different designers and mentor young Australian designers. Why is this important?
I believe it is important to support and build community. The more that others build their own endeavours in similar ways to me the more the general community will notice and support them and the more sustainable the industry will become. I believe it is far more beneficial to share knowledge and experience with others because knowledge is only active when it is being translated and used. It is never a one-way-street any way, emerging peoples ideas always stimulate and challenge me.
What are some of the challenges and opportunities for designers and the industry?
Industry needs to offer an open hand to young designs and to entrust them with the opportunity to play an active role in evolving their businesses and for them to assist in developing products which make their business stand out in the market. Industry has to ensure that it retains manufacturing know-how and invests in technology and intellectual property rather than sending this knowledge and experience overseas.
However I also believe that a greater investment and understanding needs to be made by Government in conjunction with the educational institutions so allowing them to provide the appropriate training and development required for emerging students to meet the needs of industry. Sometimes it appears to me that the system seems to be machine feeding a diluted and democratized brand of fodder, when the current challenge to industry is survival in a very competitive market, driven by cheap imports. There is very little attention given to issues of quality or sustainability, surely up and coming designers should be given the opportunity to be well equipped if they are to provide the best solutions at the front line.
Another concern is the number of graduates that leave to their home country in search of work off shore. This may be good for the individual in terms of gaining experience but bad for the local industry as the hard work that the institution made unfortunately then gets capitalized by another country therefore draining it’s IP base.
What are your impressions of New Zealand design and designers?
Open minded, uninhibited, resourceful and entrepreneurial.
What are you talking about at the Balance Symposium in NZ?
How I balance the hand made with production and commission projects.
Why do you think events like this are valuable?
Networking with people of similar minds through sharing ideas and concepts. Being inspired by other peoples approaches, a sense of community and helping support and inspire emerging artists and designers.
Who or what has inspired you recently?
Working with Alex Zatsepin from COOLON Lighting, Melbourne Australia, who is an amazing electronics wiz! Similar to me he strives to create things that will WOW people.
You are given a piece of string, a stick and some fabric. What do you make?
A brush.
What's great about today?
Spending time with my family and watching my girls get into things and explore!
What’s your big idea for 2010?
To try and get sponsorship and backing to exhibit alongside lighting extraordinaire - Ingo Maurer in Milan next year and the opportunity to exhibit my large sculptural lighting projects.
Further information
Balance - a design symposium
Saturday 8 and Sunday 9 May 2010
Hawke's Bay Museum and Art Gallery, Napier
Comments
29 April 2010 - 16:24 PM
Thanks for your comment Sam - hope your brother enjoys the free pass to Balance - a design symposium!
The FINK water jug, was, and still is, a truly wonderful thing!