Jonathon Anderson

Some residents bring their recipes to EKWC, some bring sketches or moulds, and Jonathon Anderson brought a robot arm to 3D-print with clay. Its self-developed head can extrude tubes of various diameters and create shields of air both outside and inside the tube to influence drying speed. The goal of this tool-driven mission was to print sideways without the need for additional support. Anderson soon realised, however, that clay demands a rigorous material-driven approach of small adjustments to ingredients and procedures. Trying over 150 mixtures, he gradually identified the variables that determine the outcome of printing, drying and firing. If you can control those variables, you get repeatable results. And now, Anderson is hooked: he expects to continue this research for the coming five years. Meanwhile, a side-project to learn about slip casting and glazing turned into a large collection of retro-futuristic vases with porous tubes acting as terrariums.