STATE OF PLAY
Hans Tan, Designer of the year at the President’s Design Award 2018, talks about how he turns everyday objects into collectible and covetable pieces
Could you share more about your creative process? I always look for a common denominator, which can be something that is really ordinary or familiar, and I’ll try to change our perception towards it so we can see it in a slightly different light. It’s just to go into the unknown to try something that normally you wouldn’t try, and reversing something that’s existing. You use porcelain in many of your works. Why the interest in this particular material? Although I’m not trained as a potter, it’s a very interesting material because it has many different values attached to it. A Ming dynasty porcelain cup would cost millions in auction now; when porcelain is used on a toilet bowl, we sit on it every day. On one hand, it can be decorative and valuable. On the other hand, the same material can exist as a banal object in our lives.
How has your design approach evolved over the years? When I first started, my work was more conceptual. I focused more on reimagining the concept of a piece. As my practice matured, I started to experiment on materials and investigate how to produce a certain thing in a different manner.
In your opinion, what are the qualities of good design? Good design is always contextual. Its success can only be judged in the context in which it was designed. In some contexts, design needs to be efficient. In others, it needs to be innovative or imaginative. When you’re designing a vase, your requirements and objectives are extremely different from that of designing a dialysis machine.
What keeps you inspired? Everything—just walking down the street, having coffee at the coffee shop, talking to people, and being on the train. Because a fair bit of my work responds to the local identity and heritage, everyday life becomes my source of inspiration and I’m always on the lookout, it’s like my antennas are always raised.