Quenched asbestos x Winnie Herbstein

Design, ceramics, editorials

Benedetta Pompili (IT, 1995) is a social designer based in Amsterdam. She is founder of vuur collective, LINA fellow and among the care-takers of the ceramic workshop of Gerrit Rietveld Academie. A dedication to materials identifies her practice, intertwining the cultural background they carry, as well as their environmental impact. To research & design becomes a way to learn technique, retrace tradition, and share knowledge by thinking and acting in an interdisciplinary way.

Quenched asbestos x Winnie Herbestein

Supported by Rijskakademie van beeldende kunsten, Amsterdam
Relief of black mould spore ‘stachybotrys chartarum’, stoneware and treated asbestos glaze, 30x60x4 cm, 2024.

Panel III, treated asbestos glaze on pressed stoneware, pattern and panels realised by Winnie Herbstein, 2024.

Panel II detail, treated asbestos glaze on pressed stoneware, pattern and panels realised by Winnie Herbstein, 2024.

The series of ceramic reliefs depict a micrograph of the black mould spore ‘stachybotrys chartarum’. This specific species is found to grow on asbestos, a highly toxic material used within domestic and industrial construction. The panels are glazed with ‘Quenched Asbestos’, a glaze composed of treated absestos and recycled glass, developed during the Techfellowship program of Rijksakademie in 2022.

Panels I, II, and III, treated asbestos glaze on pressed stoneware, pattern and panels realised by Winnie Herbstein, 2024.

For information or collaborations: info@benedettapompili.com

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