[ Alexis Themistocleous ] Caged Message vases

Caged Message vases by Cypriot designer Alexis Themistocleous contain a secret message that can only be revealed when they are smashed.

The message is laser-cut from stainless steel, meaning that the words can alternatively be read through an X-Ray machine.

The vases themselves are cast from bubble-wrap.

Themistocleous has also cast vases from hollowed-out peppers and pumpkins (see below).

The following information is from Alexis studio:

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CAGED MESSAGE VASES – X-RAY VASES:

Inside each of these objects, lies a secret message. But there’s a catch… to read it, you have to break it. In this particular project I aim to use destruction as a form of creation. To make them, plaster is moulded around a structure encased with bubble wrap, leaving a highly tactile surface. Inside each vase sits a laser cut stainless steel - a technique which also allows the text to be read through an X-Ray machine rather than breaking it.

PUMPKIN BOWL – PEPPER VASES:

On the specific project I was using “natural” moulds. What I mean by saying natural moulds is using particular shapes produced by Nature to cast vases. In this particular case, the role of Nature is displayed by using peppers and pumpkins to cast objects.

By filling a pepper or a pumpkin with clay, I was casting the negative space of the vegetable and as a result I created a product that is unique and to take it out of the “mould” (the vegetable) I had to break it. It is unachievable to find two of the same peppers so every time the object casted is unique.

One can never create an identical copy with his hands but instead something similar with the previous one. In this case the uniqueness of the shape is kept every time. What makes these objects unique are not just the variations of the shape but also the imperfections on the surface of the final piece.

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