Dingyue Cao

Soundable Cutlery

Food and music are universal languages that transcend cultural and linguistic boundaries and stimulate all of our senses. Cast in bronze, Soundable Cutlery is a set of serving utensils that make sound when handled. Inspired by two piano songs I learned as a child growing up in Chongqing, China–“Für Elise” by Beethoven and “Souvenirs d'enfance” by Richard Clayderman–the organic forms and metrical curves represent the lighthearted rhythm of the music and blend archetypes of both Eastern and Western eating utensils. The sound produced from Soundable Cutlery is like adding extra flavor to the meal–the combination of food and music at the dining table is a way for people to express themselves and build connections.

This work is for the 2018 whatnot collection that will be on exhibition and for sale during Salone del Mobile (April 17-22, 2018) at Spazio Rossana Orlandi.

For more information about whatnot, please visit the site: http://sites.saic.edu/whatnot/

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Insight from gathering imported fruits in a local grocery store

I took this photo in a local supermarket. Labels on the orange are collected from fruits and vegetables in this image. They all imported from different countries. This finding shocked me by how far these daily food products traveled to us, and how close we are with the world we lived in. On the contrary, despite the fact that our bodies are made of food from all over the planet, the fact is that conversations and actions about anti-globalization are gradually increasing.

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My visualization of music I played turns into a designed-object

With the sharing food idea in my mind, I start to think about what else people have in common that deeply connect us no matter where they come from? The answer is music!

On this image, the left one is inspired by “Souvenirs d'enfance” by Richard Clayderman, and the right one is inspired by “Für Elise” by Beethoven. When I start to listen to these piano songs, I felt strongly connected to them that I can start to visualize the melody with specific lines, shapes, and colors. Then I turned my conceptual drawing from the above two shapes into two organic forms that also served as functional serving utensils.

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Prototypes

I started to incorporate my ideas of combining food and music into a concrete designed object. Above are all prototypes I have made during this process.

Meterials: Wood/Wax/Metal sheet and tube/Clay/Plastic/Foam/Found objects/Rice

Methods: Hand sculpting/Woodworking/3D printing/Laser cut/CNC

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Final Design

These are 3D printed final shapes before sending to the factory.

There are hollow spheres inside the shapes that allow me to put the metal beads inside to create sounds like a maraca.

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Wax model and ceramics shell

Method: Lost Wax Casting

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Unpolished bronze

Different sizes and numbers of ball bearings are placed inside of the two objects to produce different tones.