Silverware has had the same basic look since the 17th century — Queen Elizabeth, Isaac Newton, and Rembrandt van Rijn would easily recognize the utensils at a dinner party. The spork notwithstanding, compared to the evolution of every other technology, flatware has flatlined. And ever since our parents got us to eat strained peas by pretending our spoon was a Cessna we've become used to their classical forms, rarely questioning if there is a better way to get food to our gullet. Fortunately, James Stoklund, a silversmith from Denmark has created a new table service that will stretch the way you think about forks, plates, and pouring vessels.
His collection is called A Utensil Is Not Just A Utensil and is the capstone of two years of experiments and study at Royal College of Art in London. Inspired by the purchase of a spoon that fit his mouth perfectly, Stoklund set out to create utensils uniquely suited to match the tastes and textures of specific foods.
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A Utensil Is Not Just A Utensil sets the table with a silicone plate that makes scraping off every last bit of food easy, a salt shaker that can be passed around the table like a baton, an egg cup that can conform to any size of ovoid, and a cheeky drinking glass, among other epicurean innovations. "I have experienced people acquire silver tableware only to put it in a cupboard, which in my opinion is a shame," says Stoklund. "Due to this experience, I decided to produce objects people want to use or objects that attract people to use them."
The pieces share a minimal aesthetic, but each has a unique story underlying the design:
With Lick It Clean, the silicone rubber plate originated in frustration. "I found it annoying not being able to get all food from a ceramic plate," says Stoklund. "You keep on scraping with a spoon or fork but there will always be leftovers on the plate, and you want to lick it."
Pass the Salt was inspired by childhood egg races where kids would run as fast as possible while precariously balancing an egg on a spoon.
Shake That Booty, a derrière-shaped drinking glass, was developed after Stoklund chatted with a sommelier, who taught him about the finer points of aeration. "What I like about the glass is that its body having sexy undertones were never planned," he promises. "It just came with the development of the function."
Though the collection is made of lower-grade materials, Stoklund's time as an apprentice to a master silversmith served him well in this project. "My master teacher focused on making the pieces perfect and I remember clearly the red pencil he used to mark the bumps or scratches in my work." While frustrating at the time, the careful editing gave Stoklund an appreciation of materials that was key to the success of his thesis. "As these materials are new to me, I am curious about discovering how they work and I conducted many experiments as I wanted to explore the material," he says. "That makes results more interesting and innovative and allows the process to go in new and unexpected directions." Lick It Clean required testing with over 50 sheet materials stretched over an embroidery frame to get the proper combination of tension, texture, and food safety. The material explorations also led to new ideas and Stoklund credits the plate as the direct inspiration for the egg cup.
The aesthetics are important, but his primary focus was to get people talking around a table. "The overall intent for the project is to challenge already existing tableware and make functional objects for the tabletop that surprise and manipulate people’s normal actions or conceptions."
Stoklund is in the process of setting up a company to manufacture his mind-bending models, as well as testing out the concepts with forward-thinking shops and restaurants.
