Moholy Design Grant X HYPE | Fruzsina Zalavári

In 2019, eight young designers and design theorists could participate in the six-month Moholy-Nagy László Design Grant, managed by the Hungarian Design Council and financed by the Hungarian Intellectual Property Office and the Ministry of Human Capacities. In the course of the program, the grantees could implement their self-developed projects or projects developed in collaboration with manufacturers. Learn more about them here, on HYPEANDHYPER. Fruzsina Zalavári – Line material – Fashion jewelry in porcelain

Unfortunately, the exhibition presenting the works of the grantees scheduled to the end of March was cancelled due to the coronavirus epidemic. As a way of making up for this event and complementing the remarkable catalogue already published or “making it more alive,” we will present you their projects in the next eight weeks.

Fruzsina Zalavári graduated from the Department of Metalwork of the Faculty of Design and Art of Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design in 2018. In her diploma project, she showcased the relationship between jewelry and stone through agate, a characteristically graphic quartz under the title “Kőrajzok a testen” (Stone drawings on the body). Unfolding the material, the experiences provided by the millennial graphics revealed through the same and the related research work (which she also continued at the summer university course of Idar-Oberstein Hochschule Trier titled „Geological experiences”) brought many new directions into her life. Besides applied design, she currently focuses on the topics discovered through her master’s project and the continuation of the same. She also worked on unraveling such a parallel line during the six month of the grant – at that time, the drawings were created by the designer herself.

So that “someday” can finally be in the present tense

In the Moholy Design Grant, Fruzsina saw the opportunity allowing her to focus on the project deeply and without interruptions, virtually as a fresh graduate. The monetary support and the interim consultations provided significant help and motivation to her in the course of implementing her project. According to the designer, the observations of the grant committee validated her ideas and she received continuous encouragement to dare to experiment both in terms of size and colors.

“It’s not easy to realize one’s own ideas or research project without support and declared commitment besides our other jobs, an besides working for a living. Yet as a designer I consider it critically important that the sketches hiding in the sketchbook and the ideas scribbled next to them, that is the “someday” can finally be in the present tense. It’s important that we dedicate sufficient attention and efforts to these projects, because I think these are the ones that can grow truly big” – Fruzsina told us.

The project – Line material – Fashion jewelry in porcelain

The phenomenon of stratification provided the main inspiration and research background for Fruzsina’s jewelry. Patterns that develop during the process of layers piled on top of each other and distortions resulting from external effects produce unique patterns: these ‘material pictures’ transformed by nature or people served as the visual origo of the collection.

One of the key objectives of the project was to use the porcelain-based raw material with a unique character. The design project – simultaneously with the development of the material and the pattern – seeks an answer to how porcelain, a traditional and noble material, can be used in the world of fashion jewelry. The ’noisy’ line structure distinguished by an undulating rhythm positions the pieces as distinct urban fashion accessories.

“The set of objects prepared aims to accentuate the sometimes colorful and other times monochrome but always organically contoured surfaces to the fullest. The undulating rhythm of the lines layered and moved on each other is what gives the bold character of the jewelry. The drawings are unique in all pieces. The regular circles are disrupted by the holes established due to the jewelry function and the metal components marking the same. My Line material – Fashion jewelry in porcelain project is virtually a response to how the pattern and porcelain I created can become jewelry” – Fruzsina told us.

During the six-month period of experimentation and modelling, the production method was designed and the construction of joining the materials and the surface finishes were also determined during this phase, through which the original ideas were gradually refined. The final collection is a set of objects that can be best developed if the patterned raw material is produced in high volumes, but the project offers many other future potential, too.

Photos by: Máté Lakos

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