A Quirky Vase Project Celebrating Independent Makers
Australian designer Dale Hardiman and American artist and designer Mark Dineen have launched Sharefolder Fantasy, a global call out that has resulted in a digital exhibition of radical self-expression
Image by David Kruk
Conceived by Australian designer Dale Hardiman and American artist, designer and educator Mark Dineen, Sharefolder Fantasy is an innovative new project that began with an open call for submissions — anyone and everyone was invited. The brief? To simply make a vase and share a photo of it with the duo. The name of the exhibition, Sharefolder Fantasy, riffs on the idea of a shareholder as an even investor. ‘From a professional architect to a senior in high school, everyone involved in this project is an equal,’ says Hardiman.
The sky is the limit for submissions, which close on the first of March 2022. The only parameter, in the broadest sense, was to create a container that could hold flowers or present materials. The open-ended instructions were designed by Hardiman and Dineen to maximise creativity, and the results are everything from a plastic funnel to stacks of tape and even an open book. Pieces have been submitted from everywhere from Argentina to Russia and as a result, each object reflects local materials and cultures. ‘A vase is a fascinating object found in almost every corner of the world,’ says Dineen. ‘We wanted these vases to be representative of the makers and where they live. There is no right or wrong.’ The idea was to encourage contributors to break free from the restraints of defined material objects and to create pieces on their own terms, unencumbered by rules or restrictions.
The concept is intended to invite a humanistic response to the state of the world in an era of overconsumption. Rejecting ideas about conventional production standards and instantaneity, the project plays with the idea of decentralisation; instead of a big global footprint, each piece and its process starts and ends with a single maker in one location. Underpinning the project is what Hardiman and Dineen envision as a decentralised ‘global manufacturing centre’ with each participant in total control.
The digital gallery will be viewable online and presented in physical form at the RMIT Design Hub during Melbourne Design Week 2022.
Text / Carli Philips
Image by David Kruk
Image by Isabell Henty
Image by Charlie White
Image by David Kruk
Image by David Kruk