Gidon Bing
With a practice that ranges from architectural interiors to ceramic sculptures, Gidon Bing brings travel, heritage and art to his Auckland boatshed studio.
Words: Emma-Kate Wilson
Auckland-based Gidon Bing has long held an interest in art and design, first developing from his grandfather and mother, who had a great interest and appreciation for deep craft and skilled trades.
‘This developed into a passion for natural materials and traditional processes like Japanese/ European wood bending and lacquer work-which, in turn, lead to innovations and adaptions of these processes,’ says Gidon. ‘My sculptural practice has always overlapped with parallel interests — archaeology, architecture, design — and has never really happened in isolation.’
Gidon’s long line of intergenerational design heritage began through fieldwork in archaeology and anthropology, while his family’s connection to the European architectural Avant guard laid the groundwork for his practice.
Travel also plays a big part in his design inspiration, looking to central European Avant guard, Japanese methodologies, and Vietnam, Korea, Japan, and Mediterranean ceramic proportions. But it’s a foodie experience that draws him back — ‘I have had a thing for street food since my early travels as a child, and I can and have travelled intercontinental simply to get to my favourite Nasi Lemak vendor,’ Gidon adds.
The sculptor and creative draws inspiration from the people around him and the skill-sharing that brings together a project and also the material itself. ‘Much of the work I do is informed by experimentation/intimacy with the material — the inherent properties/limitations are often an integral part of form,’ Gidon explains.
Gidon Bing’s Twin Wall Coffee/Tea Pot and Tumbler cup with Milk Jug and Sugar pot. Photo: Larnie Nicholson
Large Child in brass by Gidon Bing. Photo: Toaki Okano
“Working with people who have an intimate knowledge of their medium and materials continues to be an endless source of knowledge and inspiration.”
‘I studied and undertook fieldwork in archaeology and anthropology, and my family was intimately involved in the development of the European architectural Avant guard — these fields continue to be a source of great interest and inspiration,’ says Gidon Bing. Photo: Toaki Okano
A corner in Gidon Bing's Auckland boatshed studio. Photo: Photo: Larnie Nicholson
Gidon Bing preparing a slipcast case mould for the Aegean Bird wall relief sculpture. Photo: Larnie Nicholson
The practice involves a range of materials, from ceramic to metal. ‘[I] enjoy it all mostly apart from plaster/cement, which I have a love/hate relationship with,’ Gidon laughs. ‘I have the best mastery with wood but like working with all sorts — we currently have projects with glass, textiles, bioplastic/ Bakelite, large form brass.’
But, Gidon’s studio, Raumform, has grown beyond his sculptural practice and into a multidisciplinary creative studio that includes architectural interiors, design commercial and boutique products, such as handmade ceramics, architectural fittings, lighting and textiles.
‘Having this diverse range of skills and talent in the studio helps us access all sorts of creative projects, architectural\ installations to product design/material science inquiries,’ Gidon adds. ‘The general movement towards a more interdisciplinary approach in creative industries is generating all sorts of opportunities — hopefully, the fun projects that we are getting that span the art/architecture product design/science/arts will continue and grow.’
Art is entwined within the practical design wares, each one reflective of Gidon’s artistic expression and design sensibilities. The designer shares that the art is absorbed in the material and finishing techniques, but also the traditional approach to making.
‘It also feeds back in the other direction — the spatial work we do in interiors often follows an iterative and repetitive analogue to digital and back again refinement process,’ Gidon adds. ‘We increasingly use similar methods for art/art furniture/installations.’
Gidon works out of a dreamy boatshed atelier and basement studios, after downsizing from a city pad. ‘Being on the sea is fantastic,’ he muses. ‘We are now in the process of expanding a basement studio that looks out onto a half-acre edible garden.’ A perfect spot to further develop his organic and tactile pieces.
‘Our studio is mainly focused on architectural interiors, but we also design commercial and boutique products—including a range of handmade ceramics, architectural fittings and lighting, as well as textiles,’ says Gidon Bing. Photo: Toaki Okano
‘My sculptural practice has always overlapped with parallel interests — archaeology, architecture, design — and has never really happened in isolation,’ says Gidon Bing. Photo: Toaki Okano
Sculptural Maquette in brass by Gidon Bing. Photo: Toaki Okano
“Our studio is mainly focused on architectural interiors, but we also design commercial and boutique products—including a range of handmade ceramics, architectural fittings and lighting, as well as textiles. ”
Photo: Courtesy of Gidon Bing
Works in progress in Gidon Bing's Auckland boatshed studio. Photo: Courtesy of Gidon Bing