Human beings are constantly searching for meaning, for a coherent narrative to bind together the information they are given (Lewis, 2013)

This honours inquiry begins with the tale of my late grandmother – and it is an ode to her and my cultural heritage. Referencing the writing style of author Haruki Murakami, Desirable Discomfort applies the idea of memory as a constructed narrative with historical memory, by using a personal ancestral tale that tangentially relates to an event of great historical significance. 

Desirable Discomfort seeks to explore and critique the incongruity of cultural taboos surrounding death, falling within the scope of narrative design and critical practice. The story of the interwoven dynamic and complex Japanese, Chinese and Western narratives that existed in my grandmother’s hometown informs the design process.

Conceptually, the designs represent the ceremonial marriage of three cultures which inform my heritage. These ideas manifest tangibly into a tea set and a round table. The physical aspects of these objects are based on elements of the narrative. The tea set uses porcelain as a ubiquitous medium in British and Chinese tea practices. The shape of the teapot  embodies the form of an urn that connotes death and cremation; the tea cups, which hold the substance that binds all three cultures – tea –  is cracked and unglazed to illustrate the incomplete and partial nature of the topic. All of which balance tentatively on a round, three-legged table. The form of the table embodies physical aspects of my grandmother – thin, fragile, delicate – while the scorched surface refers to the lost part of my ancestral history.

Desirable Discomfort represents a still life of complex and sensitive cultural taboos around remembering those who have died by translating it into delicate forms that express temporal nature and the transience of life.