1% Teapot by Zhangchi Shen
Title: 1% Teapot Sculpture.. Copper, pearl. Hydraulic press, chasing, powder coat, 7 x 6 x 5, 2025.
1% explores the tension between form and function. While modernist design often
follows the principle that “form follows function,” I approached the process in reverse. I began without deciding what the object would be or how it would function. The only certainty was that its form would reference The Persistence of Memory by Salvador Dalí. I first created a flowing, water-like base, then flattened metal containers with a hydraulic press and combined them with the structure. One of the flattened containers suggested the shape of a teapot, leading to the final form of this surrealist teapot. By allowing function to emerge from form, the work developed through an ongoing dialogue between myself, the materials, and the techniques, rather than being fully predetermined from the outset.
