Against the neutrality of form: the work of Mørten Lobner Espersen

Abstract

Morten Lobner Espersen makes vessels, many of them cylindrical; a form he describes as "the simplest of shapes ... harmonious, precise and neutral". In 2000 he mounted his first show of cylindrical vessels in Stockholm and five years later, while continuing to experiment with various other forms, decided to concentrate predominantly on the mute simplicity of the cylinder. Within this self-imposed limitation, Espersen has forged a large vocabulary from the proportional relationships between opening and height. At one end of the scale are circular bases with walls only marginally higher than those of a lily pad--at the other are slender tubes over 50 centimetres hig