Es Cavallet in the early morning. It’s the beginning of May, and summer is now approaching more and more noticeably every day. Otto Gerharz is an early riser; whenever he can, he comes here and enjoys the quiet hour of the morning, that moment when the sun slowly appears on the horizon and bathes the island in this special kind of light for which the ceramic artist visits several times a year. Ibiza has become his second home.
“The light here is worth every trip; it’s more translucent, you can see deeper into it.”
And what it reveals, Otto translates into the glazes for which his brand, Otto Keramik, is world-famous. Here on the island, too, Otto has many fans who enjoy surrounding themselves with that special glow, an iconic characteristic of his objects. That particular glow is the result of an elaborate process that Otto has refined over and over again in his ceramics factory in Rheinbach, near Bonn, Germany, over the course of decades.
Using clay from the region and glazes developed and produced exclusively in-house, the three-dimensional surfaces with their artistic bubbles and cracks, which now shine so intensely in the morning sun at Es Cavallet, require several precisely applied underglazes, which then react chemically during the firing process. “The kiln is both my friend and touchstone,” explains Otto. “I hand over the clay with the glaze applied, and it decides whether something special will emerge – or not.” And even with the reduction glazes, with which Otto creates these unique metallic colour effects under controlled oxygen deprivation and through the addition of metal oxides, the kiln, with its spontaneous dynamics of firing air streams, ultimately determines how precisely Otto’s idea will turn out.
The resulting work is intensely artistic, technically highly demanding, and always unique. “I’m a very patient person,” he laughs modestly. Because, of course, the result of the firing process is not a coincidence, but the result of decades of experience and great craftsmanship.
Otto’s approach to the legacy left by his father can also be described as “without hesitation.” He founded Otto Keramik in 1964, in the midst of one of the most formative design eras, during which icons such as the Panton Chair, Dieter Rams’ Braun Atelier system, and the Porsche 911 were created. Otto Gerharz Senior set new standards in ceramic design and immediately achieved worldwide fame with his crater and reduction glazes. With the so-called “Fat Lava” – a bubbling, structural texture marvel, ingeniously applied to the forms designed by renowned ceramic designer Kurt Tschörner – Otto Senior revolutionised the staid ceramics of the 1950s in what was then ‘West Germany’ with a thunderous, resounding crash. The power and independence of the objects captivated international audiences. Otto objects from this period can still be found all over the world today and are highly valued; even the catalog from that time has become a collector’s item. Otto Junior, like his father a ceramics engineer, took over the workshop from his father in 1994. He preserved the techniques, refined them, and simultaneously introduced new, almost experimental glazing elements: Even more intuitive, even freer. Today, he combines these with the signature forms for which Otto Keramik has always been known. Like his father, he creates objects that are both contemporary and historically significant. He has now brought the most important objects from his new collection to Ibiza. This new collection is very special to Otto because, for the first time, it brings together the entire spectrum of Kurt Tschörner’s timeless forms with his contemporary glazes. “With this, I am returning to the starting point of Otto Keramik and at the same time taking a big step into the future,” he says. The important role Ibiza plays in this step is also evident in the fact that one of his new glazes is named after the island’s light. The first editions of the new collection will be available from mid-year – all highly individual and strictly limited to 64 pieces each.
“I like the mix of sensibility and intuition,” says Otto. And perhaps that’s precisely why an Otto object still differs, more than ever, from the usual luxury objects of our time. This ceramic is a spatial object, not a lifestyle accessory. It reaches far beyond the Zeitgeist and possesses an independent energy. It refuses to be quickly accessed, demands a sense of poise, appears constant, almost idiosyncratic, and possesses great tranquility. “My work is both humility and playfulness,” Otto notes. He feels most at home in his workshop, alone with the clay, the glazes, and the kiln. But he feels especially content on Ibiza, at his friend’s house, where he has worked several times.
