"I am considering a world in which we are friends with our utensils, where we want to spend time with them and to nurture them; a place where we slow down a bit." These were the intentions of Polly Collins when she started her graduate project Tableware That We are Friends With at Edinburgh College of Art.

Pushing the boundaries of dining experience, Collins created a set of malleable tableware that encourages users to spend more time over eating. Designed to challenge the expectations of a material, her project aims to transform a cold, hard material into something comforting and warm. For this project, Collins predominantly used sheet metal, but treated it like a textile, creating seams and gussets into soft forms.

These designs fit in with the slow food movement: with the focus being paid towards the process and the tools used, where the user is asked to reevaluate and take notice of what they actually holds in their hands instead of merely what’s on his plate. Other recent projects that are created with the same intention include The Low Tech Factory, and the Ice Cream Concept Parlour, both of which slow down and simplify the process surrounding food with the intention of increasing the understanding and appreciation of how theses foods make their way to our table.