Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Ceramic practice'
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1
Masterson, Richard Garrett. "Torso as ceramic vessel." PDXScholar, 1990. https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/open_access_etds/4141.
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The ceramic forms in this thesis project represent a study of the sculptural and figurative qualities of the ceramic process. This study includes a search for a personal form language, development of the slab construction technique, and development of a glazed surface appropriate to the work. The subject of the work is the human torso, with the vessel-like forms focusing on the core of the body as a metaphor for the core of the human spirit.
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Gee, Sarah. "An exploration of impermanence in contemporary ceramic art practice." Thesis, University of Sunderland, 2016. http://sure.sunderland.ac.uk/8320/.
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This practice-led research investigates clay-based impermanent creativity, exploring this means of expression as a contribution to knowledge in the expanded field of contemporary ceramic art practice. The research considers recent developments in innovative work by practitioners from the ceramic tradition, characterised by unconventional uses of material, natural decay and weathering, deliberate destruction, performance and physicality. A key aspect of the research exploration is phenomenographic alignment of personal praxical development with that of contemporaries sharing backgrounds in the ceramic tradition. A case study approach based on a reflexive Schönian and Kolbian cycle is utilised and research material is viewed from trans-disciplinary perspectives to explore and elucidate its nature, impacts and implications. Impermanence in clay is found to de-familiarise art work, altering and enhancing the creative role of percipients. Relationships between work, maker and percipient are explored. Mediatisation of impermanent clay-based art is considered for its impact on work’s reception and interpretation. A perceptible shift is detected in such art practice from the arena of visual art towards that of performance, moving artist and audience relationships towards shared ownership in ceramic creativity, in which co-presence of work and percipient are essential. Aspects of relational aesthetics offer a cogent framework. Consideration is given to clay’s shared significance with other basic materials such as textile in holding meaning beyond its physicality. The thesis contributes to the discourse on methodological frameworks for practice-led research and to academic writing on contemporary ceramic art in its exploration of clay-based impermanence, encompassing maker intentionality, material alteration and destruction, site/location and significance, performativity and unrepeatability, and record. It provides a transferable research model for considering creative impermanence. Areas identified for further research include artist/audience relationships and the nature of creativity, the role of location, performativity as an aspect of contemporary practice, and curation of performance and impermanence.
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McVeigh, Alana Carol. "The Haptic Dimension of Ceramic Practice: Ways of Knowing." Thesis, Curtin University, 2020. http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/81389.
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This research examines how streams of tacit knowledge and sensory awareness have impacted Australia’s approach to ceramic making. Through a combination of creative practice and exegesis, the investigation considers how experiential knowledge amassed over time builds a visual, cognitive and sensual vocabulary that becomes embodied as a visceral form of making. A form of making and awareness that entered Australian ceramic studio practice from China, Japan, Korea and Britain primarily during the 1940s–1960s.
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Proctor, Ann R. "Out of The Mould: Contemporary Sculptural Ceramics in Vietnam." Thesis, The University of Sydney, 2006. http://hdl.handle.net/2123/1692.
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‘Out of the Mould: Contemporary Sculptural Ceramics in Vietnam’ is a study of the current practice of sculptural ceramics in Hà Nội, Vietnam and its historical antecedents within Vietnam and in the West. It examines the transition from a craft based practice to an art practice in some areas of ceramic practice in Hà Nội during the twentieth and early twenty first century. The theoretical basis for the thesis centres on Alőis Riegl's writings, especially Stilfragen (Problems of Style), 1893, in which he makes a close chronological examination of stylistic changes in various media, while intentionally disregarding any hierarchy within artistic disciplines. This is considered an appropriate model for the study of Vietnamese ceramics as the thesis proposes that, in recent years, ceramics has once more resumed its place as one of the major art forms in Vietnam. This status is in contrast to its relegation to a 'decorative', as opposed to a 'fine art', form in the discourse of the French colonial era. As background, the thesis examines the history of sculptural ceramics in Vietnam and discusses what is currently known of ceramic practice and the lineages of potters in particular villages famous for their ceramic works in the area around Hà Nội. The transition in ceramics practice is discussed in terms of the effect of changing conditions for the education of ceramicists, as well as the effect of other institutional structures, the economic changes as reflected in the art market and exhibitions structure and sociological changes. The role which ceramics has played in the emergence of installation art in Vietnam is also examined.
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Proctor, Ann R. "Out of The Mould: Contemporary Sculptural Ceramics in Vietnam." University of Sydney, 2006. http://hdl.handle.net/2123/1692.
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Doctor of Philosophy‘Out of the Mould: Contemporary Sculptural Ceramics in Vietnam’ is a study of the current practice of sculptural ceramics in Hà Nội, Vietnam and its historical antecedents within Vietnam and in the West. It examines the transition from a craft based practice to an art practice in some areas of ceramic practice in Hà Nội during the twentieth and early twenty first century. The theoretical basis for the thesis centres on Alőis Riegl's writings, especially Stilfragen (Problems of Style), 1893, in which he makes a close chronological examination of stylistic changes in various media, while intentionally disregarding any hierarchy within artistic disciplines. This is considered an appropriate model for the study of Vietnamese ceramics as the thesis proposes that, in recent years, ceramics has once more resumed its place as one of the major art forms in Vietnam. This status is in contrast to its relegation to a 'decorative', as opposed to a 'fine art', form in the discourse of the French colonial era. As background, the thesis examines the history of sculptural ceramics in Vietnam and discusses what is currently known of ceramic practice and the lineages of potters in particular villages famous for their ceramic works in the area around Hà Nội. The transition in ceramics practice is discussed in terms of the effect of changing conditions for the education of ceramicists, as well as the effect of other institutional structures, the economic changes as reflected in the art market and exhibitions structure and sociological changes. The role which ceramics has played in the emergence of installation art in Vietnam is also examined.
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Chen, Wen-Hsi. "On edge : an exploration of cultural identity through ceramic practice." Thesis, Bath Spa University, 2018. http://researchspace.bathspa.ac.uk/11561/.
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My project investigates the concept of ‘in-betweenness’ and uses a range of research methods including fieldwork and oral history interviews in Taiwan and practice-led work in ceramics. Living away from my homeland gives me a clearer perspective of the culture in which I grew up, as well as an outsider’s perspective of British culture. The cross-cultural experience provides a platform from which I can address the questions of who I am and how I might express and communicate my experience of in-betweenness as a place where I can survive - where I can draw breath to help me cope with the challenges of living in two cultures. My research aims are: to explore the impact that living in a state of ‘inbetweenness’ can have on perceptions of self; to develop a visual language to communicate this experience; and to explore my own expression of cultural identity in relation to theory in the field. My theoretical framework derives from Gayatari Spivak’s work on colonialism and post-colonialism. Taiwan is a much-colonized culture and so Spivak’s focus on everyday experience prompted me undertake a field trip to Taiwan in 2013 to gather supporting data. I interviewed 22 Taiwanese female ceramicists: 5 indigenous women living in rural eastern Taiwan and 17 women living in urban areas. The field trip revealed a significant difference between the urban and the rural women’s ceramics (context, process and product) which, along with a growing awareness of Taiwanese social rituals, influenced my clay work. I could then create a bridge to a better understanding of cultural identity in my own research and practice. My ceramic practice was developed in three main locations: Bath Spa School of Art and Design and during two artist-residencies in Denmark and Taiwan. I have exhibited my main ceramic works (Sculptural Spoons, 8 Hours, Fingerprints, Bananas, Traditional Chinese Characters ) in different cultural environments and have been able to evaluate my work in response to visitor feedback. This project develops the idea of practice as a form of research, combining field work, creative practice and documentation. It widens awareness and proposes new ways for other artists to explore the experience of being ‘in-between’. My principle research questions are: How is my Taiwanese cultural identity expressed through making? How might ceramic practice be used to develop a visual language to communicate a personal experience of ‘in-betweenness’?
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Renshaw, David Nicholas. "The European ceramic workcentre as successful model: evaluating the standing, nature and potential for practice in ceramic art residencies." Thesis, University of Sunderland, 2014. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.654720.
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This research study is concerned with the activity of ceramic residence centres. An area of art practice which exists both as a separate field as well as one within a burgeoning and wider sphere of international artist residence centres. This wider field is recognisable by its recent and rapid expansion providing new possibilities which have become a fundamental part of the working practice of visual artists of all denominations. The impact of leading ceramic residence centres such as the European Ceramic Workcentre (EKWC) in the Netherlands affects inherent working practices, work produced, cultural exchange, individual mobility, as well as innovation and the concept of how the ceramic medium can be used. This study provides a discussion of practice and its development at the EKWC as well as an understanding of comparable work carried out in the divergent cultural backdrops of the Northern Clay Center (USA), Yuegi Kiln Workcentre (P.R. China) and FLlCAM (P.R China). Theoretical evidence concerning these ceramic centres is complemented by my own practice at each facility which has taken place both during and before commencement of this research. Imagery associated with this evidence provides a visual expression of practice, the resulting artefacts, and a contextual perspective of the individual ceramic centres. The balance of understanding in this research finds that within this developing, international and cross-cultural field the EKWC plays a significant role in advances technically and for the expanded possibilities and understandings of ceramic as a creative medium. This study describes how this has been achieved and provides an appreciation of the extended potentials of good practice for ceramics in the context of the residence and workcentre fields.
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Bunnell, Katie. "Re:presenting making : the integration of new technology into ceramic designer-maker practice." Thesis, Robert Gordon University, 1998. http://hdl.handle.net/10059/1556.
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See Coversheet for system requirements. The aim of the research is to integrate computer technologies and environmentally - sensitive materials and processes into the practice of the ceramic designer-maker, in order to assess the impact of new technologies on practice. A critical contextual review (including analysis of visual material) revealed a developing interest in environmental issues and computer technologies in designer-maker practice. A shift away from a philosophy which historically has been anti-industrial, towards a wider spectrum of craft production was noted. This diversity was shown in the types of production and the scale of manufacture - from ‘one-offs’ to industrial manufacture. New technologies were acknowledged by critics, commentators and practitioners as facilitating this development, although concerns about the potentially detrimental affect that computer technology could have on craft skills was voiced. A link between a pragmatic philosophy of ‘craft’ practice and new approaches to computer systems design highlighted a perception of the validity of ‘craft’ as a contemporary skill. The lack of established methodologies for practice-based ceramic design research has led to the development of a naturalistic approach within this work which is both holistic and emergent. By necessity this methodology places the design researcher at the centre of the inquiry, and uses practice as the main research vehicle. Selected research outcomes were peer reviewed through two significant international touring exhibitions: ‘Hot Off the Press: Ceramics and Print’ and ‘Objects of Our Time’. Initial investigations concentrated on the development of environmentally-sensitive lustre glazes [lead and cadmium free] incorporating an innovative ‘safe’ reduction firing system. Subsequently, ceramic surface designs and three dimensional forms were developed through the integration of: computer assisted design work (CAD); computer assisted manufacture (CAM); colours and glazes; and environmentally-sensitive screen printing, and existing making methods. The outcome was new aesthetic qualities and an extension of practical capabilities. A critical framework for the analysis of research outcomes was developed in order to make explicit and transferable some of the tacit knowledge embodied in research investigations. The analysis was developed through the use of a computer database system from which an electronic document was developed, allowing the integration of a large amount of visual material into the thesis. The research demonstrated that the integration of new technologies into the holistic and emergent practice of the ceramic designer-maker was appropriate. Many advantages of computer technologies for the ceramic practitioner are identified as transferable to the wider field of designer-maker practice and embody the potential to enhance future developments in this field.
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Breen, L. "Re-modelling clay : ceramic practice and the museum in Britain (1970-2014)." Thesis, University of Westminster, 2016. https://westminsterresearch.westminster.ac.uk/item/9x230/re-modelling-clay-ceramic-practice-and-the-museum-in-britain-1970-2014.
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This thesis analyses how the dialogue between ceramic practice and museum practice has contributed to the discourse on ceramics. Taking Mieke Bal’s theory of exposition as a starting point, it explores how ‘gestures of showing’ have been used to frame art‑oriented ceramic practice. Examining the gaps between the statements these gestures have made about and through ceramics, and the objects they seek to expose, it challenges the idea that ceramics as a category of artistic practice has ‘expanded.’ Instead, it forwards the idea that ceramics is an integrative practice, through which practitioners produce works that can be read within a range of artistic (and non-artistic) frameworks. Focusing on activity in British museums between 1970 and 2014, it takes a thematic and broadly chronological approach, interrogating the interrelationship of ceramic practice, museum practice and political and critical shifts at different points in time. Revealing an ambiguity at the core of the category ‘ceramics,’ it outlines numerous instances in which ‘gestures of showing’ have brought the logic of this categorisation into question, only to be returned to the discourse on ‘ceramics’ as a distinct category through acts of institutional recuperation. Suggesting that ceramics practitioners who wish to move beyond this category need to make their vitae as dialogic as their works, it indicates that many of those trying to raise the profile of ‘ceramics’ have also been complicit in separating it from broader artistic practice. Acknowledging that those working within institutions that sustain this distinction are likely to re-make, rather than reconsider ceramics, it leaves the ball in their court.
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Osborn, Lisa. "Encountering statues : object oriented ontology and the figure in a sculptural practice." Thesis, University of Plymouth, 2018. http://hdl.handle.net/10026.1/13070.
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This study reappraises the role and value of statues (i.e. the figure as sculpture) in order to determine what happens when we encounter these objects. The consideration and construction of statues in my studio practice has generated specific insights into statues as person-shaped objects and into our encounter with these objects. From the perspective of a practice making statues this study addresses how, through the encounter, statues both stimulate and obscure our perceptions of them as objects. My practitioner's understanding of statues is articulated and enlarged by developing methods which allowed me to gain an expanded perspective of my practice, through data collected from conversations about statues, and via a subsequent diffractive dialogue with concepts gleaned from other disciplines. This research process has revealed specific characteristics of the encounter, and of statues themselves, that have been excluded or obscured by familiar assumptions and theories, such as a tacit consideration of statues that allows us to be unsettled by their nudity, or the role touch plays in considering statues, and ultimately the history of the object itself. These findings are considered through a sustained engagement with Object Oriented Ontology (after Harman). Through this process, my initial findings are subsequently expanded and further enhance a re-conception of the encounter and of statues as objects. Finally, I argue for the importance of considering this reappraisal of the role the encounter with statues could play in revealing and reframing our relations with objects more generally.
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Marshall, Justin. "The role and significance of CAD/CAM technologies in craft and designer-maker practice : with a focus on architectural ceramics." Thesis, Cardiff Metropolitan University, 1999. http://hdl.handle.net/10369/6530.
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Thompson, Rachel Elizabeth. "Understanding Identity Through Ceramic Analysis at the Crystal River and Roberts Island Sites." Scholar Commons, 2016. http://scholarcommons.usf.edu/etd/6149.
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The ceramic assemblage from previous excavations at Crystal River (8CI1), a Woodland period mound center on Florida’s west-central coast, exhibits variation in temper and surface treatments indicative of distinct pottery traditions and, perhaps, social groups. I analyzed ceramics from recent, better controlled excavations at Crystal River and the neighboring and partially contemporaneous site of Roberts Island (8CI41), using the theoretical framework of communities of practice to evaluate this claim.
Analysis suggests that while some degree of diversity in paste was maintained through all four phases, there was greater homogeneity of paste, as well as more mixing of paste categories, during Phases 2 and 3. The former was an interval marked by intensive settlement at Crystal River, and the dominance of limestone tempered pottery suggests the emergence of a common, locally-based pottery making tradition. A switch to sand as a tempering agent in Phase 3 probably reflects greater dispersal of settlement, and specifically a shift to the occupation of coastal islands.
Trends in surface treatments may also appear to reflect changes in settlement, although the pattern here is less straightforward owing to broader trends in ceramic decoration. The vast majority of pottery in each phase is plain, but plain pottery is particularly dominant (and the diversity of surface treatments correspondingly low) during the peak in settlement in Phase 2. As with temper, this may suggest that pottery making practices converged, as initially disparate groups lived together in closer proximity, perhaps creating a common social identity. As settlement became more dispersed in Phase 3, pottery making traditions again became more diverse. This perhaps reflects increased isolation of households, although it no doubt also stems from a regional trend toward more variety in ceramic decoration. In Phase 4, plain pottery again became dominant, a trend typical of the terminal Late Woodland.
In general, the analysis suggests that temper and surface treatment track changes in settlement, and thus might be reasonably inferred to also track the extent to which potters shared pottery making practices, and perhaps social identities. Communities of practice thus provides a useful framework for understanding how social identities are expressed through technological and stylistic practices.
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Cushway, David. "A model for the interpretation of the ceramic object located in the museum developed through post-disciplinary, post-studio practice." Thesis, University of Sunderland, 2015. http://sure.sunderland.ac.uk/5824/.
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This research is initiated through an examination and mapping of the contemporary ceramics discourse within the United Kingdom and is situated from 1994 until the completion of my PhD study in 2014. This analysis of the practical and theoretical fields of ceramics practice provides a framework within which my own education and development as a practising artist can be measured and authenticated whilst providing a critical overview of the changing critical landscape of ceramics discourse over the last twenty years. Ceramics as an expanded field is evidenced through case studies of artist peers; and interviews with key critics, writers and curators. It introduces the positions of the post-studio and post-disciplinary practitioner as paradigms of practice that acknowledge an artists’ capacity to operate within the field of ceramics, utilising a multitude of approaches, media and mediums. The practical element of the research is developed outside of the studio within the context of the museum and its collection. This is embodied by employing a bricolage methodology that identifies the artist as an individual who ‘works between and within competing and overlapping perspectives and paradigms’ (Denzin and Lincoln, 1994). The resulting practical outputs of Last Supper at the Glynn Vivian, 12 People 12 Objects and Teatime at the Museum created through the mediums of film and photography are presented as both completed works and constituent elements of contemporary ceramics practice. They offer an original contribution to knowledge by presenting an adjustable model of engagement with the ceramic object and collection implemented by the post-disciplinary, post-studio practitioner in collaboration with the institution and curator.
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Livingstone, Andrew. "The Authenticity of Clay and its Re-definition Within Contemporary Practice: Ceramic Familiarity and the Contribution to Expansion." Thesis, University of Ulster, 2008. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.486596.
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The objective of this research both through practice and text is to investigate the notion of ceramic familiarity, and how its position within contemporary ceramic practice contributes towards a re-definition of authenticity. The re-presentation of I • familiarity is explored within the context of the expanded field of ceramic discourse where notable enhanced critique is stimulated in a challenge toward tniditional authentication. Practical research is evidenced through documented individual works, which investigate the use of clay in the context of a challenge to authentic discourse. This notion is specifically expressed within the frameworks that include installation, . conceptual and time-based activity - integral to these areas of investigation is the exploration of digital media and non-ceramic elements within ceramic practice. The symbiotic presentation of both fine and applied art discourses acknowledges blurred boundaries within contemporary practice and hence this observation instructs a juxtaposed position in which to examine the contained elements. The methodology employed in this research engages both practice and theory. Practical research engages studio activity resulting in the construction of artworks that are both exhibited and consequentially documented photographically. Text-based research employs standard reference methods and this is supported further by recorded and transcribed interviews with practitioners and theorists within the field. The conclusions drawn from this research demonstrate that the position of familiarity contributes significantly to a re-definition of authenticity within contemporary ceramic discourse. The materiality of clay and the process of making have emerged as significant elements in respect of con~emporaryapplication, and most notably in respect of artists whose outputs are most often positioned on the boundaries of authentic discourse. The investigation of these elements within eXPanded practice concludes that familiarity can be evidenced as a central force in respect of a contribution to contemporary expansion.
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Clare, Claudia. "Shattered : A practice based investigation of contemporary women's stories of surviving sexual violence, mediated through ceramic material metaphor." Thesis, University of Westminster, 2007. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.522070.
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Hilditch, Jillian Ruth. "Reconstruction of technological choice, social practice and networks of exchange from a ceramic perspective in the Middle Bronze Age Cyclades." Thesis, University of Exeter, 2008. http://hdl.handle.net/10036/49133.
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Given the long history of research within the Aegean, the Middle Bronze Age (MBA) of the Cyclades is surprisingly poorly understood. This region is often considered within the context of other ‘worlds’, particularly in the quest to understand ‘Minoanisation’. Prominent Middle Cycladic sites such as Ayia Irini (Kea), Phylakopi (Melos) and Akrotiri (Thera) have played a dominant role towards informing the perceived Cycladic ‘response’ to growing Minoan influence within the Aegean sphere, often at the expense of considering the interactions between these important settlements. However, the recent 2000-2001 pillar pit excavations at Akrotiri have allowed a whole new phasing for the MBA ceramic deposits and offer great potential for characterising these neglected interactions. The ceramic material studied here, from Phases B and C of the MBA assemblage at Akrotiri, corresponds to the introduction of imported and ‘Minoanised’ material traits, both compositional and technological, to the local ceramic repertoire. This material is contextualised within previous research in the Cyclades, including Phylakopi, Ayia Irini and Mikre Vigla. Scale is considered an important theme and provides a key structure throughout this thesis. Three scales were defined for considering all aspects of the ceramic assemblage at Akrotiri: a) the potters at Akrotiri, the technological choices they make, the social practices they participate in and perpetuate and the character of the local ceramic production sequence (the micro-scale of individuals); b) the character and significance of the Akrotiri ceramic assemblage within the Cyclades (the meso-scale of group interaction); c) the role that Akrotiri played as a node within larger social and exchange networks throughout the Aegean (the macro-scale of community interactions). From a theoretical standpoint, four explanatory frameworks are employed to tackle and integrate these various scales: the chaîne opératoire, dynamic systems framework, network theory and communities of practice. In combination, these frameworks have the potential to bridge the structure-agency divide, by acknowledging the fundamentally social nature of artefact production and consumption, and to integrate recent considerations of human and non-human agency within dynamic processes. Ultimately, by considering the socially constituted processes that drive the learning and practice of a craft or technique, and how these processes contribute to and perpetuate communities of practice, archaeologists can begin to meaningfully characterise the contact between different groups of people in the past. Therefore, this technological study of the late Middle Cycladic ceramic assemblage of Akrotiri, integrates macroscopic, petrographic and QEMSCAN analyses to characterise and explore the interactions within and between the many communities of practice operating within the late MBA Cyclades. In addition, this methodology allows a better understanding of the choices the communities in the Cyclades were making in the lead up to ‘Minoanisation’ so we can approach these material phenomena from a more localised, site-based perspective rather than a traditional Creto-centric viewpoint.
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Daly, Patrcik. "Social practice and material culture : the use, discard and deposition of ceramic material at two Iron Age hillforts in Oxfordshire." Thesis, University of Oxford, 2003. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.251444.
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Brudenell, Matthew Joseph. "Pots, practice and society : an investigation of pattern and variability in the post-deverel rimbury ceramic tradition of East Anglia." Thesis, University of York, 2012. http://etheses.whiterose.ac.uk/14230/.
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Pots were once the basis on which most understandings of British prehistory were founded. In the middle decades of the twentieth century, ceramic studies were fundamental to tracking the origins, history and extent of cultural traditions throughout Britain and beyond. But over the course of the last 40 years, this once central role of pottery has significantly diminished, to the extent that today, we rarely see pottery as anything but a dating tool. This was not always the way, and though we might query the equations made between pots and people by previous generations, we have arguably lost sight of how to harness this material to other forms of social narrative. Despite having more pottery'than ever before, with few exceptions, we have reverted to asking a restricted range of questions of this material, and as a result, have yielded answers which seldom chime with the interests of those beyond a narrow specialist community. In short, pots rarely seem to matter anymore, and like other categories of artefact, are accorded far less significance when compared to the evidence of landscapes and settlement architectures. This thesis redresses some of these imbalances in the context of later prehistoric research. It brings pottery back into focus as a material that allows us make substantive statements about the past. Specifically, it tracks the character and regional development of Late Bronze Age (c. 1100-800 BC) and Early Iron Age (c. 800-350 BC) Post-Deverel Rimbury pottery in Ea'st Anglia, and establishes the social context of ceramic production and -consumption. In doing so, it draws together a vast body of published and unpublished material amassed in the last few decades, and tackles the issue of how ceramic traditions were implicated in the constitution of social identities.
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Fell, Fiona Vanessa. "Un/comfortable Bodies: Collaborative Performance, Embodiment, and Materiality in the Sensorial Field of Clay." Thesis, Griffith University, 2018. http://hdl.handle.net/10072/379323.
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This exegesis proposes art as an in/hospitable space for female embodiment, drawing on manifestations of the uncanny, the shadow, and the ghostly, for which theoretical support is found in new feminist, posthumanist, and new materialist discourses. Research for this exegesis has aimed to archive and reimagine two decades of ceramic figurative sculpture practice as well as establish a new language for my practice through an expanded field of material enquiry. Attention to the sensorial field of clay is an intuitive, as well as logical step in praxis. It recasts the perception of what the ‘traditional medium’ of ceramics may have to offer, in an era in which the system of art is becoming increasingly virtual. These investigations merge an intuitive understanding of clay with medical scanning technologies, video making, studio logic, and spatial investigations. The additional use of performance, collaboration, and interdisciplinary processes has destabilised and blurred the discrete, unyielding characteristics of the ceramic canon. This allows for an expansion of the language of art’s matter beyond the thin, opaque, impenetrable surface of fired and glazed clay. Instead, porosity, as the interpenetration and interconnection between the inside and the outside of the artist’s body, has created a new understanding of female embodiment and the nature of materiality in art making.Thesis (PhD Doctorate)
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Queensland College of Art
Arts, Education and Law
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Harwood, Jarel M. ".(In|Out)sider$." BYU ScholarsArchive, 2014. https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd/3967.
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This thesis explores the insider/outsider dynamic experienced by individuals as they enter diverse social situations. The shift from insider to outsider is evoked through an art installation of 18 sculptures drawing influence from "goth" subculture, as the viewer enters and interacts with the art space. The subjects of culture and identity are discussed as they pertain to insider/outsider status.
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Wilson, C. "Applying studio ceramic practice to constructions of meaning in relation to the banal mug, utilizing the Shepton Collection as a creative tool." Thesis, Bath Spa University, 2017. http://researchspace.bathspa.ac.uk/10710/.
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This practice led research investigates the banal ceramic mug, scrutinizing its potential for constructions of meaning, drawing upon theories of material culture to examine human/object relationships. The thesis makes special reference to the Shepton Collection, comprised of 412 drink related vessels. Belonging to a cider factory in Somerset, the collection spans industrial pottery production from the 1780s to the beginning of the 21st century. It also offers insight into local cultural norms embedded in the broader contexts of identity, in both domestic and public domains, those being the home and the cider/public house, exposing hierarchies of consumption implicit in the factory made ceramic mug. The corresponding creative practice utilizes the Shepton Collection as a relational and comparative tool to examine notions of contemporary cultural identity expressed via the banal ceramic mug. Drawing upon physical characteristics of the twin handled loving cup (a form synonymous with cider drinking), the practice explores and exploits particular themes identified within the Shepton Collection. As a contribution to knowledge the research has identified the value of considering a collection of seemingly banal objects as a viable tool to creatively analyse the significance of human/object relationships embedded in the everyday. Conceptually the practice led research has mobilized an unexpected application of banality, expressed through a series of significant bodies of ceramic works, applying increasing pressure to the simple mug form, its perceived use and ability to bear the weight of deep emotional engagement. Consequently material and cultural familiarity are challenged in terms of object encounter and the emotional impact the practice has engendered. The combined processes of cataloguing the Shepton Collection, the subsequent practice and theoretical analysis, has necessitated a tripartite approach to the research and is addressed as pre-studio, studio and post-studio activities. This approach also provides a model for future practice led research that intends to examine and correspond to already existent objects.
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Hensler, Rachel Paige. "VARIATION OF NATIVE AMERICAN CERAMICS IN THE BIG BEND REGION OF THE LOWER OCMULGEE RIVER VALLEY, GEORGIA, AD 1540 TO AD 1715." UKnowledge, 2018. https://uknowledge.uky.edu/anthro_etds/29.
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Studies of European colonialism in the Western Hemisphere have shifted focus from areas of direct European/Native American contact, to investigate Native American groups outside of direct European contact. During Spanish colonization of the Southeastern United States (AD 1520 to AD 1715), the Big Bend region of the Ocmulgee River Valley, in Georgia, located about 160 kilometers from Spanish occupied coast, was inhabited by a Native American polity from the Late Prehistoric into the Mission period. This location is ideal for studying indirect contact.
Changes in ceramic production can be used to identify changes in Native American interaction through time. Attributes from ceramics at five sites were recorded, totaling 3,231 sherds. Analysis demonstrates that richness of paste recipes and presence of ceremonial vessels declined, suggesting that regional gatherings declined. Design analysis suggests that interaction with a large variety of Native American groups from outside of the region declined, while interaction with coastal Native American groups in the purview of Spanish colonization increased. This demonstrates that changes to Native American society after European contact were not just the result of interaction with European traditions and technologies, but also the result of changing interaction with Native American groups.
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Hou, Joey Delilah Jennifer. "Fallible Plinths: Falling Forever." Thesis, The University of Sydney, 2018. http://hdl.handle.net/2123/18984.
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This research is a site for thinking about contemporary art in terms of its socio-political co-dimensions, and its negotiations of difference. This thesis explores the paradoxical events, and discourses of social practice where cultural practitioners have been increasingly displaced, and marginalized. In an attempt to adequately take into account the transformative nature of human subjectivity, as fluid and plastic, this paper responds by examining a trajectory illuminated by inter-subjective practices that are integral to contemporary sculpture: early, twentieth century children's playgrounds, free play, as an expressive performance of support, social rituals that gesture toward a communality; and the implicit boundaries instated. It draws this spatial experimentation to explore how a more autonomous space, and a safe(r) space can be activated in a community/or in an institutional gallery setting. This is explored via models of supportive/supplemental exhibition practices - such as that of Wu Tsang, and Palle Nielsen - who build infrastructures of support for free play, and democratic dialogue. This research is informed by the difficulties of forming ethical, and radically democratic spaces through an investment in aligning the notions of ‘play’, and ‘safe(r) spaces’ in the gallery context. It also unfolds around the limits of an exhibition space as a play space, and performance stage. In this process, the presentation of a historical spectre of fallibility in Modern, and contemporary reiterations of Social Practices is explored as a politically charged aesthetic. In doing so this research hopes to encourage the recognition of alterity, and singularity within an institutional context (space of observation). This is an appeal for redress, the desire to facilitate the play of the imagination, and to uphold radical and critical play spaces - to give place to alternative futures and dwellings.
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Cadell, Melisa D. Ms. "A House Not of Our Choosing." Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University, 2013. https://dc.etsu.edu/etd/1148.
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This thesis explores our existence through the confinement of the human body. The exhibition of “A House Not of Our Choosing,” was presented at the Tipton Gallery, 126 Spring Street Johnson City, Tennessee, from March 1, 2013, to March 8, 2013. It will visually describe Cadell’s thoughts regarding the figure as a fragile vessel. The installation is designed to require the viewer to closely examine the work from multiple perspectives.
The exhibition consists of sculpted paper, etched, painted, manipulated glass slides, and projection. Research discusses the work produced over a three-year period. Exploration and reflection in the areas of religion, history, philosophy and psychology contributed to the knowledge which inspired the exhibit.
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Lee, Chelsea. "Sub for More." VCU Scholars Compass, 2017. http://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/etd/4879.
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This written thesis unpacks the thoughts and motivations behind the decisions I have made in my artistic practice that have ultimately culminated in my M.F.A. Thesis Exhibition: Sub for More. By merging images of my own work as well as internet sourced images of the culture that drives my work, I have created a platform to begin to understand my experience during graduate school. This text examines and explores my belief in the inherent power in pop culture, my obsession with fame, celebrity, and my self-identity as a participant in current pop-culture.
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Cho, Man Ho. "Industries/ influence ceramics." Thesis, University of Iowa, 2017. https://ir.uiowa.edu/etd/5440.
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Cultivating the spatial relationship in between utility and sculpture generates my process. I deconstruct, reconstruct and assemble objects; bringing to them a new perspective that simplifies the structure while enhancing the surface and the unassuming nature of the forms.
Developing vessels for drinking or pouring serves as the foundation for my study of materials, architectural foundations and elements of utilitarian objects. The functional purpose of the objects becomes minimized due to the structure beneath the surface and the constructed role of the base blurring distinctions between function and form.
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Wu, Wei. "Spreading Seeds: Ai Weiwei's Sunflower Seeds and His Performative Personality Received in the West." Scholarship @ Claremont, 2017. http://scholarship.claremont.edu/scripps_theses/1046.
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In 2010, Ai Weiwei's Sunflower Seeds made its debut in Tate Modern, which promoted Ai to be one of the most famous and respected contemporary Chinese artists. This Conceptual art work has multiple layers of meanings, which all corresponds to the Western expectations for a successful contemporary Chinese artist. In fact, the Western art world has long held bias and stereotypes towards international artists. Ai chose to perform his personality to conform to the expectations and Western ideologies, which brought him international fame. On the other hand, other Chinese artists, including Cai Guo-Qiang and Zhou Chunya, don't totally agree with these Western ideologies, and therefore their fame in the society are less distinguished than Ai.
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Casto, Andrew Michael. "The weight of knowing." Thesis, University of Iowa, 2010. https://ir.uiowa.edu/etd/475.
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Brod, Undine. "“C” is for Ceramics – It Also Stands for: Collecting, Community, Content, Confusion, and Clarity." The Ohio State University, 2011. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1309449467.
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Kemp, Kassie Christine. "Pottery Exchange and Interaction at the Crystal River Site (8CI1), Florida." Scholar Commons, 2015. http://scholarcommons.usf.edu/etd/5971.
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The Crystal River site (8CI1) is a Woodland-period mound (ca. 1000 BC to AD 1050) complex located on the west-central Gulf coast of Florida. Links to the Hopewell Interaction Sphere suggest that the people of Crystal River had connections with a broad range of communities, yet little is known concerning the role the site played in local, regional, or long-distance exchange networks. Pottery traditions vary amongst different communities of practice, therefore the level of interaction at Crystal River can be measured by looking at variation in the ceramic assemblage. I combine type/attribute, vessel form and function, gross paste, and chemical analyses to determine the amount of variability present in the pottery assemblage. These analyses show that Crystal River has a high level of ceramic variation with some spatial and temporal patterning. To determine Crystal River’s membership in and potential role within a sphere of interaction, I compare these patterns to three community types with diverse social interfaces. This research suggests that Crystal River may have started out as a homogenous, residential community but through time began to interact with a number of diverse, regionally associated communities drawn to the site for special occasions.
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Balbaligo, Y. E. "Ceramics and social practices at Ille Cave, Philippines." Thesis, University College London (University of London), 2015. http://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/1465410/.
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This research uses ceramic analysis to investigate variations in technological practices in the Philippines, and the relationships with pottery traditions previously reported for wider Southeast Asia. The thesis focuses on an examination of the earthenware ceramics from the multi-period burial and occupation site of Ille Cave and Rockshelter, and nearby cave sites in northern Palawan, Philippines. Previous work on Philippine ceramics has used surface decorations to discuss grand narratives of human movement. This thesis argues that technology, rather than decoration or style, is a better indicator of people and social practice. While critiquing these dominant interpretations, this thesis seeks to build on previous work by demonstrating how differences in ceramic technology can be interpreted as indicators of distinct learning traditions and learning networks, suggesting different communities of practice. The range of techniques used to prepare the clay, form and decorate the ceramics, were analysed macroscopically in hand specimen, and microscopically by petrography, stereoscopy, and scanning electron microscopy to reconstruct the chaîne opératoire which shows difference in technological practice. Results indicate that most of the ceramics were locally made and used as votive offerings rather than as grave goods, jar burials or for ritual breakage, during the Developed Metal Age. The cave sites were returned to as a fixed point in the landscape to commemorate the dead. It is suggested that the variability in ceramics coupled with the mortuary practices were expressions of a group’s social complexity and cultural identity. The ceramic variability shows distinct cultural pluralism which demonstrates a diversity of social groups in a small locale. Although some commonalities in pottery production and decorative techniques with those in wider Southeast Asia are discussed, the current lack of dating evidence or comparative ceramic technology studies makes it difficult to interpret the direction and timing of large scale cultural change. This thesis, however, presents methods and theories for how this research can be developed.
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Kelly, Jessamy. "The combination of glass and ceramics as a means of artistic expression in studio practice." Thesis, University of Sunderland, 2009. http://sure.sunderland.ac.uk/3656/.
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This practice-led research investigates the feasibility of combining glass and ceramics in a hot state, as a means of artistic expression in studio practice. Glass and ceramics have many related material qualities and are processed in similar ways. Chemically they are alike however structurally they are very different, which creates compatibility problems when they are combined in a hot state. Through controlled processing, material properties can alter when each is partially converted into the other. It is recognised by artists in the field of studio ceramics that porcelain can partially convert into a glassy form when high fired to create a translucent material. Likewise it is recognised in the field of industrial engineering that glass can partially convert into a ceramic form when processed in a controlled way to create a glass-ceramic material; this material is not used by practitioners and would be difficult to develop in a studio environment. A total of 43 contemporary practitioners were found that worked in both glass & ceramics in their work. Of these only 16 practitioners combined glass and ceramics in a hot state, the majority combined them in a cold state to avoid compatibility issues. It became apparent that there is a distinct lack of published material on the combination of glass and ceramics in studio practice. It was the aim of this investigation to address this gap by identifying and testing potential hot state processing routes. This research addresses these issues through a multiple-method approach rooted in creative practice; directed by the following aims: • To develop the practical and creative parameters of the combination of glass and ceramics in a hot state. • To demonstrate and articulate the possible creative and practical benefits of the new processing routes as a model for practitioners in the field. • To articulate the significance of the research methods and results through the mapping of the field. Material testing was focused on artistic practice and experimentation which identified the creative parameters of combining glass and ceramics in a hot state, four potential process routes that combine glass and ceramics in a hot state were identified and tested. This testing was further extended and supported by the application of compatibility studies, which helped to match the expansion rates of glass and ceramics when they are combined. Bone china was identified as the closest fit to glass in terms of expansion rates; quartz was added to further improve the fit of the materials. Case studies of artists that work in glass and ceramics have been used to position the research within the field. New insights have emerged into the combined processing of glass and ceramics in a hot state. This approach offers a series of potential processing routes to be viewed as a model for others in the field. The final submission includes a thesis, a series of materials tests, and a body of related artworks that demonstrate the hot state combination of the materials.
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Slaight-Brown, Shannon M. "Restoration." VCU Scholars Compass, 2017. http://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/etd/4890.
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The marks I make in clay have different characteristics, and the physical mark of one’s fingertips or visual record of the hand is personal and intimate. This visible activity is the evidence of my constant presence and control within each object. Its repetitive meditation produces a private relief from my persistent anxieties. This exploration for me is not only visual, but also physical. This is the start of my infatuation with the idea of pattern. It has its own discrete visual language and modes of communication; and through my research I am developing a method of intercommunication.
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Dickson, Erin. "The quirks of intimate space : architectonic art practice translated through digital technology in glass." Thesis, University of Sunderland, 2015. http://sure.sunderland.ac.uk/6496/.
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This research explores aspects of architectural phenomenology as evidenced in the ‘quirk’, described here as a peculiarity or idiosyncrasy of a building’s personality. Using digital technology, this study frames and contextualises a body of sculpture, performance and installation in glass that interprets personal ideas of home through social, cultural and emotional connections. The research is focused on exposing the quirk to anthropomorphise the site, expressing its familiar and intimate nature. Previous research in creative glass has used digital design and manufacturing technology in studies that contribute primarily to the practical advancement of CAD/CAM processes. This new research applies such techniques, but is instead focused on their capacity to record, translate and realise ideas in relation to the quirk of the architecture. This approach translates quirks through data capture to visualise aspects of architectural phenomenology, which is defined in this context as the embodied, personal and sensory experience of space. A methodology which adapts architectural practice has been applied to provide a creative, flexible framework of site selection, discovery of the quirk and its translation, realisation and analysis. The four bodies of work described in this PhD include a monumental architectonic sculpture, a series of ‘window’ panels created using photographic imagery, a kinetic subterranean installation and a time-based performance of the experience of sleeping on glass. The contribution to knowledge can be claimed through a model of practice that utilises phenomenology through the translation of the architectural quirk to create a unique and diverse body of artwork; and the development of original working methods for waterjet cutting and kiln-forming to produce architectonic sculpture and imagery in glass. This PhD offers an example of the application of architectural phenomenology for those wishing to use architecture as inspiration for artwork.
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Tuxill, Wendy Patricia. "A re-conceptualisation of contemporary sculptural ceramics practice from a post-minimalist perspective." Thesis, University of Hertfordshire, 2011. http://hdl.handle.net/2299/5333.
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This thesis examines the extent to which the 1960s process art strand of post-Minimalism can provide an analytical template for critical writing around contemporary ceramic art. A dearth of critical writing is an acknowledged problem in all types of ceramics practice and some of the reasons for this situation will be explored. In the past decade frequent calls have been made by artists, critics, academics, and curators for a body of critical writing to underpin contemporary work and connect with wider cultural debates. During this period, artists have begun to use the process of making the work to form part of the content. Such work has no relationship to traditional studio pottery, and critics have described it as difficult to write about and classify in normative ceramic terms. However, this area of ceramic practice shares characteristics with post-Minimalism, a movement of the 1960s that emphasised the behaviour of materials and the act of making. In The Archaeology of Knowledge the French philosopher Michel Foucault suggests that a new critical language may emerge from the appropriation of other discourses, providing new interpretations for subject areas not yet theoretically mapped out. Foucault’s notions on the formation of discourse are used as a methodological approach to investigate how process-led sculptural ceramics may be articulated by an understanding of post-Minimalist critical writings. A substantial body of critical writing developed around post-Minimalist process art, providing a context for radical new approaches which broke with modernist traditions and which expanded and changed traditional definitions of sculpture. Key post-Minimalist texts are investigated as an analytical template for a new critical discourse for process-led ceramic art. A study of the sculptural ceramics of Richard Deacon and Kosho is undertaken as a means of identifying process-led tendencies and the possibility of a re-conceptualisation from a post-minimalist perspective. An analysis of the role of process within my own practice is used to provide visual evidence of contemporary ceramic work that can be re-conceptualised from a post-Minimalist perspective. After twenty years of stagnant debate in the ceramics field, this research might provide a new critical context for process-led ceramic art. The project shows a way that artists may be empowered to develop a critical literacy in a field that has traditionally lacked a research based approach. It is hoped that it may well encourage other ceramics practitioners to explore new ways of presenting an academic critique of their own area of practice. The contribution to knowledge identifies a new critical context and approach to writing for the process-led area of ceramics practice that is currently described as being difficult to write about, as having no appropriate critical language of its own, and of being difficult to categorise in standard ceramic terms.
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Twomey, Clare. "Ceramics collections : exploring object engagement beyond the known historic models of clay practice." Thesis, University of Westminster, 2018. https://westminsterresearch.westminster.ac.uk/item/q56vv/ceramics-collections-exploring-object-engagement-beyond-the-known-historic-models-of-clay-practice.
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This practice-based research examines ceramics collections and artistic practice. It explicitly focuses on the exploration of object engagement beyond the historic models of clay practice and the uses of clay as a medium through which to examine cultural and museological challenges. It is centred on five artworks by the author made between 2006 and 2015 (Trophy, 2006, Forever, 2010, Exchange, 2012, Piece by Piece, 2013, Manifest: 10,000 hours, 2015). These employ advances in curatorial practice and theory that have informed the curation of ceramic artefacts held by museums seeking to reframe the relationship between material culture and clay culture, and the modes and devices of how ceramics are displayed. These five exhibition works have interrogated traditional understandings of ceramic collections in museums and their boundaries. These exhibitions, together with this commentary, constitute this PhD by publication. Ceramics, clay practice and craft are the context of these developmental works that have expanded thinking within the field. The thesis discusses the long-term development of ceramic and craft practices of immersive works that can be used as a tool to access our understanding of ceramic collections and trajectories. The research recognizes shifts in the contextual development of craft practice and in the literature developing alongside practice during a period from the 1960s onwards. In the contextual review the museum and the collections in focus are addressed in the contexts of audience engagement, participation and live works, and issues are raised in relation to time-based works and shared authorships. The critical developments of clay practice are also addressed within the timeframe of each section. Each of the five artworks is outlined in terms of context, research and development. These works have addressed the main question of how ceramic collections may be animated and explored through the audience's participation. Through ten years of research, experimentation and close investigation, these questions have been slowly and carefully developed to test the boundaries of knowledge regarding arts and museum practices, encouraging a continued relationship with these concerns.
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Dieffenbach, Angela Lena. "Corporeal curiosity: seeking salubrity." Thesis, University of Iowa, 2011. https://ir.uiowa.edu/etd/947.
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As a result of modern medical practices, our bodies are becoming increasingly transparent. This transparency not only adds to the perceived omnipotence of medicine, but to curiosities with these modes of bodily exploration. Even with this new visibility, many questions remain as curiosity continues.
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Grant, Jennifer. "Drawing and glass : integrating theoretical and contemporary drawing issues with studio glass practice." Thesis, University of Sunderland, 2012. http://sure.sunderland.ac.uk/6494/.
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This research examines established and emerging practical methods and theoretical ideas in contemporary drawing in relation to studio glass. The Studio Glass Movement, encompassing both applied and fine art practice, originated in the 1950’s and, despite rapid advancements in the subject, glass is still considered an emergent material when compared to most other studio processes. For this reason existing and long established practices in drawing, developed in relation to other materials, may not be as effective in realising or exploring those qualities which are particular to glass, whether aesthetic, technical or philosophical. Parallel to this are rapid changes happening within the field of contemporary drawing as a subject in its own right, which influence the wider context in which studio glass engages. In this research the use of empirical methods provide working examples of how drawing and glass can be integrated, through the production of a body of new work supported by theoretical and contextual findings. The investigation is practice orientated, incorporating both practice led and practice based methodologies. The practice led theoretical research proposes a new drawing taxonomy in which dimension, notation, physiology and improvisation are understood as key components in the theory and practice of drawing. This is examined here in relation to glass as both a subject of drawing and as a material process. Identification and reference to contemporary issues in drawing come from a variety of sources, for example through the Drawing Research Network, contact with specialist drawing research hubs including Wimbledon School of Art and Loughborough University, specific exhibitions and attendance at related events and conferences . The practice based aspect uses facilities at the Glass Department, University of Sunderland and a drawing studio in Newcastle upon Tyne. The main area of exploration is concerned with the use of drawing integrated within kiln cast glass as differentiated from established practices such as engraving and stained glass which use drawing as a surface application to an existing glass body.
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Munoz, Arturo Rene. "Power, Production and Practice: Technological Change in the Late Classic Ceramics of Piedras Negras, Guatemala." Diss., The University of Arizona, 2006. http://hdl.handle.net/10150/194144.
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The Classic Maya site of Piedras Negras is a located at the western edge of El Peten, Guatemala. Beginning in about A.D. 650 the ceramics of Piedras began to undergo a period of rapid and profound changes that culminated in the development of a distinct regional polychrome style distinguished by the use of an elaborate resist and resist-reserve technique with few analogs elsewhere in the Maya Lowlands.At most Classic Maya sites, the development of a regional ceramic style involved the elaboration of known and widely practiced decorative techniques, such as positive painting. At Piedras Negras, Guatemala, however, this development was manifested by the creation of a distinct tradition emphasizing the use of an elaborate true resist technique. Because the development of this style was the result of new technological practices, rather than the elaboration of extant styles, we are allowed a unique perspective on material culture change. Rather than invoking rational, deterministic explanations to account for the transformations visible in the Piedras Negras ceramics, change is framed primarily as a social phenomena whose study requires a uniquely historical, social, and cultural point of view.
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Crowe, Elizabeth A. "Where There Is Design." BYU ScholarsArchive, 2012. https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd/3315.
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Giving up a certain amount of control can be healthy, productive, and natural. Nature has an important part to play in our lives, and nature is random even as it obeys natural laws. In the same way, creating ceramic objects requires obedience to the laws of nature even as it benefits from freedom from control. Creation requires a certain amount of letting go of control, allowing nature to take its course, and recognizing when good things happen. I have learned that my most successful pieces emerge when I combine conscious control with serendipity. The work in this show reflects that symbiotic, natural relationship between control and serendipity, and it grew out of my struggles with unrealized expectations. I tend to be a problem solver, sometimes obsessively, and as I've worked through various surprises, challenges, disappointments, and disillusions, I've come to realize that I have little control over life's situations. I have learned to rely on the tender mercy of a greater designer and to value the less-than perfect; those lessons have influenced my ceramic art.
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Mass, Yelena Marie. "Unrepentant." Thesis, University of Iowa, 2014. https://ir.uiowa.edu/etd/4689.
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Spur of the moment interactions with materials both familiar and unfamiliar establish my foundation for creating art.
Exercising skills in painting, drawing, metal fabrication, welding, and ceramics I aim to mix mediums. By combing materials and processes I maintain a rhythm in creating art.
Yelena Mass
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Tso, Kwok-Pong. "Knowing the Unknown." Thesis, University of Iowa, 2013. https://ir.uiowa.edu/etd/4922.
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I grow up in in Hong Kong, a city where "reality" is more important than imagination, most of us learn to go after something that is practical and look for a job that will lead to a stable life style, without imagining what they could become, and who they could be.
I left my country when I was 16 years old and landed to the United States when I was 17 by myself, as a high school senior, where I started a new life and Art. For the first time in my life, I realize what I was created to do and who I really am; I then become an undergraduate to complete a degree in art, focus in ceramics. Four years of college, I spend about 14hours per day in the studio; practicing, learning and studying my art and myself, this constantly left me amazed with who I can be; a workaholic who dislike giving up. This allows me to master the behavior of as long as you try hard and ask a harder question to yourself about what is known, you can always overcome things that are unknown to you. And furthermore allows me to understand we are not constrained by rules and regulations, the process of discovering a question is something that ultimately lead me to understand life which not to define it or describe it, is to feel it.
What initiated my pursuit of clay is it helps me feel, clay response to how we treat them in a physical way that no other material will. As a result, I completed a Masters of Art degree in Ceramics and it provided me an understand of the "weights" of materials, through the characteristics of materials; I am able to feel and express the qualities of balance, weight, and connection.
Sure, I am not saying everyone feel the same way, but I am sure we all ask those question sometime, what is the balance in life? The weight of existence? Connection between us? I like my work to be a metaphor of expressing the importance of those complex questions during the pursuit of what is known, what is unknown, and to feel the need of understand and ask harder question.
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Phinney, Charles Lucas. "Innovation in Practice: Experiment and Improvisation in the Architecture of Henry Chapman Mercer." Diss., Virginia Tech, 2018. http://hdl.handle.net/10919/95050.
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In the opening years of the 20th century, a furor of new and experimental techniques swept the architectural field. The materials and methods of building altered so rapidly that standards of architectural representation and the acts of construction they choreographed appeared for a time to exist without history or precedent. In chaotic times chaos seems all consuming; yet standards are soon established and modes of practice formalized. So it was with the advent of architectural modernity. The beginning of the century was a time of great experimentation and innovation, not only in architectural materials but in the tools and representations of architects, and the methods of building they described.
In this exploration of the relationship between material innovation and architectural representation, we examine the case of the Pennsylvania artisan-scholar Henry Chapman Mercer (1856-1930), and his development of a unique method for construction in reinforced concrete and ceramic tiles of his own design. In the years between 1907 and 1916, Mercer built three buildings of increasing complexity and scale, using methods of fabrication he developed over the course of these constructions. His approach was experimental, innovative, and yet quite different from the prevailing currents in engineering and industry at that time. While Mercer has been studied as a decorator of tiles, as an archaeologist, and as a curator of one the first and finest collections of early American material culture, very little work has been completed on Mercer as architect-builder.
In Mercer's building projects we see a scientific mind and an artistic maker explore and experiment freely, building a bridge between his seemingly disparate worlds: from the Arts and Crafts-inspired Moravian Pottery he founded, to the archaeologically rigorous collection of pre-industrial tools. Mercer focused with great intensity on implements and evidences of traditional craft activities, and it is his particular sensitivity to the traditions and forms of craft activity that renders his architectural activity unique, and pertinent to the question of innovation in method. At the center of his architectural activities, Mercer's construction notebooks, in which he worked out plans, details, and many of his most unique procedural innovations, illustrate a novel comportment of architect to architectural representation, and offer a story of how the making of architecture is, itself, made.PHD
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VanWagoner, Rachel. "DAY JAW BOO, a re-collection." BYU ScholarsArchive, 2011. https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd/2714.
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For my MFA thesis exhibition, I have collected ideas surrounding events that happened in the past and combined them with the ceramic work I have made in the three years of my master's program at Brigham Young University. I have grouped visual elements from Buck Rogers and other Futro (retro-future) pop-culture with ideas surrounding the Voyager Interstellar Mission and the compiling of the Golden Record. Combining these elements in an installation, will create an environment where people can reflect on things they have "already seen" and envision a brighter future. For that reason I playfully call the show Day Jaw Boo, a re-collection and allow the viewers to enter a dream-like-reality-stage of déjà vu.
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Fawkes, Keva. "Upwelling." Thesis, University of Iowa, 2017. https://ir.uiowa.edu/etd/5467.
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Presently, my practice is multi-disciplinary and includes ceramics, sculpture, metals, design, and social practice — the work explores cultural identity, immigration, and cultural imagery using found objects and vernacular architectural references. Many of which are rooted in a post-colonial Anglo Caribbean history, but have grown to include new environments, narratives, and histories that parallel the latter.
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Ross, Marina. "My pleasure (forever yours)." Thesis, University of Iowa, 2018. https://ir.uiowa.edu/etd/6261.
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My practice consists of painting, ceramic sculptures, and performance to consider the construction of self-identity and the role of agency and labor in this construction. Mining my life experiences as a point of departure, I question how visual images, sculptural abstractions, and physical movement create a multi-dimensional representation of the self and how the body is a vehicle for the expression and formation of the self. I source images from family photos and film stills to question how I have embodied qualities from the women in these images. I will discuss my thesis exhibition My Pleasure (Forever Yours) to unpack particular decisions made within the works and how they relate to the larger narrative that I construct.
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Hare, Richard Paul. "Craft art practice [an exegesis [thesis] submitted to the Auckland University of Technology in partial fulfilment of the degree of Master of Arts (Art and Design), 2003]." Full thesis. Abstract, 2003.
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Barker, Claire, and Claire Barker. "Inconspicuous Identity: Using Corrugated Pottery to Explore Social Identity within the Homol'ovi Settlement Cluster, A.D. 1260-1400." Diss., The University of Arizona, 2017. http://hdl.handle.net/10150/626363.
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This research explores the relationship between social identity, artifact style, and communities of practice in the late prehispanic U.S. Southwest, focusing on how domestic, utilitarian objects and contexts both shape and reflect social identities. During the A.D. 1200s and 1300s, large-scale migration and aggregation occurred over much of the U.S. Southwest, bringing diverse individual and community identities into contact and, potentially, conflict. Within this social context, this research focused on clarifying the relationship between social identities and utilitarian objects and domestic contexts, and how this relationship can elucidate the social history of a community. These issues were explored through analysis of corrugated utilitarian pottery from the sites of the Homol’ovi Settlement Cluster (HSC), a community of seven villages in northeastern Arizona occupied from around 1260 through 1400.
The social organization of corrugated pottery production in the HSC was approached from several angles. To identify the number and nature of the ceramic manufacturing communities present during the Pueblo IV occupation of the Homol’ovi area, sherds were submitted for instrumental neutron activation analysis and petrographic analysis. The results of the compositional analyses indicate that ceramic production groups in the Homol’ovi area were not primarily distinguished by access to specific raw material resources. What differentiation there is within the raw materials used by Homol’ovi potters appears to have been determined primarily by village, with the residents of a few villages preferring to use specific clay or temper sources. Both locally produced pottery and ceramics imported into the Homol’ovi area were incorporated into a typological and stylistic analysis. This analysis found evidence of two different production styles in the corrugated pottery assemblage. One appears stylistically similar to pottery produced in areas to the north around the Hopi Mesas; the other appears to be more akin to stylistic traditions practiced in the Puerco area and in the Chevelon drainage. This diversity suggests the presence of multiple immigrant communities co-residing within the HSC. This social diversity is not reflected in the decorated ceramic tradition of the HSC, which largely conforms to the ceramic traditions of the Hopi Mesas.
Interrogating the disjuncture in the identities embodied through different categories of material culture, used in different social contexts, provides a framework through which to explore the complex social relationships that characterized Pueblo IV villages formed as individuals and communities negotiated the competing forces of integration and differentiation. This study demonstrates the value of approaching identity from multiple scales. If identity is understood as fundamentally multi-faceted and multi-scalar, even seemingly homogeneous cultural units are characterized by social diversity and the tension that accompanies such diversity. The patterns of production visible in utilitarian corrugated pottery provide a nuanced method of clarifying the complex identities of Ancestral Puebloan communities and assessing social connections and differences between groups.
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Shaw, Emma. "Re-locating ceramics : art, craft, design? : a practice-based, critical exploration of ceramics which re-locates the discipline in the context of consumption, the home and the everyday." Thesis, University of Westminster, 2007. https://westminsterresearch.westminster.ac.uk/item/92029/re-locating-ceramics-art-craft-design-a-practice-based-critical-exploration-of-ceramics-which-re-locates-the-discipline-in-the-context-of-consumption-the-home-and-the-everyday.
Full textAbstract:
The home is the territory of ceramics and crafts. It is a major site for the consumption, use and display of ceramics. However, ideas about the consumption of ceramics in the home have not been fully explored within its writing or practices. This research proposes a critical and theoretical framework for ceramics which relocates it in the contemporary context of consumption, in the home and the everyday (Attfield, 2000). This work draws on recent studies of material culture and consumption (Miller, 2001) which focus on the social role of the domestic object and which explore our relationships with things. This research is practice-based where my art practice is the main research method and methodology, art practice as research. The research began with a literature and contextual review of the field of ceramics and craft writing and practice. Conclusions drawn from this research identified the over-riding research question - what differentiates art, craft and design? and formed the basis of the Practice Manifesto which identified the issues and approaches the practical research would adopt, a starting point and a guide for the studio research. The completed practical research consists of a new series of work entitled About Ceramics ... This work explores the meaning of ceramics, how ceramics are used, experienced, valued and understood. It rejects traditional concerns and approaches to the subject and instead adopts a critical, conceptual approach. The resulting artworks embrace elements from across the disciplines of art, craft and design. Although predominantly made up of industrially made objects, the work also contains a significant craft or hand-made element. As such, the work inhabits the spaces "in between" established categories and provides an alternative, hybrid model for practice. The work is made using ordinary, everyday, mass-produced objects and materials, privileging a lower class of objects and practices (such as DIY & home/ hobby crafts) previously excluded from the ceramics and craft fold. For example, Basketweave explores ideas about ceramics, DIY and home decoration and is made entirely from wallpaper (brick wall pattern). This work blurs the boundaries of art, craft and design - at what point does the decoration become the form, or the craft become art? Collection of Objects (about ceramics) explores ideas about collections and display and the status of objects. A collection of objects (which includes an enamel facsimile of an 18th century Sevres porcelain plate, a brick teapot and a wooden mug tree) are displayed on a pine kitchen dresser. The objects presented here are not valuable as craft objects or antiques, or for their aesthetic status, but because they have a relationship to, have been influenced by, or simply would not exist without ceramics. The central work in this series is What sort of mug do you take me for? It consists of a forest of over-sized mug trees (made from wood, MIDIF & pegs), each mug tree displaying a separate mug collection. This work further explores ideas about collections and collecting in the home, linking the processes collecting and display in the home with those of identity construction. Although ideas about taste and class, and about the aesthetic status of objects are central to this work, the objects employed here are not simply acting as symbols of class or as "bad" taste, they are also acting as signifiers of identity. This work demonstrates how the seemingly insignificant objects in our homes (such as a ceramic mug), and the ways we own, use and display those objects, play an important role in the construction and expression of self. This work invites its and your classification, asking What sort of mug do you take me for? In The Value of Things, Cummings and Lewandowska (2000) identify that the drive to collect is the same regardless of whether a collection is for the home or the museum. It is the hierarchies of art, craft and design which dictate the value and status of things. These hierarchies however are not in operation in the majority of homes and this makes the home an important site for understanding ceramics and for extending current concepts of art, craft and design. This research offers new perspectives and provides an alternative model for both writing and practice. It proposes a theoretical and critical framework for ceramics which relocates ideas about the subject in the context of its consumption and use in the home, linking ideas about the use and display of everyday domestic objects with the processes of identity construction.
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Kay, Lacey. "Fashionable Art." BYU ScholarsArchive, 2012. https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd/3337.
Full textAbstract:
My final thesis exhibition, Fashionable Art, opens up a link between art and fashion. I used clay as my primary medium to create hyper-realistic handbags in the style of Trompe l'oeil. I am interested in placing art in fashion settings and fashion in art settings. In the show, I placed many purses on pedestals for a gallery setting, in a glass case for a purse shop setting and also placed large photos in a fashion photo shoot setting. I am concerned with creating an environment that celebrates the handbag from just an accessory to an art object. By using clay as my primary media, the purse becomes a more permanent representation. I am able to freeze in time a small piece of our cultural timeline. I am interested in creating these hyper-realistic works because I want the viewer to be led into thinking these are real purses and to explore the idea of fashion being more than just a piece of clothing or accessory, but also the history and affect it has on each of us, big or small.