Thesis (M.S.)--University of Michigan, 1997. / Includes bibliographical references.

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.

This research describes, analyses and evaluates the technical processes behind a series of original ceramics artworks,which take varying degrees of technical risks in the making process. The aesthetic evaluation of these artworks includes the ways in which the ceramic artworks might be perceived as successful or unsuccessful. The traditional Korean moon jar was adopted as the primary form to investigate taking risks in the making in addition to the employment of many traditional procedures and processes. Historically, these unusual yet now highly acclaimed ceramic treasures were underestimated, and were regarded in the history of Korean ceramics as failed artworks. This common perception significantly influenced this project to reinterpret and recontextualise the value of traditional Korean moon jars. The viewer is confronted with an artwork,which challenges the paradigm of traditional ceramic practice. This research explores the ways in which Korean moon jars can reveal elements of risk taking in the making process and describes the key characteristics of risk taking. Methodologies deployed include the creation of original ceramic artworks through an investigation and interpretation of the making process; a review and interpretation of historical and contemporary material including archives, databases, museums and galleries; and case studies of artists and critics through interviews, electronic correspondence and questionnaires. Conclusions drawn from the research include an aesthetic and critical interpretation of taking risks in the making of Korean moon jars. They contributeto the paucity of research in this area, and assert the need for a critical re-assessment of Korean moon jars in contemporary ceramics. The written thesis makes a vital contribution to the limited published material regarding Korean moon jars, in particular the making process combined with the concept and practical features of risk-taking in sculptural moon jar forms. In addition, this research provides the first complete theorisation of tacit knowledge and workmanship of risk,with regards to the Korean moon jar and demonstrates the employment of failure or discarded pieces that contribute to aesthetic theorisation, such as the sublime within Korean scholarly ceramics. Taking risks during the making process became a key conceptual feature of the investigation and inspired three new understandings of deploying and evaluating risk taking while working in the medium of ceramics, with emphasis on the moon jar form.

This study demonstrates the potential of an amalgamation of expressing space recognized by cultural contexts through creative and technical processes behind a body of ceramic artworks. The research has identified methods of perception and representation onspace in the East and the West. The identification is necessary in order to establish the foundation of this practical research and to contextualize hybrid expression in artistic expressions within the field of ceramics. The combination of cultural contexts is also an emerging discourse within the field of contemporary ceramic art. The hybrid expression of space offers potentials for using unique qualities of the material to approach this context in artworks. This research aims to identify, develop and demonstrate on how hybrid cultural concepts might be used to express space in ceramics. A multi-method approach is used to address research issues from the perspective of the ceramic practitioner. The methodology consists of interpretation and comparison of cultural contexts, and their visualization through amalgamating techniques to fabricate works as ceramic art. Here the creative potential of hybrid expressions is underlined while also pursuing diverse technological attempts. In conjunction with these methods, case studies in this research focus on various expressive approaches to represent space in the context of contemporary ceramic art. This research provides Eastern and Western practitioners with a significant body of knowledge. Theoretical results materialise combinable characteristics of Eastern and Western cultures from a hybrid perspective of theirdualistic structures. The practical results also demonstrate, in several ways, the potential of hybrid expression of space in the creation of 3-dimensionalceramic works. The contribution to knowledge encapsulates the interpretation of a multiplicity of perspectives in cultural contexts, a working method utilising various techniques based on hybrid concepts, and distinct ceramic sculptures as art that connote complex descriptions. As a model of practice for integrated creation this research supplements conceptual discourse and technical transformation in the field of ceramics and with it is the expectation of a paved way for further investigation and development by other practitioners.

No description available.

No description available.

This body of ceramic work is a visual study of cultural displacement created by a transitory lifestyle. By contrasting eroded textures with solid patterns, I am suggesting the interplay between detritus and repetitive stability. Through this interplay, I am depicting a personal identity that has been continually fractured and reassembled. / Jeffrey Thurston

Michelle Swafford

Abstract not available

The Chinese first developed stoneware ash glazes about 3500 years ago, when their kiln technology progressed sufficiently to reach temperatures high enough to fuse such glazes. More than 2000 years went by before this knowledge reached Japan and Korea, where ash glazes were also subsequently produced. In Britain, the advent of studio pottery in the 20th century led to interest in oriental approaches to ceramics, including ash glazes. A number of studio potters used and indeed continue to use ash glazes in their work. The great majority of these glazes have, throughout history, been made of wood ash and are mainly fired to high stoneware temperatures of at least 1280°C, Cone 10. Worldwide interest in this subject continues today; however, a general increase in environmental concern, especially fuel economy, raises a number of issues for contemporary ceramic practitioners. This research addresses these issues by employing multiple methods in a „composite‟ methodology, rooted in art practice, the aims being: † To develop a range of new glazes, for lower stoneware temperature (1240°C, Cone 7) oxidised firings, using ash from arable crop waste as an environmentally sensitive ingredient. † To demonstrate and articulate the possible creative, practical and environmental benefits of the new glazes for contemporary ceramic practitioners, principally through artworks. † To offer a model for investigating the potential of a new source of ash, as a glaze material. The plant species explored are the Combining pea and Field bean, neither of which is documented in any of the contextual sources located. Both plants are widely grown as protein crops in many countries of the world and were available in North Yorkshire for this research. Glaze calculation methods and empirical approaches to glaze development have been investigated and the ashes have been analysed. From this information, glaze recipes have been developed and tested. Since the appearance of a glaze is affected by the clay body to which it is applied, the compositions of available clays have been studied and four widely differing examples chosen for the tests. Case studies have been undertaken of contemporary ceramic practitioners, whose approaches to ash glazing vary widely. These studies further develop the context for the new glazes and provide a framework within which to assess their significance. The creative potential of the glazes developed has been explored through their application in ceramic artworks, exhibited both during and at the end of the research. During the creation of these artworks, a theme emerged, closely linking them to their place of origin. In addition to the new artworks, the research contributes both a range of new ash glaze recipes and a model for exploring the potential of ash from a new source.