Ceramics and its Dimensions PT.1 // Congress 2017
Can Ceramics Make a Difference? ~ Claudia Casali
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| Claudia Casali at Potteries Museum and Art Gallery, Stoke-On-Trent. /Ceramics and it's Dimensions Congress, Oct 2017 |
Claudia Casali - Director of the International Museum of Ceramics, Faenza, Italy. opened the congress with the first keynote. Can Ceramics Make a Difference? - When ceramics make a difference. Her breadth of knowledge of ceramics was particularly engaging, and she approached discussion and debate about the social and cultural elements of the ceramics trade with enthusiasm.
Culture symbols from 16th-century European ceramics are where Casali began her venture through the history of ceramics. It's interesting to think about the social implications of Ceramics today to compare to this time of high culture where the wealthy indulged in extravagant pottery to decorate their homes. In the 21st-Century, earthenware is much more accessible due to industrialisation of the industry and consumerism. (Casali canvasses this towards the end.)
She spoke of Porcelain titled 'White Gold', an example of the rarity of extravagant ceramics and the worth of these pieces to the upper class of the 16th-Century.
Casali transitioned fluently into cultural points of reference. She referenced not only iconic ceramicists; but movements in Art History that have guided the development of ceramics design. This allowed access into a deeper understanding of ceramics as a form of Art. Ceramics and Pottery is a skill that goes unnoticed, possibly due to popularity of other modes of creative practice such as painting, video work etc.
She referenced Futurism as a 'new approach to reality' , advances in machinery and technology attaching new values to ceramics. This suggested an altered frame of mind from artist and society due to the swift advancement in world affairs. Influences and teaching from the Bauhaus(1919) and the 'Scuola du Ceramica' (1919) bred the new generation of designers and thinkers that changed the aesthetic and understanding of ceramics to fit with the changing contemporary climate.
The transdisciplinary nature of contemporary ceramics is an issue that was particularly interesting. Again the Bauhaus School of Art and Design bought together artists, architects, designers, philosophers, inevitably influencing one another. This leads to a richness in the trade that appeals to much larger audience. She noted that the new sentiment of the International Art Fair also bought together a range of influences to ceramics from not only across Europe but all over the world.
The impact of the war on the ceramics trade was another interesting concept she debated. Creativity was diluted by Nazi Leadership and infiltration. Only 10 years of Avant-Grade design was sustained, the political interference took designers back to a bare, classical mode of ceramic production.
She spoke of Porcelain titled 'White Gold', an example of the rarity of extravagant ceramics and the worth of these pieces to the upper class of the 16th-Century.
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| Gio Ponti, Orcio Prospectica, 1925, Maiolica |
Casali transitioned fluently into cultural points of reference. She referenced not only iconic ceramicists; but movements in Art History that have guided the development of ceramics design. This allowed access into a deeper understanding of ceramics as a form of Art. Ceramics and Pottery is a skill that goes unnoticed, possibly due to popularity of other modes of creative practice such as painting, video work etc.
She referenced Futurism as a 'new approach to reality' , advances in machinery and technology attaching new values to ceramics. This suggested an altered frame of mind from artist and society due to the swift advancement in world affairs. Influences and teaching from the Bauhaus(1919) and the 'Scuola du Ceramica' (1919) bred the new generation of designers and thinkers that changed the aesthetic and understanding of ceramics to fit with the changing contemporary climate.
The transdisciplinary nature of contemporary ceramics is an issue that was particularly interesting. Again the Bauhaus School of Art and Design bought together artists, architects, designers, philosophers, inevitably influencing one another. This leads to a richness in the trade that appeals to much larger audience. She noted that the new sentiment of the International Art Fair also bought together a range of influences to ceramics from not only across Europe but all over the world.
"The international exchange is important to share another heritage, sharing ideas its a way of learning, developing. Not only personally but for a wider cultural impact. Moments of exchange create long lasting bridges between countries linked with a passion for the craft."This chain-reaction of inspiration and influences that reverberates globally, reverts back to that first initial question 'Can Ceramics Make a Difference?' Casali intelligently linked points of reference to the history of ceramics, connected it to the effect of that on contemporary ceramics today to return to this notion of the trade having a large impact on our social climate.
The impact of the war on the ceramics trade was another interesting concept she debated. Creativity was diluted by Nazi Leadership and infiltration. Only 10 years of Avant-Grade design was sustained, the political interference took designers back to a bare, classical mode of ceramic production.
She illustrated her discussion with post-war ceramics design and spoke of a new poeticism that came after the war. A different value for materiality, one of destruction, that acted as a counterpart to our societies after the war. Here Casali returned again to her question- when ceramics make a difference.
The example of Lucio Fontana's 'Spatial Concept' illustrated her ideas about a new materiality. His destruction of surface provides an existentialist reflection on human society and the human condition, an important part of understanding our place in society.
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| Lucio Fontana,Concetto Spaziale, Attesa, c. 1964 |
Casali concluded on a new question. What does it mean making ceramics today?
Moving our mode of thinking from other disciplines influencing ceramics to ceramics playing a role in other contemporary industries. For example architecture, environmental sciences and interestingly medicine. Innovative inventions in ceramic restorative body parts have had a increasingly positive impact on human quality of life.
In this fist keynote, Casali laid out the objectives this conference aimed to debate with her discussion around the impact ceramics has had on our sociological antiquity. She also unlocked an understanding of the richness of ceramics; that is in fact a part of our heritage not only in Stoke-On-Trent but globally.
Moving our mode of thinking from other disciplines influencing ceramics to ceramics playing a role in other contemporary industries. For example architecture, environmental sciences and interestingly medicine. Innovative inventions in ceramic restorative body parts have had a increasingly positive impact on human quality of life.
In this fist keynote, Casali laid out the objectives this conference aimed to debate with her discussion around the impact ceramics has had on our sociological antiquity. She also unlocked an understanding of the richness of ceramics; that is in fact a part of our heritage not only in Stoke-On-Trent but globally.
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