DESCRIPTION:
1 Week Residency at Experimental Pottery Workshop, Jingdezhen
http://potteryworkshop.org/Jingdezhen
Attempt to fabricate ceramic module of “Unplanned Periphery” Project
OBJECTIVE:
Jingdezhen, the “Ceramics Capital of the World,” has a history dating back one-thousand seven hundred years to the Song Dynasty. Making two trips to this city, the second with my entire studio, I attempted to produce the modular prototypes for the Pedestrian Circulation Generators in the UNPLANNED PERIPHERY project. Working within The Experimental Pottery Workshop, my peers and I were given the opportunity to collaborate with local ceramicists to gain insight on the limitations and opportunities of ceramics, both in its material and production processes. We were taught to make molds and how to slip-cast for production. While in the studio, an interesting phenomenon was witnessed. Even though different languages were spoken between the students and craftsmen, a dialogue was able to be established through the manipulation of a material. Once this communication was established my designs were modified based upon newly acquired production skills, and similarly, the production methods changed to fit the design.
