TOOLS

The grip, the grab, the touch - how does a ceramic artist have the ability to choose a specific tool for their wanted outcome?

It starts form a trial. Every demo shows a lot of a single tool, the grip, the grab, the touch. Every level of a working phase from the kneel wedging, needs a specific tool. A pro forms their own, shaved and welded, losers steal. (I did lose a brush to the ceramic universe.)

Knives are a mystery, but I want to talk about a thing about sculpting tools. I bought four from Paris, and I keep admiring their mini-capability. It’s almost as I would be searching for the right tool for the right spot and always finding one of the four. I didn’t buy any extra.

I even use mine to make the doorway holy. Parahultaisuus, just right.

Tools are just tools. They are mendable and meant to be used. If your tool gets broken in the midst of things, you can always purchase a new one, like loop tools, that also are filable for a better grip. I also have a mini file set form Columbus, OH, and a chisel set.

I’m back working with miniature sculptures.

Ornamon Teosmyyynti

9.3. - 17.3.2019 Kaapelitehdas

Mon - Fri 12–18/Sat - Sun 11–17

How much hands on knowledge do you need until you’re professional on theory - a paradox

While counter hypothesizing a set of craft prejudices, (1994, s.8) Dormer got me pondering following aspects on craft knowledge consuming: what is already adapted, to be considered only as an narrow area of the knowledge, and is important and needed to be seen what is yet to be learned, or gathered from all ceramic knowledge, by study or research. Paraphrasing that, what is already learned is to be an only field of all of the knowledge, since finding knowledge comes from a need of a solution - body of knowledge/knowledge as more consuming kind than what would be kept. The knowledge needs form the seeker the understanding of specific subject matter and engaging to the discipline specific knowledge as a topic. (Brown and Duguid, 2000, s.120)

What I’m trying to state here is, that body of knowledge, as in an artist’s personal body of knowledge can be ever expandable. It will require a personal survey on the material also an point of view for all the information, given by other artists.

“It is assumed that absorbing craft knowledge - - forces your thinking through a filter of one set of rules.” (Dormer, 1994, s.8) In ceramics this might hold true. Tutorials and demonstration considering subjects as leather hard greenware for mishima purposes, or drying the clay all the way before bisque firing, but then using mod podge or realising you can program a magical firing to use all the energy you can. It all about bending the given rules so you can be an beginner first and a professional at last. Rules in ceramic material knowledge is based on how the clay and the glaze work, form drying slowly under a fabric and plastic, to paper clay fix*, to adding some glycerin into your glaze. It is about problem solving by gathering tips and how-tos for your own studio practice.

Owning an oeuvre; you start to consume specific areas of ceramics knowledge which serves your body of work, gathering bits of information on published pieces or tiny bits of information from comment sections, documentaries, museums, research articles, and artist tutorials. Material based problem solving mentality for the need of the craft knowledge, that is forwarding to the material aesthetics or an art work, and to be an professional in the material and of discipline specific knowledge.

When studying, study is a meaningful thing, first of course basics on clay, glaze, and surface techniques, but forwarding to your own oeuvre; not everything should be tried hands on the material, but a lot needs to be understood. If an invention happens in theory, practical knowledge will aim the craft to happen, a craft professional is a professional both in theory and in action. (know how, Dormer, 1994 s.10)

How much hands on knowledge you will need until you can be professional in theory?

*vinegar, bits of kitchen towel, and bone dry clay

On defining the nature of ceramic material knowledge & research

(empirically gathered knowledge)

KXX5

K₂O 0,269

CaO 0,500 Al₂O₃ 0.391 . SiO₂ 2,997

ZnO 0,231

Salmenhaara, 1983

Trial and error, starts form a professional standing point. To the immensive amount of published formulas, it would be only a brain tease to gather your own glaze base. But to figure out how colourants work, a test serie would be considered.

The established methods for writing formulas are the empirical charts, that are wrote down fired oxide ratios and their order, and the formula (total 100g), where material are marked as unfired presectuals.



defining the nature of material research

When it comes to the buy-able glazes and the limitations, to the labourful test tile progress is meaningful to the material based art, since according to the material basedy, the behind the artwork seen material work process will be significant when reaching a certain dimension of the artwork. The material based art form and the background work, the test series too, and the ceramic artist found glaze colour tones, are material research work of a professional. The test tiles archives are usually personal, so a big work amount is usually joyed thing that has been made.

Every single test tile gives new information, every single test serie is an attempt to reach a new dimension of a material, it's not solemnly done for artworks but to adapt the materials for a studio practice - every single material test will bring new information.

Universities have their own ways of producing test tiles, and ceramic artist should choose the form and the method awaringly.

"Test tiles and small test objects mold production ín series was one of Salmenhaara's teaching methods. - - Studio ceramicists' - - position can be made better only by expanding their knowledge on the material. To avoid misunderstandings, she hoped, that test objects and trials would not be evaluated or judged as art." (Leppänen, 1998, liite 2, s.10)

How ceramic art should be considered as contemporary fine art

Using craft knowledge to produce the objects that are describatory to the subjective artist’s statement. (Dormer, 1994 s. 34) To consider Dormer’s view (1994) on plastic arts and his ponderings on the tacit knowledge considering painting, to be said that material based art, ceramic art, is fine art. Tacit knowledge considering how to paint and what to paint, corresponds well, what to be described when considering a ceramic art object as an artwork “- - craft of representational painting.” (Dormer, 1994 s. 36) Craft, an idea, an object; craft as a medium for execution, method for self expression, practical skill as a technical achievement, something that you would do in your studio practice. (Dormer, 1994, s. 7)

Arts & crafts movement, aesthetics/an object, an artist’s statement/an object.

To consider ceramic art as material based art, it can represent material aesthetics or an approach to decorative art, still not reaching neoclassicism (kertaustyyli), but a comment on itself. A vase can represent an idea or anything considering past decades, to issues considering taste. It would be preposterous to consider ceramic art to something that is merely usable.

Duplessis vase would have needed 10 professionals within the craft personnel to produce a serie, but now considering artistry, an artist and a benefiter off the craft knowledge, producing an artwork. A shape within material based art, an abstract blob. The lucky mishaps that you was even able to make such a thing/professionalism.

Is it because of the lack of art teaching within ceramicists, that artworks can merely describe a subject of a mind or societal problematic, but always is being considered something about of a monumentality, shape, feel or material behaviour. Is European ceramic art still on a level of a dysfunctional design object/which sort of titillates me as an artwork, a theme. Functional sculpture of something so vain!

(And here we see a painting of a vase/a still life. Dormer, 1994, s.35)

Or what contemporary ceramic art looks like, not what it stands for, or represents.

A. W. Finch

I saw A. W. Finch's exhibition at Didrichsen art museum this Sunday. I wanted to make a little research on his influence on ceramics as the exhibition showcased basically his legacy on paintings and etchings. Les XX avec avantgarde by Monet and Gauguin & co. (Later with decorative artists, new salon Libre Esthétique.) Pointillism, plus neo impressionism avec M. Enckell. 

1 https://www.hs.fi/kulttuuri/art-2000005877474.html

My teacher in material studies has given a lecture about him at Design Museum in 2006 which I'm going  to refer here shortly. 

Finch studied in Académie Royale des Beaux-Arts in Brussels. He gained his know-how at Boch factory as faience painter 1890-1893, as a researcher.

Iris factory's showroom opened in Helsinki, 1894. He was invited to start empirical research at Iris ceramic art factory in Porvoo, Finland 1897 by leading the company, which visuality was based strongly on red clay, engobes and scraffito, combining jugend style and functional art. His aim was to join the fine and decorative arts together. Lines as decorative approach, simplicity and harmony in forms. Running glaze aesthetiques, flamme, based on Tang Dynasty ware. (Observed from the exhibited vase, that the glaze has runned on a fire brick/tripod and sanded before exhibition.)

He also had another salon based on the idea of art industry, Societé Anonyme L'Art, where ideologially, the artwork was exhibited for the idea, not by artists/makers.

Ateneum, A. W. Finch 1902-1930, followed by Elsa Elenius, Kyllikki Salmenhaara, Airi Hortling as teachers. They all rooted for empirical material research for their students to study color metal oxides in glazes. He brought notes from Belgium to bring theoretical reach towards the material and the design. He underlined function, technique and aesthetics. Strong influencer of Arts & Crafts movement/taideteollisuus. 

2 http://www.airihortling.fi/Keramiikan%20koulutustraditio%20A.%20W.%20Finch.pdf

Paikkari/Tamminen Connection, soon at the merch

Cup, to be purchased, soon at the merch

Linéaire de 50/50 de linéaire

Finding colored glaze bases in plastic buckets and mixing these into results to fill a bigger glaze fire, realizing that I'm lacking of good green smoothie greens. In my base glazes, to my best knowledge, a significant amount of zinc, the chromium turns out to be a pretty khaki. 

I've already been trying out an quadrixial blend, but being frustrated by the detailed precise percent amounts of different glaze bases, and I'm still not sure how it systematically works. It's not an easiest blend. Also, I wasn't content enough to choose only three green coloring components but wanting to use four, to reach as many hues as easily as possible, and willing not to go for a quadrixial blend again.

I was planning to reach a line blend to get green hues, but as wanting to blend as many as possible, easily, I came out with this chart.

In the mid row, on the left, the AB, and on the right side, the CD, are mixed as 50/50, and in the mid of the mid row all the main glazes will be mixed as 4/4. Rest of the test tiles are glazed with vertically mixed glazes, 50/50, top and bottom to the middle. Note, that the linéaires are mirrored in the top and at the bottom row, but not necessarily need to be done so. Note, that you can still choose any of 50/50 blend glazes to receive these glaze colours, to receive colours that contain no more than 8 colorants in the mid row, or still head for a triaxial or multiaxial if you want, to quit this shit.

Use a syringe and 10ml is approximately two table spoons, so top and bottom rows are enough for mid row too (30ml + 30 ml). My test tiles are minuscule.

Level up

A 100 80/20 60/40 50/50 40/60 20/80 100 C

19/08/2018 18:07

The Pantone chart of glazes

If Sèvres found of chromium oxide was used to create 76 references of corresponding pigments for glazes I don’t believe this was done at random.

According to Richard Slade (1996) every practicing ceramic artist will face difficulties when dealing with the accessibility of glaze color tones, and in his article, in the conference publication Networks in Ceramics, he shows us a picture of glazes achieved with the triaxial blend. 

Canadian blog en français Le Blog Céramique (Groupe de recherche sur les matériaux céramique de la Maison des métiers d’art de Québec) shares their collection of charts to reach glaze color tones, méthodes 50/50, triaxial, quadraxiale and line blend.

Lindsay Scypta has used this systematic chart of 50/50 when discovering her glazes to her studio practice and in her teaching, however, nobody ever before her got that the glaze colors can be found from inspirational color reference material. I started to use that immediately after her, channeling the wanted hues. 

When reaching glaze colors, it’s beneficial to use both color metal oxides and pigments/stains to create the 50/50 selection of systematic chart of starter glazes. I have been benefited by the charts in my personal studio practice, when my goal has been to achieve precise selection of glaze color tones, since base glaze toning with both pigments/stains and color metal oxides will reach quickly several color options. (You can actually skip the base glaze from 50/50, but study the intensity with the linear blend. Or of course the blendage of two colors of your choice.) 

It’s notable how the charts can be used side by side: 50/50 chart will bring new coloured starter glazes, and you can pick three, and join them into a triaxial blend, where colorants can possibly be both pigments/stains and color metal oxides. Then, by using triaxial blend chart, you can reach a scale of glazes where the amount of colorants will reach maximum of 6 different colouring agents, following chart’s strict systematic nature and the percentage/amounts of different colourants. For more, you can try even quadraxial (AB 50%/CD 50%), when you’ll reach maximum of 8 colourants. My love affair with iron oxide brings beautiful iron specles in the stain dyed glazes, especially with the hues of blues. And it would not matter if the starter glazes contain similar color agents, systemacy will work for you. (AD, CD)

Infinite Pantone chart of glazes

The milliliter specific, systematic glaze color therapy is, with it’s work load, a labourful process at the glaze lab. As an addition to, and to side of, the happier shiny glossy glazes, you may want to choose an textured glaze to make it more interesting to work at the lab. Make tiny tiney test tiles for your archive and make sure to include as many colourants as possible, vaster in miniature. 

It will need days at the lab, but when done well in the beginning, it will be an infinite updateable glaze archive, the existing base glaze (litre by volume) and archived test tiles (50/50) will benefit the research work done at the studio also in the future. The charts will be an ever expandable glaze tile archive/palette when the recipe of the base glaze will stay the same and the colourants are the only variation, triaxial being the chart of addition.

With the systematic nature of the charts, it’s more simple to reach several glaze color tones at once, comparing this to randomly laid material tests, and the haphazard percentages of the colourants. A test tile gives more information as a part of the chart already. From the main points of R. Slade’s quote, on the archievability of the glazes, the glaze charts will bring the solution of the glaze color tones also for the documentation, because of their strict systematic nature, archieve is forever in order.

ADOXOGRAPHY

Abstract



Immaterial property rights over material - personal aspects on communally grown material knowledge

For the contemporary material based field of art and design, the results of an artist or designer-laid material tests are a vast amount of material research work behind the finished artworks, and should be considered as discipline specific. Especially in ceramics, the artists and designers, who work with the material, can share their material level research and technical innovations within the professional network. They form their new knowledge as a byproduct in practice, while developing their material range, for the visual aspects of their art works. In other words the artistic practice brings new material knowledge and this new intellectual property over the material, enables the communication through the knowledge exchange within the whole professional field.

In this article the core term, knowledge, may refer to, for example, a professional skill in ceramics, material test series and the results, and the know-how how to commit a specific technique, proceeding and aiming towards a finished ceramic artwork. The shared ceramic knowledge (or information) is made available and accessible in the networks of practice and on platforms through the knowledge sharing tutorials, technical articles, and how-tos. The ceramic knowledge is gathered and gained to form a professional body of ceramic knowledge, professionality in making ceramic art and to become a ceramic artist by profession. What are the correct ways of benefiting from this kind of shared knowledge as a ceramic artist? Is it solemnly a source for further study or could the information found be used as it is?

Not only R. Burkett (1996) has been thinking of ceramic knowledge, and the open access to it, but also the separation of the technique from the final artwork, as separate elements. The technical achievements and the research work shared in the networks of practice can be further researched, as is done in the world of science, and citing properly, homaging the research work done by a colleague. Burkett’s quote shows that the technique for making art could be studied for a communal good, and as a tool for expression.1

Post-academia, leaving information as a trade secret should be done awarely, and sharing one’s professional knowledge should be done while citing a colleague. A private test tile archive becomes a private curiosity collection at the studio if the access to the information is not open for the networks of practice. Since, as a hypothesis, the nature of knowledge is first personal, then professional, then collective and then personal, again, when the knower becomes a knowledge seeker. The shared knowledge benefits not only an individual practitioner but the whole network of practice.

1 ”Isolation is not always a bad thing, and a certain amount is necessary for most artists. As a friend once said, art is often best made in private. But the cult of secrecy and protection of trade secrets that have long been endemic to ceramics, a kind of self-imposed artistic isolationism, is something that should be re-examined. If we jealously guard our technical developments – the special glaze, the arcane process – is that all our work is about? There is much waste effort in independent artists duplicating each other's technical efforts, reinventing the wheel so to speak, rather than all benefiting from shared knowledge as is done in the world of science.” Richard Burkett, 1996 Bridging the world – ceramics in the virtual age, Networks in Ceramics




Friday, June 8, 2018

œuvre

The gathered material knowledge originates from artist’s personal study on the material, to be a part of their body of knowledge (Dormer) next to their body of work. A further researched technique will become personal and identifiable by every artists own handprint (and the new material knowledge can be shared with the network of practice). Every artist will form a body of work, as an arch through their artworks, and while working professionally, a signature style. A material based body of work is possible in ceramic art, since as a material based art form it represents material aesthetics. From these start points, a technique could be seen as one content of a ceramic artwork.

In the ceramic design world, the technique is one aspect of a handmade product, copyrighting a material behavioural aspect often comes as first come, and dibs on that. Best products leave room for the material itself. Copyrighting it’s immaterial aspects go as a fine detail, still acknowledging material traditions, and it’s nature as something that is communal, but a lucky innovation can be copyrighted. Elisa Strozyk’s ceramic table tops represent themselves as something extraordinary, since the designer have left the main detail on luck. Can be said that she owns immaterial copyrights on glaze behaviour.2

Let’s separate material knowledge from the ceramic artwork. Owning an oeuvre moves on two layers: one is the physical artwork and the content, and on the other hand, the new immaterial/technical knowledge on the material. The formation of body of knowledge, in the field of material based art and design, it explicates itself, how the professional material body of knowledge will form next to the body of work, and how the professional material mind can be used. The œuvre is gained through personal survey on the material, it is earned because of the technical advances on the material behaviour. It’s necessary that the techniques and materials are surveyed thoroughly to achieve the wanted outcome or it can be left on experimental luck.

As studio praxis happens, the further researched technique would be studying another artist’s developed or copyrighted technique, but the further research is important for ever expanding material knowledge, and if shared, for the whole networks of practice. The intellectual property shared as information, is always shared, from the basis of the sharer. The techniques used and their immaterial copyrights should be linked to the academic or post-academic interaction of artists and designers. Calling the dibs on a technical aspect when working the material should start from an academically ethical standpoint. You may not want to survey same thing another artist or designer goes for but rather join yourself into the discussion on the material. Ideas might not be yours or original, since techniques are historically routed, developed, and globally used, but the final outcome including the survey process on the material is personal, then professional.

2 https://www.dezeen.com/2014/04/17/ceramic-tables-elisa-strozyk-milan-2014/

Saturday, June 9, 2018

Material mind hack

If left unshared, for a professional mind, a technique is easier to track down, since the capacity of the professional mind is on the level of a bodied knowledge, this goes along with the body of work.

When creating a ceramic artwork, it is important that the process will be imagined beforehand (to imagine how things are done, also G. Perry citation3). Know-how (theory on craft knowledge) does not only enable technical processes, but it’s also a part of planning a ready artwork, imagining the results of a working process beforehand (Dormer, 1994, s.19). Imagining a ready artwork is an essential part of ceramic artists work process, since the ready artwork will be final after the last firing.

When studying another ceramic artists techniques from the finished artworks, a professional will be using their professional mind, professional body of knowledge. If the artist chooses not to share the techniques they’ve used, a professional can conclude the techniques that have been used. Although, using a published artist tutorial as a source for information/knowledge moves in the professional field of fairness, since the artist has chosen to share their knowledge from their own principles. The unshared can be studied by laying test series that start from a knowledge seekers professional standing point. This can begin a test serie that follows trial and error, but copying another artist’s already known.

The background research work moves on two layers in it’s material basedy: one is laid test series of material research and the other one is conjoining the technique for the final visual outcome. From the ceramic artists point of view all the material research will aim for the finished art works, nevertheless, all the background material research is meaningful for the whole material based art form. So, as a hypothesis, shared knowledge and openness in ceramic knowledge and the further research process benefits not only an individual maker but the whole network of practice, the professional field of material based art and design.

When it comes to the Universities, after the formal academic requirements, the proper citation is fucking important, and ideologically this should be maintained at the studios, in private artists’ or designers practice, when the goal is to produce post-academic level material research, ideally citing a material research work done by a colleague, making this as a post-academic material research recommendation.

You practically can’t do anything about it, somebody might hack your technical developments, but as stated, you may not want to survey same thing another artist or designer goes for, but rather join yourself into the discussion on the material. Professionals do not steal, they use the knowledge to build their own body of knowledge.


3 “And that clicking on the background you can hear is my kiln. This up there is my kiln goddess who is really efficient as a talisman because quite often things go wrong in the kiln and I get really upset because that means weeks work have gone down in a pan. So making pottery - that’s the reason you don’t see many artist potters because it’s a snaf material but because it’s really shit when it goes wrong. (laughter) Opening the kiln - I always think of it as an exercising controlled disappointment. You have to imagine how it’s going to look and in my imagination it’s always absolutely bloody gorgeous even better than the best pot I’ve ever made. But of course when I open the kiln it'll be like the seventh best pot I've ever made or the twelfth best pot I’ve ever made and that is kind of disappointing, you know, but I’ll come around to it and I may like it a lot after a few years but usually it’s like I open the kiln and then I’ll go - that’ll do.” Grayson Perry 2011 https://youtu.be/_Yboc75WufE 

Dormer, Peter 1994 The Art of the Maker: Skill and Its Meaning in Art, Craft and Design

Tuesday, June 12, 2018


Sharing from a standpoint/an artist tutorial

In the level of fair copyrighting/copylefting, from an artist standpoint shared technique, or a formula, moves in the ethically academically correct way of sharing, and benefiting off a shared knowledge. When an artist shares something, a part of their work process, a part of their making process, a series of different stages/steps behind the finished artworks, she shares something done researchwork with the material, what they know on a material level about their body of work.

In order to reveal the material research work done in the background, in artist’s or a designer's studio practice, this material knowledge could either be shared as a source of a livelihood (comparing to, that this knowledge could be kept as a personal/professional trade secret) or published in an open access database as a free artist tutorial. The method for sharing can be only of partially shared material knowledge, this means sharing enough.

Artist tutorial is one way, a part of the ceramic professional social media. It is about portraying a ceramic artist as a practitioner-knower, a portrayal of an artist as a practicing material researcher. Sharing the knowledge though ceramic media will form a network of practice. The publishing platforms can be, for example, Ceramics Monthly paper publication and Ceramic Arts Daily webpage. Ceramic artists, the knowledge providers, and the knowledge seekers, interact on comment sections.

Keeping things post-academic, in the US this link from Universities to the professional field is strong, when it comes to networking ceramic artists and their social (media) presence, in the form of so-called artist tutorials. MFA post-graduates will form their personal body of work and while expanding their material knowledge they share their research work in form of tutorials and how-tos, they represent themselves as practicing artists and material researchers. In addition to the technical content, it’s notable how professional ceramic artists use the tutorial sharing internet platforms to connect with other professionals.

The artists should follow the academic fairness when citing or revealing the original source for, for example, a ceramic material formula. Molly Hatch cites a Andrew Martin’s brushing slip with the mentality of the academic fairness, acknowledging the material research work done by a colleague.

https://fi.pinterest.com/pin/212161832430819155/




Wednesday, June 13, 2018

benefiting

The research work done in studio practice can be material based, but it is also always communally grown knowledge. Lastly, how the internet tutorials of ceramic surface techniques can be a part of a studio practice within ceramics art.

When it comes to the Finnish copyright law it’s allowed to teach other artists techniques, only, when it would not reach the plaquary of the artworks. The further research process will be recommended, and the focus would be in the originality of a personal/professional body of work. The Universities still claim their teaching methods and the content, and the graduated will hold their body of knowledge gained through studies, regardless, it needs a personal further study or material research process already.

The ceramic knowledge is consumed to be part of every ceramic artists practice, while every ceramic artist will search for it from their personal need and standing point. (Brown and Duguid, 2000 s.120) When it comes to the artist tutorial there’s a chance that inspiration might rise from other standing points in addition to the technical content and this would be something that people should be careful of. A personal/professional studio practice receiving and benefiting from knowledge on the technical level is righted. Consciously consumed ceramic knowledge for the start point of material survey or a technical help should forward the making process, but the conscious consuming should follow a criteria:

Consuming knowledge and benefiting off the technical innovations as a part of a personal/professional production should be done awarely so that hand print will not be duplicated. Accent strongly on further research process. Every seriously approaching, creating artist should separate awarely where the fine line between benefiting and duplicating will move. (Juvonen, 2015) 

The shared knowledge benefits not only an individual practitioner but the whole network of practice. This same knowledge exchange structure stands for when it comes to the collectively re-explored (archived and shared) material tests. What are the correct ways of benefiting from this kind of shared knowledge as a ceramic artist? Is it solemnly a source for further study or could the information found be used as it is? You don’t have to try everything, you just need to get it.

Network of Practice theory: John Seely Brown and Paul Duguid’s (2000) research
“The Social Life of Information”

Juvonen, Leena, interview, 2015

PRIVÉ 1.4-14.4.2018

PUBLIC STATEMENT

Palissy didn’t have enough stools to reach lustre, but he didn’t have porcelain eighter. He doesn’t mind. Secretion is about lustre running from your nose all the time. Spark is when you have made the trip to smoke your spliff in peace, but you couldn’t light it. Stem is the one you paid for. Sea of weeds is the best you can do within Amsterdam legislation.

PRIVÉ deals with the aspects on survival, subjects of parental advisory, psyche and mind envy. Consciousness is about figuring out the world next to your own, but I still don’t know what psychosis is/IMPRINT.

The loose leaf publication is a writing on things that are none of your business, but explanatory.