stephani stephenson on sun 18 dec 11
hic origins
There are many reasons to know and teach the origins of our materials and m=
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ethods.
NONE of us would be working in clay today if that knowledge had not been pa=
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ssed down.=3D20
On one hand we had potters, brickmakers ,scientists,artists and clayworkers=
=3D
who passed information generation to generation.=3D20
In this continent.,=3DA0=3DA0=3DA0 highly skilled Native=3DA0 potters passe=
d along=3D
=3DA0 the sources of clay, the techniques, designs, etc. all important info=
rm=3D
ation . They=3DA0 kept it alive for hundreds of years, even thousands, and =
so=3D
me came near to losing the thread .The colonial structures and facades in S=
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panish colonial Mexico were built by a combined force of skilled indiginous=
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clayworkers and skilled Spanish Moriscos who were fleeing Spain.=3D20
In other cases, in the U.S. , traditional knowledge of=3DA0 methods came wi=
th=3D
immigrants from other continents.=3D20
The great=3DA0 golden age of architectural terra cotta, and the American ti=
le=3D
industry would not have existed had there not been trained ceramic and pro=
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specting engineers who were able to locate and develop sources for material=
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s, prospecting geologists, chemists who could formulate=3DA0 and improve cl=
ay=3D
bodies and glazes, moldmakers,=3DA0 sculptors, installers, decorators and =
gl=3D
azers, draftsmen, and on and on....
.=3D20
Interestingly it was the Chicago fire and the development of the skyscraper=
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which gave rise to the use of clay cladding and architectural terra cotta.=
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The first companies had to make the case to dubious investors that clay cl=
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adding could be durable as well as economical. With pretty astonishing spee=
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d they developed production methods and improved claybodies and firing tech=
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niques. They did so=3DA0 by bringing skilled workers from industry ,primari=
ly=3D
from=3DA0 England and Germany.=3DA0 They nailed the=3DA0 process pretty=3D=
0A well =3D
,and=3DA0 post -fire Chicago was an excellent test .
The early work proved itself technically, but what was missing was the arti=
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stic, the aesthetic element.In other words, it was boring, not visually app=
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ealing.=3DA0 Fine arts sculptors from Italy were brought in to sculpt model=
s =3D
for the architectural work. Fine arts sculptors of the day were not necessa=
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rily well versed in sculpting work which would translate well in large arch=
=3D
itectural applications. The industry desperately needed to come up with a w=
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ork force to meet the needs of the new industry. An 1877 article titled ,"A=
=3D
rt Educaton Applied to Industry", made the case that American Crafts and In=
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dustry were suffering because there was a lack of ARTS training.
In 1880 the Philadelphia school of Industrial Arts added a clayworking depa=
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rtment. Students worked in the growing terra cotta industry, receiving a co=
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mprehensive education: sculptors, modelers , chemists and engineers came fr=
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om=3D0A this program and others which soon followed.=3D20
Ceramics departments at other universities were soon added.=3D20
When we ask the question ,how did ceramics departments end up in Universiti=
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es? this is at least part of the root of the answer. it was to provided ver=
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y specific skills for=3DA0 a new American industry.
To get back to the question of materials. If it were not for prospecting en=
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gineers, the California clay industry would have had a tough time as well. =
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I have looked at the old mining maps and ledgers in San Diego County. it is=
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fascinating. Deposits of lepidolite, feldspar, clay, every ,mineral you ca=
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n imagine ,were discovered and claimed for brick and tile companies by the =
=3D
end of the 1800s and early 1900s when California boomed and soon demanded t=
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ile for it's fantasy architecture.
in the old=3DA0 U of O studio I would see remnants of David Stannard's work=
. =3D
Vials with labels.. pumice from such and such a location, rhyolite, from=3D=
0A=3D
another, basalt from another. all ground fine. an old hammer mill, then un=
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used, in the corner next to the Soldner mixer. Of course, this will not mat=
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ter to everyone. if you want to dance and paint with clay and other materia=
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ls , using commercial products, without getting 'bogged down', do it if you=
=3D
can. However,=3DA0 knowledge of materials allows you to adapt and manipula=
te=3D
materials.
there has always been a hunger among many to know more about the source. Fr=
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o some, it is purely practical. Others have interests in geology, history, =
=3D
or just rooting around . There's a bit of the old alchemy in some of us, an=
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d a bit of the old potter who eons ago knew exactly where the best deposit =
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was along the river and which places to get the rocks and plants that make =
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the paint and=3DA0 so on...Potters are often accused of being the most cons=
er=3D
vative of the artists, driving with one eye in the rear view mirror.=3D20
Yet, think if that knowledge is lost.=3D20
Raw materials come from the ground and the ground contains not only the min=
=3D
erals, but the history and story of=3D0A the land and its people. When you =
le=3D
arn about the geology and the chemistry, you also learn about the land, goi=
=3D
ng back through history into prehistory. connecting the craft, the people, =
=3D
the land, and the science.
=3DA0Henry Glassie, in "Passing the time in Ballymenone" says that 'Land ob=
li=3D
terates Chronology, connecting modern People to the People of the past, who=
=3D
marked it permanently"
If you need reasons to justify understanding materials, you can of course l=
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ook to the practical. You can look tho the historical,.You can even look to=
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the mythic, which will perhaps give you sustenance, if nothing else.
There is an image I love. It is from the Navajo Emergence myth. I cannot ev=
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en begin to properly recreate this story, I am not privy to it, but only th=
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e image that sticks with me.
Like myths from many many cultures all over the world, this one starts out =
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with darkness. There is no time, no stones, vegetation or people. Deep in t=
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he=3D0A earth, in the darkness, is the sound of the clicking of beetles. Th=
e =3D
only creatures are 3 kinds of ants and 6 kinds of beetles, deep down in a c=
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hamber in the earth.=3DA0 They decide to begin the journey to the surface .=
T=3D
hey begin the journey . All that follows in the world is set in motion.=3D2=
0
They make their way up to the second chamber, the next level , when one of =
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the beetles, realizes it has forgotten it's clay pot, back in the first cha=
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mber and goes back to retrieve it. This=3DA0 is the act of remembrance.=3D2=
0
The beetle is pot carrier beetle . That pot will be carried through the mil=
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lenia, through changes and transformations, till the time that people emerg=
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e on the surface and into the world. When they they do, they will have that=
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clay pot to remind them where they came from.
This is one example ,for me ,where craft, science, skill,=3DA0 art, and myt=
h/=3D
fantasy/psyche/imagination whatever you like to call it , all come together=
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.
I=3D0A would like to see a vigorous department somewhere that teaches about=
c=3D
lay, from the ground up.
Stephani Stephenson
http://www.revivaltileworks.com
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