John Baymore on thu 4 jun 98
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For a student to graduate from a masters program they should be exposed
to both reduction and oxidation firing techniques. I'm not saying every
student should be forced to do high fire reduction clay work, BUT they
should be given the opportunity to do so if that is where their interest
leads them.
(snip)
Well said.
I would say this is just as true at the BFA level also. Firing in
oxidation and reduction, at both low and high temperatures, in fuel kilns
and electric kilns, seems just a basic part of the fundamental core
curriculum that a ceramist should have at the undergraduate college level.
It certainly is if you really CARE about the value of the education
provided.
To not have fuel firing capabilities limits the educational (and
expressive) opportunities of the program. If the school is not commited to
the quality of the program, then it is easy to justify not having it. If
they want to be at least competitive in the ceramics education field, then
they need at least one fuel fired kiln.
If the argument is that the enrollment is not there to justify the expense,
then a serious look needs to be made to see if the enrollment is actually
not there simply because the school is not supporting the program
adequately to compete in the market. Chickens and eggs. Programs that are
well supported by the school and then promoted well tend to have good
enrollments. The fact that there is a question about continuing this
installation says that there might be little real support for this program.
If you want to dance you gotta pay the fiddler.
Probably time to get all the cards out on the table while you are at it.
What level of support IS there for the program? Sometimes it takes a lot
of pushing, politicing, and fighting to get what you need to do your job
well. What really matters is the students. You do it for them. Sometimes
you have to just gotta go through a lot of BS to get things that should be
easy.
That is why God invented Maalox =3Cg=3E.
BTW....... if the computer science department (or chemistry..... or
business administration, et al) needed some new equipment costing similar
amounts of money to provide for a basic educational experience..... would
this type of discussion even be going on? =3Cwg=3E
From an ecological standpoint.... the woeful raw energy to electric
conversion factor (about 10 percent...... burn 1000 BTU's of fossil fuel at
the power plant to get 100 BTU's at your elements) makes the electric kiln
a terrible consumer of the planet's resources and a really bad CO2 source
(greenhouse gas), if a fuel fired unit is an option to process the same
volume of wares. Add to this the terrible insulation value of most
=22consumer-type=22 electric kilns, and ....god....... what a terrible thing=
to
do to the world.
Electric kilns are a good example of NIMBY at work. The firebox and
chimney of a electric kiln is remotely located........ but it exists.
Only use them when there is a really GOOD reason to so do.... like Mel
mentioned in a recent post....... maybe in your appartment in the city.
Centralized electric generation was developed by people wanting to make
money... by making things convenient for people. The product they sell is
convenience..... not electricity, efficiency, or good ecology. Turning on
the lights with a flick of the switch when you get home from work is
really a nice convenience. People will pay for that inefficient
centralized power that gives such =22magic=22 convenience. Electric kilns =
are
convenient too.
This system works well for the owners of the utilities....they make money.
That is what they are in business to do. They consume a lot of resources
inefficiently and create a lot of pollution to get that money. We tend to
forget that little detail when we use electricity. And we tend to look at
electric kilns as some sort of little miracle devices that fire pottery
without any consequences to the world, since we can get them installed
easily most anywhere while a fuel fired unit is a pain to get installed.
Burn gas? Fire? Flames? A chimney? Fumes? Ventilation systems? NIMBY.
Why don't you just use a nice simple, clean, safe (convenient) electric
kiln?
That =22true impact of electric kilns=22 approach is another political angle
you can play up with the administration.
Best,
.......................john
=22Awaiting our new downdraft Bailey gas kiln to arrive at the NH Institute
of Art...... replacing a very tired old updraft Alpine that has served us
very, very well.=22
John Baymore
River Bend Pottery
22 Riverbend Way
Wilton, NH 03086 USA
603-654-2752
JBaymore=40Compuserve.com
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