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EXHIBITION CERAMICA MULTIPLEX

Blazenka Soic Stebih
About project and the term postmodernism

The nucleus of the project refers to the exhibition evaluated by international jurors and, by provision of additional events, the purpose of which is to gather the intellectual elite in the world of ceramics and to present ceramics in the interesting manner to acquire attention of wider cultural strata of audience, especially of children. A great interest shown by Pottery crafstment from all continents has proved and justified the idea to organize such exhibition and confirmed the prescribed goals on the Association: to develop and upgrade the level of communication and collaboration among ceramic artists on a global international scene.
The term “Post-Modernism” was coined in London in 1976 by the American architect Charles Jencks. In his book, «What is Post-Modernism?» published in 1986, he defines the underlying school of thought to this movement in the arts and introduces the idea of an aesthetic “dichotomous code” – equality between the elite and the popular, the old and the new. In his book «Postmodern Ceramics» the American author Mark Del Vecchio sets out to prove that ceramics has kept abreast with the changing times – and in postmodern times originality for the sake of originality is finally appreciated. “There is no need for uprooting (tradition); it is important to discover that which has flourished in hidden places, which is authentic and has grown in the wild, that which is strangely beautiful and exceptionally irregular. The International Community of Ceramists offers us the opportunity to express ourselves in our own language which mirrors many individualities” says Gustav Weiss in his programmatic article in the magazine Neue Keramik which heralded the exhibition in 2002.
The topic of the exhibition CERAMICA MULTIPLEX serves to provoke artists into surveying the differences in the approach to ceramics in the East and in the West. Zen Buddhism was brought to China by an Indian missionary and then spread through Korea and on to Japan where it became a philosophy and integral part of the lifestyle. In Japan, and in other places in the Far East, this defined the meditative approach to ceramics – “You will be able to draw bamboo only once you have become bamboo”.
American ceramics is a stark contrast to this meditative approach. It is not burdened by traditional affiliation to craft workshops and so ceramists learnt their trade at art schools where they came into close contact with other branches of art. Clichés and prejudices did not inhibit the new generation, so that ceramics could be freely influenced by modern art. The “Clay Movement” was founded in Los Angeles in 1954 and is a group that has freed itself of influences from Europe and from the Far East. Led by Peter Voulkos, the “Clay Movement” and its abstract expressionism have produced many talented ceramists. “Funk Art”, on the other hand, dates back to the hippy movement. By making fun of garishness, it attempted to shock, but was negatively received in the world and branded “Americanism”. The disappearance of the “flower power” generation, also signified the disappearance of shocking ceramics, and ingenious, often ironic, surrealistic “Super Objects” became the trademark of American ceramics. Paul Soldner, one of P.Voulkos’s pupils introduced the technique of raku to America, by abandoning the authentic Japanese form and by introducing bright-coloured glazes and additional reductions. Curiosity, the willingness to take risks and audacity are the three basic characteristics embodied by American raku, which is why it has become so popular all over the world. European ceramics is to be found somewhere in between these two great sources of influence and its motto is “Observe the world and find your own path”. European ceramics is still fighting a battle, a battle that Japan and America won long ago, that is, the battle for the acceptance of ceramics as an art in its own right. In Europe the path from craft to a separate individuality has been dramatic, especially as this individuality marks a break with tradition and the bond to a particular milieu. By employing the boons of technological innovations which developed in Europe ( Seger, Boetger, Wedgwood), but which are also beneficial to ceramics worldwide, individuality has come to be considered a priority in European ceramics, and is more important even than the concepts of a relaxed freedom and a meditative approach founded on religious tradition. Goethe noted that although Nature and Art seemed to be fleeing from each other, before there is time to take this in, they find each other again. Why should ceramics in Europe not be the art of ideas which contain the experience of nature and art? (according to the book by G. Weiss, Abenteur Erde und Feuer – Das ist Keramik, Bern-Stuttgart-Wien, 2000.) 
To this exhibition will be accepted only works which embody the concept of ceramics as a means of free artistic expression : sculptures, installation and works serving a non-functional and functional purpose. Artists are expected to contribute by presenting distinctively personalised, original and novel ceramic art works characterisired by a sincere approach, an ebullient, vivaciously creative and imaginative form of expression and clearly defined colourism. A combination of various materials may be used but the work must be done primarily in ceramics.


 
12.12.2024 - 06:38