An Exploration of the Materiality of Clay. This research project exists as an exploration of clay as a material of liminality. The idea of liminality - threshold spaces, places, and things, has always been intriguing to me; the in-between spaces we inhabit in our physical lives and our minds. I believe that clay is a material imbued with the creative potentialities of the liminal realm. The ceramic processes become ritual-like allowing the maker to tap into an altered state of consciousness and focus - a flow-state. Engaging in a physical dialogue with the material allows me to understand my personal affinity to the material and fosters an appreciation of its conceptual potential. Culminating in an exploration of the reconstitution process as an ongoing narrative for the clay’s liminal materiality - the ephemeral status of the work is amplified within the concept of liminal states.
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Final Submission for this research can be found by following the link to the website.
Watson, L., 2021. [online] Liminalstates.wixsite.com. Available at: <https://liminalstates.wixsite.com/my-site> [Accessed 9 March 2021].
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Fig. 277,278,279,280,281,282,283,284.
FINAL PORTFOLIO STATES
State 1 - Embraceable Object By embedding the words of my liminal experience into the object, the object becomes imbued with greater importance. Something that has to be held to be read has links to historical artefacts and highlights that sense of significance. The combination of the strength and fragility of the material in its un-fired state is fascinating; the object invites interaction with delicate consideration.
State 2 - Submerge Slaking is the start of the reconstitution process; submerging the object in a vessel of water starts a chain reaction of deterioration. The clay body soaks up the moisture and the object loses any integrity of form.
State 3 - Sublimate The object exists in a state of flux as the water begins to erase any mark-making. The ambiguous nature of the imagery conjures ideas of the liminal realm in mid-transformation. There is a semiotic beauty in the image, highlighting how our memories also have an element of liminality.
State 4 - Splat The malleable shards of the object that remain are placed onto the plaster batt. The plaster acts as a dehydration tool to draw out any moisture within the clay. There is an energy in the image that invites the viewer to interact with the material, invoking an element of child-like play.
State 5 - Crack As the moisture dissipates, the clay becomes bone-dry and shrinks to create a crackle on the surface; resembling the craze patterns on a glazed piece of pottery where the aesthetic lines visualise a release of built-up stress.
State 6 - Crunch The dried clay is ground to a fine dust in a mortar and pestle. The action becomes ritual-like as if preparing for ceremony. The motion of the process becomes repetitive but is an important stage of the reconstitution of clay slip.
State 7 - Dust The powdered state of the material allows for refinement and removal of any impurities. It is indexical of the human condition and the traces we leave behind. The dust signifying that there is a return to that which we are made of.
State 8 - Spin Water is added to the clay dust and mixed, the violent action of the mixer forces the material to change. The clay returns to its original liquid state, recycled and re-transformed ready to be made into something new.
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Video
vimeo
Fig. 276.
Process States.
Film about the process of making the final portfolio.
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vimeo
Fig. 275.
Culmination of some of the processes I engaged with during this research project. This isnt a final piece for portfolio, just a way to showcase my development together.
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Fig. 272,273,274.
Wedging dance on A1 board. Probably one of my favourite outcomes of this full project. Louise reckons they would be perfect Lithograph prints and the act of grinding the limestone resonates with the repetitive act of wedging so there is beautiful conceptual connections there to consider for future development.
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Aesthetic decisions
Reflecting back, I wanted to address why the final portfolio of ‘states’ started and ended where they did. I’m aware that the ‘embraceable object’ isn’t the beginning state of the material but it is the beginning state of the conceptual narrative of the project. I think if i had to include all the images of each process as a step by step guide almost (warts and all) would deflect from the power and aesthetic impact of the final images. So the story began with an object in a solid state and ends with it being forced back into a liquid state, the intention being that there is an openess to the final image.. almost inviting the viewer to ponder what happens next. Perhaps, an image of the liquid clay in a clear vessel, static and silent, waiting to be used again would have been a better way to end the ‘story’ but I think the chaoticness of the final image ‘Spin’ is a more pertinent ending and elevates the concept of liminality.
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Quiet
I feel like I've been so quiet on this blog recently. But with the deadline looming, I am back to post a wee update. I’ve been very busy writing my critical reflection and making my website for final submission so havent had the chance or really any words to put in here. I’m polishing off the final bits of my website and double, triple checking my reflection says everything I want it to ready for submitting on friday. I’ll be quite sad to see this project go. I definitely feel like i’m only brushing the surface and there is so much more to learn and develop - which is quite exciting actually. Maybe one day i’ll do a masters and we can pick this up again. But for now i’m delighted with the outcome.
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Quote
Dust forms the ceaseless tides of becoming and dissolution and is both the medium and the locus of invisible transformations
Lushetich, Natasha
Lushetich, N. (2018). On Dust: Memory as Performance and Materiality. Contemporary Aesthetics, 6.
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International Women’s Day
Its today and I just realised that most if not all of the books I have referenced and researched are by women!
Mary Caroline Richards Karen Barad Freya Mathews Jane Bennet Catherine Bell Maria Elena Buszek Petra Lange-Berndt Tanya Harrod Anne D’Alleva Maria Puig de la Bellacasa The list goes on.
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Raw clay dig
One thing that I’m quite sad I never done was go digging for raw clay to work with. I suppose the pressures of lockdown life, snowy weather and working to other project deadlines meant that that idea got left behind. Maybe it wasnt too relevant for this project as I was using slip anyways. But i think its something I definitely want to develop for a future project, however that may evolve. The Clyde walkway is just a short walk from where I live, and my iGeology app says there are clay deposits down there next to the river so once the weather picks up and the sun starts shining again then i’ll Bréa and I can go a walk with our spades and buckets and see what we can find!
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Fig. 271.
Breath for Jordan - David Cushway
Cushway, D., 2000. Breath For Jordan. [image] Available at: <https://www.davidcushway.com/breath-for-jordan/> [Accessed 7 March 2021].
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Fig. 247,248,249,250,251,252,253,254,255.
On the plaster batt.
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Growing
I’ve been reflecting back to 3rd year when we began thinking about potential research topics and the journey that I have came on since then. I remember panicking, thinking, “I dont know what to write about!”, I was so stressed by the whole concept of a dissertation. My 3rd year report was titled, ‘An Exploration into Ritual Practice and Process as a Narrative for The Contemporary Sublime.’ - phew, long title. Its interesting to see how this project has developed and transformed throughout the research and how i’ve managed to dissesct the parts of the previous that I found fascinating into a more concise and considered project. It was always the term liminality that i was drawn to, like the word had its own energy, so it became less about ritual specifically and more about exploring the liminal. And i suppose it was always about the materiality of clay, I just didnt know it at the time because i never truly understood what that “call” was. I feel really grateful to have undertook this project as its uncovered alot for me personally - without sounding too cheesy, i feel like i’ve grew and transformed with the project. And i can’t wait to continue developing and growing and learning through my making-with-clay and see where this research takes me.
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