Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Totem Pole
Reflection essay
This was our second assignment of the semester. In this, we were required to construct a minimum 6 feet tall pole out of thrown ceramic pots. The purpose of a totem pole can change according to the culture it has been built in. Some people build them to celebrate cultural myths whereas in some places it has an aesthetic importance. Sometimes they are also used as a symbol of special powers. They are basically non-functional permanent larger than life structures installed in big space.
The totem pole assignment that we were given was quite a unique and different experience for me. While doing my research related to totem poles, I found out that most of them were made out of huge wooden blocks with carvings of animal forms. Making a totem pole out thrown ceramic pieces was quite an interesting challenge.
When starting to work on my assignment, the very first thing which came into my mind was a candle. One of the purposes of a totem pole is that it was installed for protection. People of certain cultures have beliefs and myths and that is the reason why they build such huge (mostly vertical) structures with carvings of birds and other animal forms which is supposed to protect them.
Thinking about “protection” made me think about fire and light. In olden times, people used to light fire outside their homes to keep away animal and insects. When I further developed my concept, I found a connection between the vertical and sleek form of the candle and the totem pole. When I started throwing on the wheel, I threw three different kinds of shapes. One was a bowl form, second a cylinder and third a plate.
As the structure had to be a minimum of 6 feet in height. Therefore I had to make 3-4 attachments all approximately 11/2 to 2 feet in height. While building, I kept in mind an important principle of design i.e. repetition. Thus I stacked it in such a way that that after a series of cylinders/bowl, there was an addition of the plate form. Mostly candles rest on a small lid for easy handling. In this case, I wanted it to have a feel as if a new candle emerging from the plate in a series.
For me this was a highly technical job because balance was an important aspect. This was also my very first experience in exploring larger forms. The attachments I have made are quite heavy. The reason is that I had thrown pots having thick walls as each piece was supposed to stand on the edges of the previous piece. I felt that if the walls were thinner, it would make the structure weak as it won’t be able to tolerate the weight of several pots on one another thus producing cracks.
The attachments will be glazed and wood fired. After that they will be installed together to produce a minimum six feet tall structure. As my basic idea emerged from a candle, I wish to install a piece of wood or something on the top most pot so that it is easy to light it at certain times to give an affect of a burning torch.
Reflection essay
This was our second assignment of the semester. In this, we were required to construct a minimum 6 feet tall pole out of thrown ceramic pots. The purpose of a totem pole can change according to the culture it has been built in. Some people build them to celebrate cultural myths whereas in some places it has an aesthetic importance. Sometimes they are also used as a symbol of special powers. They are basically non-functional permanent larger than life structures installed in big space.
The totem pole assignment that we were given was quite a unique and different experience for me. While doing my research related to totem poles, I found out that most of them were made out of huge wooden blocks with carvings of animal forms. Making a totem pole out thrown ceramic pieces was quite an interesting challenge.
When starting to work on my assignment, the very first thing which came into my mind was a candle. One of the purposes of a totem pole is that it was installed for protection. People of certain cultures have beliefs and myths and that is the reason why they build such huge (mostly vertical) structures with carvings of birds and other animal forms which is supposed to protect them.
Thinking about “protection” made me think about fire and light. In olden times, people used to light fire outside their homes to keep away animal and insects. When I further developed my concept, I found a connection between the vertical and sleek form of the candle and the totem pole. When I started throwing on the wheel, I threw three different kinds of shapes. One was a bowl form, second a cylinder and third a plate.
As the structure had to be a minimum of 6 feet in height. Therefore I had to make 3-4 attachments all approximately 11/2 to 2 feet in height. While building, I kept in mind an important principle of design i.e. repetition. Thus I stacked it in such a way that that after a series of cylinders/bowl, there was an addition of the plate form. Mostly candles rest on a small lid for easy handling. In this case, I wanted it to have a feel as if a new candle emerging from the plate in a series.
For me this was a highly technical job because balance was an important aspect. This was also my very first experience in exploring larger forms. The attachments I have made are quite heavy. The reason is that I had thrown pots having thick walls as each piece was supposed to stand on the edges of the previous piece. I felt that if the walls were thinner, it would make the structure weak as it won’t be able to tolerate the weight of several pots on one another thus producing cracks.
The attachments will be glazed and wood fired. After that they will be installed together to produce a minimum six feet tall structure. As my basic idea emerged from a candle, I wish to install a piece of wood or something on the top most pot so that it is easy to light it at certain times to give an affect of a burning torch.
Tea Bowls
Reflection Essay
This was our very first assignment of this semester. In this assignment we had to throw 50 tea bowls which had to be glazed and raku fired. Tea bowls are used in various cultures for tea ceremonies. Mostly they are used by the Japanese. Tea bowls can be hand built or thrown. Some are heavy and some are light weight.
I found this assignment to be quite interesting as there was an open opportunity to explore different forms. It was up to us the forms we wished to throw. I cannot have very hot tea unlike some people. Therefore, I tried making the bowls in such a way that it had a wide mouth so that the tea cools down faster and is easier to drink. We had an option to alter it in any way we liked, just the form should be a thrown one. I tried making sets of twos and fours so this also became a practice of throwing similar forms. Whereas, in some cases, instead of making foots by trimming on the wheel, I made them through hand building. After making a huge variety of tea bowls, I found out more about how one can improve skills in trimming and tooling. The second major part was the Raku firing of these bowls. Basically Raku firing technique is a Japanese method. However Western Raku techniques are also being used nowadays. Our experience with this type of firing was quite an interesting one.
We first set up the shelves in an open area. After applying a fine layer of grog on the high fire shelves, we placed the bowls and care was being taken that the bowls’ edges did not touch each other because when the glaze melts, it will melt together with the bowl next to it, thus destroying both pieces. A cone pack was also placed at a position where it could be easily viewed from the peep hole on the kiln structure. After the kiln was loaded, a metallic structure lined with ceramic fiber was placed carefully on top of the shelves. The structure had two openings on the bottom end for installing the burners. It took approximately more than an hour to fire the bisqued and glazed pieces. After the cone had bended, it was finally time to take the pots out. It is now that the most interesting process took place. As soon as the upper structure of the kiln was removed, Red hot pieces could be seen. We had arranged for two huge earthenware pots, one half filled with sawdust and one with newspaper shavings. With the help of long metallic tongs, each piece was lifted individually and placed in the huge earthen ware pot. As soon as it was put inside, the shavings caught fire and one person had to fill in it with more shavings. This was a process which had to be carried out quickly. Once all the pieces were taken out from the kiln, the huge pots were covered with wet newspapers to stop the fire inside. After letting the pots stay inside for 5-10 mins, they were taken out individually with tongs and dipped into water. It was after that the raku effect could be seen.
The three types of Glazes we used (we had not made them ourselves) were White glaze, Neela Thotha and Aqua Lustre. Out of the three, the white glaze was not successful as it left only spots on the bowl despite of fine application. Secondly, the glaze aqua luster was also not very successful as it seemed that the glaze had been wiped off from some parts of the bowl even after we applied it finely. Only the Neela thotha glaze worked the best and melted properly. However in some cases, it too produced blotches. Some of my bowls had very exciting effects while some had blotches on them due to the way glaze was applied.
This assignment really helped us discover the technicalities of Raku firing. Various things affected the raku process. Among them one was whether conditions which in turn affected the oxidation or reduction on the bowls. Another was application of glaze. After a series of 3-4 firings, we concluded that glaze application should be thin and completely dry before being put inside the kiln, otherwise wet glaze starts flaking off thus producing blotches.
Reflection Essay
This was our very first assignment of this semester. In this assignment we had to throw 50 tea bowls which had to be glazed and raku fired. Tea bowls are used in various cultures for tea ceremonies. Mostly they are used by the Japanese. Tea bowls can be hand built or thrown. Some are heavy and some are light weight.
I found this assignment to be quite interesting as there was an open opportunity to explore different forms. It was up to us the forms we wished to throw. I cannot have very hot tea unlike some people. Therefore, I tried making the bowls in such a way that it had a wide mouth so that the tea cools down faster and is easier to drink. We had an option to alter it in any way we liked, just the form should be a thrown one. I tried making sets of twos and fours so this also became a practice of throwing similar forms. Whereas, in some cases, instead of making foots by trimming on the wheel, I made them through hand building. After making a huge variety of tea bowls, I found out more about how one can improve skills in trimming and tooling. The second major part was the Raku firing of these bowls. Basically Raku firing technique is a Japanese method. However Western Raku techniques are also being used nowadays. Our experience with this type of firing was quite an interesting one.
We first set up the shelves in an open area. After applying a fine layer of grog on the high fire shelves, we placed the bowls and care was being taken that the bowls’ edges did not touch each other because when the glaze melts, it will melt together with the bowl next to it, thus destroying both pieces. A cone pack was also placed at a position where it could be easily viewed from the peep hole on the kiln structure. After the kiln was loaded, a metallic structure lined with ceramic fiber was placed carefully on top of the shelves. The structure had two openings on the bottom end for installing the burners. It took approximately more than an hour to fire the bisqued and glazed pieces. After the cone had bended, it was finally time to take the pots out. It is now that the most interesting process took place. As soon as the upper structure of the kiln was removed, Red hot pieces could be seen. We had arranged for two huge earthenware pots, one half filled with sawdust and one with newspaper shavings. With the help of long metallic tongs, each piece was lifted individually and placed in the huge earthen ware pot. As soon as it was put inside, the shavings caught fire and one person had to fill in it with more shavings. This was a process which had to be carried out quickly. Once all the pieces were taken out from the kiln, the huge pots were covered with wet newspapers to stop the fire inside. After letting the pots stay inside for 5-10 mins, they were taken out individually with tongs and dipped into water. It was after that the raku effect could be seen.
The three types of Glazes we used (we had not made them ourselves) were White glaze, Neela Thotha and Aqua Lustre. Out of the three, the white glaze was not successful as it left only spots on the bowl despite of fine application. Secondly, the glaze aqua luster was also not very successful as it seemed that the glaze had been wiped off from some parts of the bowl even after we applied it finely. Only the Neela thotha glaze worked the best and melted properly. However in some cases, it too produced blotches. Some of my bowls had very exciting effects while some had blotches on them due to the way glaze was applied.
This assignment really helped us discover the technicalities of Raku firing. Various things affected the raku process. Among them one was whether conditions which in turn affected the oxidation or reduction on the bowls. Another was application of glaze. After a series of 3-4 firings, we concluded that glaze application should be thin and completely dry before being put inside the kiln, otherwise wet glaze starts flaking off thus producing blotches.
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