coal being vibrated by sound









as he shut the kiln he said 'its in the lap of the gods'









glazing plates with the expert help of Matt Thompson



artists object project news on craft scotland website

http://www.craftscotland.org/Default.aspx.LocID-cftnewkad.RefLocID-cft04e001.Lang-EN.htm
plate by Jule Jenckel


plate designed for arguing couples who want to throw pieces of crockery at each other. already broken so it means you dont have to use your best dinnerware ..


ceramics and superwoofers


I am very lucky to be collaborating with two very talented Matts on the artist object project



In addition to creating 9 plates ....

we will be creating a work with the ......
'intention to animate fragments of ceramic and coal dust through the invisible force of sound... discreet hidden speakers will be fixed beneath fragments.... these will transmit a variety of barely audible tones and sound waves, causing them to jiggle, dance and shift ' words of matt hulse

....so i am stepping from textiles to a whole new world of ceramics and superwoofers which is very exciting but equally daunting in the lead up to the exhibition.

i have been thinking alot about collaboration and found this relating to architecture...

'collaboration is the making of a relationship not an object.. although it sounds obvious to say it, collaboration is about difference, otherwise why bother?. ..acknowledging difference opens up a space to recognise what you didnt know, what you do know and what you didnt know you knew: this is the substance of collaboration far more so than the material outcome that may or may not result'

Build the relationship first, then identify the differences, then create the space










William Billingsley AKA Bealey ( an alias Billingsley travelled under )









'possibly the most beautiful of British porcelain was also the shortest to remain in production and technically the least successful'






  • most beautiful


  • shortest to remain in production


  • technically least successful





nantgarw coal mine


'the nantgarw scheme was designed to exploit important reserves for coking coal on the south crop of the South Wales coalfield.. this part of the coalfield has been the scene of many dissapointments and failures and the grave of the reputation of more than one mining engineer '................
there had been many dissapointments and failures in the making of nantgarw china also many years before
...









Nantgarw vilage declined with the building of the A470 motorway in 1969 which destroyed the traditional village. The A470 is a major long distance connective spine road in Wales running from Cardiff on the south coast to Llandudno on the north coast . The A470 runs alongside Nantgarw china works museum and possibly many of the china shards were discovered when the motorway was built..



















I have just had a great few days in Cardiff at Glamorgan university making plates with Ceramic artist Matt Thompson. It has been really interesting for me to understand the process and whats involved. I am amazed at the time and skill involved and of the potential failure / success in the making of ceramic work
.
a mass produced plate cast to create a mould to make some hand made plates



not exactly a bed of roses



bottom image maybe not the right dress for the period but you get the picture














nantgarw pottery was a small one -- no more than 20 folk were employed .. at least half of those were children





Millward described Billingsley as 'a thin man of middle height , fair with grey hair, but had no beard: was a pleasant speaking man but very hot tempered. He kept a horse whip to thrash the boys and girls if they neglected work' Billingsley and Walker at Nantgarw






'Social reformers attempted as early as 1802 to obtain legislative restrictions against the worst features of the child-labor system, but little was done even to enforce existing laws limiting work hours and establishing a minimum age for employment. Conditions as bad as those imposed on pauper children rapidly developed in enterprises employing nonpauper children. Often with the approval of political, social, and religious leaders, children were permitted to labor in hazardous occupations such as mining. The resultant social evils included illiteracy, further impoverishment of poor families, and a multitude of diseased and crippled children.

Popular agitation for reform steadily increased. The first significant British legislation was enacted in 1878, when the minimum age of employees was raised to 10 years and employers were required to restrict employment of children between the ages of 10 and 14 to alternate days or consecutive half days. In addition to making every Saturday a half holiday, this legislation also limited the workday of children between 14 and 18 years of age to 12 hours, with an intermission of 2 hours for meals and rest.'





“It is totally unacceptable that in every continent of the world child labour
still exists. For many children this means growing up in hazardous environments away from families, and missing out on an education. Their lives are a daily ritual of repetitive labour. For millions, childhood is over by the age of five.”


Anna Feuchtwang, Chief Executive of EveryChild
june 2009














9 out of ten plates didnt make it

i am off to Cardiff next week to attempt to make 9 plates in the ceramics area of University of Glamorgan. I am looking forward to the process and seeing what happens in the making ............................ successes and failures.















roses and coal dust




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