New Directions in Ceramics

Book excerpt: New Directions in Ceramics explores and responds to contemporary ceramists' use of innovative modes of practice, investigating how change is happening and interpreting key works. Jo Dahn provides an overview of the current ceramics landscape, identifying influential exhibitions, events and publications, to convey a flavour of debates at a time when much about the character of ceramics is in a state of flux. What non-traditional activities does the term 'ceramics' now encompass? How have these practices developed and how have they been accommodated by institutions in Britain and internationally? Work by a wide range of ceramists, including Edmund de Waal, Nina Hole, Clare Twomey, Keith Harrison, Alexandra Engelfriet, Linda Sormin, Walter McConnell and Phoebe Cummings is considered. Following an extended introduction on ceramics in critical discourse, chapters on performance, installation, raw clay and figuration each provide an introductory overview to the area under discussion, with a closer examination of work by key ceramists, and illustrations of relevant examples. The interplay of actions and ideas is a central concern: critical and cultural contexts are woven into the account throughout, and dialogues with practitioners provide a privileged insight into thought processes as well as studio activities.