Pinching and Coiling
I made a bowl and a vase from handbuilding techniques.
We learnt hand-building techniques such as pinching and coiling method. The bowl is made using the pinching method.
The theme of the coiled vase was to be formed based on an ancient ware from one of the themes chosen the lecturer. I chose the China (Ming Dynasty) theme. Therefore, I made a vase with a big lower body with a long neck that is slimming up towards the spout. Since the Chinese vases would often have decorative floral patterns, which inspired me to shape the spout to the shape of a blossoming flower.
About Ming Dynasty...
The Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) was most famous for its blue and white porcelain pottery. What made this pottery so valuable was its beauty, intricate details, designs and the craftsmanship. It is one of the world’s most desirable works of art. This distinctive blue color comes from cobalt ores imported from Persia, which was a scarce ingredient at the time and quite limited. Ming porcelain has a major influence on the ceramics of many other countries, from Japan to Britain.
Porcelain is more valuable than other materials because of its smoothness, pure white color and translucence. This material was developed near to perfection during Ming dynasty, making its porcelain wares of the highest quality out there.
These porcelain wares had a big variety of design, but the most common decor from Ming dynasty are the floral ones. The potteries are typically covered all around. The rims and spouts usually have a repeating, connecting pattern. The body of vases or the main part in bowls or plates would have either another repeating pattern or a balanced composition of similar objects/flowers, but not necessarily the same object. Although the wares could be covered from top to bottom, there would still be a balanced amount of space. If the body of a vase would have a high density of blues, then the neck or the connecting part between the neck and body would have less blues, to give space for the white porcelain to shine through. This is more commonly seen in the porcelain bowls where the rim and bottom of the insides have a more dense pattern, while between these patterns are left with nothing but the pure, white porcelain.
I tried to make the pattern by using the decorative method of inlay method. It did not turn out as I hoped, which decreased my motivation for this assignment and I had put it aside and had forgotten about it. I ended up layering all sorts of glazes to experiment.
The decorative theme could be either daily-life or social issues. I had originally thought to make a pattern inspired by the typical floral decor, but replacing the leaves and the flower buds with hidden security cameras. These cameras in the form of flowers is symbolic for how being watched at all times is such a normalized thing in Hong Kong.
As an exchange student from Norway, this came as a culture shock to me. As time went by, I got used to all the surveillance cameras and the endless warning signs with the ridiculous fines proudly hanging at every street corner and every crook and cranny as if it is a part of their identity. You don’t have walk far in Hong Kong before you see signs about being watched on a CCTV camera or warning regarding a penalty fee for smoking, taking off your mask, eating, drinking... everything has a penalty. What happens to life when every move you make is recorded?
I have come to this point that I don't feel Hong Kong would be the same without the Government's precious collection of security items. The CCTV cameras in Hong Kong is so common that they feels like a part of the urban nature here. The cameras are hidden in plain sight, which means that in some way it feels hidden because you don’t really notice them anymore, but at the same time it isn’t trying to be hidden, it is right in front of us and around us at all times.
Cheese! Smile for the cameras.
References:
https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/china/introduction-ming-blue-and-white-porcelain
https://www.marchantasianart.com/guide/a-concise-guide-to-the-antique-ming-vase/
https://factsanddetails.com/china/cat2/sub4/entry-7576.html
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