Clay consistency in experimental art practices: instant dialogues with ceramic material

Abstract

The main purpose of this study is to examine the use of ceramic material as a means of expression in experimental art practices, especially in process-based production approach, and to explain how the consistency differences of ceramic clay can be handled as the speech act of the material through personal practices. In line with this aim, a literature review was conducted to understand the interactions between ceramic material and experimental art. Although experimental art attracts considerable attention today, it has been determined that there is a lack of analyses in the literature on its relationship with ceramics and the role of ceramic clay in experimental art. In this context, it is aimed to contribute to the literature by explaining how ceramic clay facilitates the dynamic dialogue between the artist and the material with its unique properties and formal transformations. Within the scope of the research, qualitative research method was used and the artworks of Gabriel Orozco, Funda Susamoğlu, Ömer Emre Yavuz and Héctor Zamora, who produced works suitable for the subject, were analysed. These analyses reveal how the texture, plasticity and the reactions of ceramic clay to physical interventions contribute to the formation of aesthetic results. Furthermore, the contribution of randomness, a fundamental element of experimental practice, to form through the interaction between artist and material is emphasised. In addition, how the consistency of ceramic clay can be handled in experimental art as the speech act of the material is explained through examples of personal works. As a result of the research, it is stated that ceramics is used not only as a tool in artistic practices, but also as an intellectual and sensory language. It is emphasised that ceramics plays an active role in the creative process and offers new possibilities to the artist. In doing so, it is emphasised that the understanding of ceramics in contemporary art should change and at the same time, material-based dialogue should be preferred more as a method to reach innovative artistic expressions.

Keywords

• experimental art
• experience
• process
• ceramic art
• material
• viscosity
• consistency

References

1. Attridge, D. (2018). What Do We Mean by Experimental Art? Angles, 6. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4000/angles.962
2. Avinal, S. (2023). Algısal belirsizlik ve seramik eserler üzerinden analizi (Analysis of perceptual uncertainty through ceramic artifacts). Proficiency in Art Thesis. Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University. Istanbul, Turkiye.
3. Bell, C. (2005). Art, The Project Gutenberg eBook of Art, Frederick A. Stokes Company Publishers, New York.
4. Boullosa, C., & Orozco, G. (2007). Gabriel Orozco. BOMB, 98, 66–73. http://www.jstor.org/stable/40427387
5. Dewey, J. (2005). Art as Experience, Penguin Group, New York.
6. Dönmez, G. (2022). Çağdaş sanat uygulamalarında deneysel süreçler (Experimental processes in contemporary art practices). Master thesis. Necmettin Erbakan University, Konya, Turkiye.
7. González-Virgen, M. A. (2003). Of Games, The Infinite and Worlds: The Work of Gabriel Orozco, The Douglas Hyde Gallery and Merz.
8. Greenberg, C. (1997). Modernist Resim, Modernizmin Serüveni (Modernist Painting), (Ed.) Enis Batur, Yapı Kredi Yayınları, İstanbul.

9. Heideger, M. (2011). Sanat Eserinin Kökeni (The Origin of Artwork) (Trans. Fatih Tepebaşılı). Ankara: De ki Yayınları.
10. Herrmann, D. F. (2005). Material Matters, Materialasthetik. Quellentexte zu Kunst, Design und Architektur (Material Matters, Material Aesthetics. Source Texts on Art, Design and Architecture). Ed. Dietmar Rubel, Monika Wagner and Vera Wolff, Berlin: Reimer Verlag. https://artishockrevista.com/2019/03/06/hector-zamora-movimientos-emisores-de-existencia/
11. Bennett, J. (2012). What Is Experimental Art? Studies in Material Thinking, Editorial, 8.
12. Kant, I. (1974). Critique of Judgment. London: Collier Macmillan Publishers.
13. Karabey, B. O. (2013). An experimental approach in Funda Susamoglu’s works. Ceramics: Art and Perception, 91, 104-106.
14. LeWitt, S. (1967). Paragraphs on Conceptual Art. the MIT press, Cambridge, Massachusetts.
15. Santosoy, P. (2019, 6 Mart). Héctor Zamora: Movımientos Emisores De Existencıa. Artishockrevista.
16. Uğur, A. & Balyemez, M. A. (2023). Seramik malzemenin dili ve kimliğin taşıyıcısı olarak parmak izi dokusu (Fingerprint texture as the bearer of identity and language of ceramic material). Yedi, 30, 109-121. https://doi.org/10.17484/yedi.1187047
17. Uğur, A. (2024). Seramik çamuru ile sanat üretiminde deneyimin etkisi (Impact of experience in art production with ceramic clay). Proficiency in Art Thesis. Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University. Istanbul, Turkiye.
18. Yavuz, Ö.E. (2021). Heykel sanatında malzemelerin birer söz edimi olarak kuramsallaştırılmasına doğru (Towards the theoreticalization of materials as a speech act in the art of sculpture). Journal of Arts, 4(1), 25-38. DOI: 10.31566/arts.4.1.03
19. Figures Figure 1. https://www.mariangoodman.com/artists/56-gabriel-orozco/works/28248/
20. Figure 2. https://www.mariangoodman.com/artists/56-gabriel-orozco/works/28251/
21. Figure 3. Boullosa, C., & Orozco, G. (2007). Gabriel Orozco. BOMB, 98, 68. http://www.jstor.org/stable/40427387
22. Figure 4. https://www.unlimitedrag.com/post/iki-ayaklilarin-dunyasindan-dort-ayak
23. Figure 5. https://galeribosfor.com/exhibitions/18-four-feet/overview/
24. Figure 6. https://log.fakewhale.xyz/omer-emre-yavuz-interactions-at-art-on-art-gallery-istanbul/
25. Figure 7. Artist's archive
26. Figure 8. Artist's archive
27. Figure 9. https://albarran-bourdais.com/artist/hector-zamora/
28. Figure 10. https://labor.org.mx/en/news/hector-zamora-at-fondation-thalie
29. Figure 11. Author's archive
30. Figure 12. Author's archive
31. Figure 13. Author's archive
32. Figure 14. Author's archive
33. Figure 15. Author's archive
34. Figure 16. Author's archive