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“Two Worlds” Project

Narrative Tableau

This project has 2 parts. The first part is a short writing prompt to reflect on “place”. The second is the clay piece. The project is in-progress approximately 5-6 weeks with multiple underglaze, and glaze firings. All materials used must be fired ceramic materials (no paint).

After writing assignment is completed (outside of class), a Powerpoint of images of ceramic work and examples of techniques are shown. I do not show completed student work before projects.

ARTS 260 Introduction to Ceramics

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Stories of Place

Thinking/Writing about personal narratives: Environment, Architecture, Landscape, “Still Life” and “Home”.

Imagine a place that you have lived or are living now. Walk through the house in your mind; recall its interior and figure out how it was constructed. Think about the character of the building. What made it "yours"; which features do you recall best? How is your home located in the environment; was (is) it located in an urban area, a large open field, a forest, suburbia with a lawn and garden? Divide your "plot" by deciding how significant the interior space vs. the exterior space is to your concept of your "home".

Write a one-page paper, the title of which is the address of the house. Describe the house/dwelling to us so that we have a sense of what it was like to live there. Are you still living there? If not, when did you move, and how long did you live there? What is memorable to you about the house and the objects it contained?

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Project #2 Two Worlds

Create a sculptural piece in clay that explores ideas of interior/exterior and incorporates elements of architecture, landscape and personal narrative.

Construct a clay sculpture that is roughly 10” wide x 10” long and 12” high. It may or may not represent aspects of the writing assignment but should contain elements that are part of your personal narrative as well as elements that deal with ideas of interior/exterior, architecture, and landscape. It must include 2 distinct “worlds” divided by a physical object or area that obscures one world from another (ex. wall, open book cover, etc.).

Pay attention to the details. You must have photographic and printed images to refer to in your sketchbook.

Possible considerations: wall coverings (framed images, personal mementos), architectural detailing (wood trim, windowsill and panes, etc.), floor covering (hardwood slats, carpet, throw rugs), furniture (what furniture is important to you). Landscaping, trees and other foliage. Exterior details of structures (brick, stucco, wood), yard structures (barbeque, benches, patio, furniture, camping gear, fort, tree house, etc.). Interior and personal “still life” objects that represent your narrative. Do not include any people, characters or animals with your narrative. Find ways to represent these important elements with objects or textures that would be significant to them.

You will be working with underglazes to create realistic detail for your surfaces. Make sure you have plenty of printed references in your sketchbook to help with textures and colors (these should be glued into your sketchbook). These references could be of an actual place or just generic materials (from magazines, etc.), printed photos and collected images you like. It need not be a miniature dollhouse or exact architectural model of an existing structure. It will likely be a combination of the objects and textures you remember clearly and those that are significant to you but you recall less of the characteristics of their form. It can be any percentage of interior vs. exterior but must include both. By "cropping" objects you will be able to represent more information in the small area.

In considering the design and construction of your “two worlds”, make sure you define the division between “worlds” early. This should be a physical division of some sort, not just a line drawn or design painted on.

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