Working with Ceramics Involves the Repelling of the Pop Cultures

I

In comparison with other forms of art, the Chinese ceramic art has a long history and there already exists a deep-rooted consciousness in our aesthetics. The ways of appreciation and our aesthetic conceptions have been already well-established. In such a circumstance, it is inevitable that the contemporary ideas of the Western world concerning the ceramic art have been rejected. However, either the historical glories, or the continuing development of our culture, undoubtedly, will lead to transformations and reforms of the ceramic art, which is a requisite for the current development and an inevitable trend for our improvement of the art. In comparison with such ancient forms of art as the painting, sculpture and even the traditional ceramic art, the contemporary ceramic art has neither, by now, established its system of theory, nor its general standard of criticism. The ceramic art critics are used to making their comments on the contemporary ceramic art by aid of the criteria for the sculpture, installation, painting and other forms of art.

Do the working criteria for the traditional ceramic art, such as glazes and firing, fit in with the contemporary one? Some people believe that concepts should be emphasized in the contemporary ceramic art as the clay is simply one of the materials to work with. Any overemphasis of such traditional techniques as glazing and firing will certainly hinder the improvements of “modernity” in the ceramic art. However, others think that, first of all, the positions of the ceramic artists should be set up against the grand background of the contemporary art world when judging the contemporary ceramic art works to see whether they have original and individual styles or not. As a result, the traditional criteria should also be taken into Consideration. The artistic charms of different forms are closely related with their special materials and techniques, such as the colours and perspectives in the oil paintings and the dynamics and tensions in the sculptures. The charm of the ceramic art lies in the changes of clay and glazes after firing.

 The visual language of the ceramic art is universally understood and accepted as an objective prerequisite for its internationalization. What confronts the contemporary ceramic artists is the possible integration of the internationalisation with the local styles and nationality in order to create a harmonious relationship for the mutual development of the local cultural ideas. the aesthetic conceptions and the internationalised visual language. Faced up with such a problem, the contemporary ceramic art has two apparent advantages: first, the ceramics originated in China, which integrates the local resources with the internationalisation in a more natural way, and the second, the contemporary ceramic art appeared following our learning from the West and its development mainly took place after the openness and reform in our country. In comparison with the other forms of art which have already been imported to China in the earlier times，such as the oil painting, it has no historical burdens. When we understand the difference between the contemporary ceramic art and the traditional one, the artists should go forward without any, Concerns.

II

Today, the art world has seen “the sunset of ideal ism” as the commercial factors and the spreading pop culture have stirred artists from their aspirations and impulse to their artistic creations. For the post-modern arts, such means as “diversion”, “presentations” and ”collages” have been already accepted by the artists. In their ceaseless repeating, the seemingly familiar works have made some people feel dull even if the have the best judgement and philosophical tastes. However, the special qualities of the ceramic art have already become the favourable conditions for ceramic artists to insist upon their positions in such an ever-changing society. As a result, the ceramic art has established its sense of cultural Orientation and criticism.

In our researches of the pop culture, the “culture” has been defined as the origin and spreading of given meanings in a specific society，emphasizing the relationship between culture and society and authority. Such a conception has been established in a sociological and anthropological context, but not simply in the context of aesthetics and other humanities. The Characteristics which have been particularly emphasized are even more important and, in turn, the cultural features embodied in the ceramic works are revealed from the perspectivcs of sociology and anthropology.

The origin of the contemporary ceramic art is based upon its criticism and surpassing of the traditional one. As we all know, the conservative factors are the determinant to the stable existence of the culture and the reforming ones will eventually lead to the transformation and development of such a culture. The introduction to contemporary ideas is the first task that the contempo-rarv ceramic art has undertaken: to clear up the conservative factors of the traditions and re-create. We should say that such work has been done well in the contemporary ceramic art society. In a sense, the contemporary ceramic art, is none other than a complete breakthrough of the working processes based upon the experiences and the rigid styles in the traditional culture. This is not only a breakthrough of the established forms of vessels, but also injected some revolutionary sense．The contemporary ceramic artists insist on the simplicity of clay and the tor the purpose of criticizing and surpassing the commercial cultures. In other words, this is the criticism of the pop culture of the masses in the current world, fighting against ceaseless repeating and copies and emphasizing the occasionality and creativeness. The prevalent fashions often refers to repeating, to an unlimited exploration of the cultural symbols of the masses. including meaningless cloning. However, the charms of ceramic art depends upon its originality. The special qualities of the clay itself regulates that ceramic artists must have a clear mind. At any stage, the ceramic artists are able to promote themselves to a certain level in their creations. which is beyond any other comparison by other categories. In the sense of the cultural symbols, working with ceramic materials refers both to the creation of unique cultural symbols for themselves and to the clear-up of the pop culture of the masses.

June 28. 2004