I love ceramic sculpture and working with clay. I hope to share my ongoing investigation of how to convey ideas through three dimensional form with you this fall. Be prepared to have fun and to work hard!
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Syllabus
Art 3764C
Fall, 2010 Tuesday and Thursday periods 8-10, room B-14
Instructor: Nan Smith, Professor UF Ceramics
Office: FAC B - 15, Hours 1:30-3 pm on Thursday and by appointment
Office Phone: 352. 273.3083
E-mail: nan@ufl.edu
Website: nansmith.com
Fall, 2010 Tuesday and Thursday periods 8-10, room B-14
Instructor: Nan Smith, Professor UF Ceramics
Office: FAC B - 15, Hours 1:30-3 pm on Thursday and by appointment
Office Phone: 352. 273.3083
E-mail: nan@ufl.edu
Website: nansmith.com
Course Description
This course provides an introduction to Ceramic Sculpture with a specific focus on hand building processes. Contemporary Ceramics is an expansive art form including pottery and vessel making, sculptural works and painted tile work. The options for working with fired clay are limitless and the technical subject matter complex.
This course presents projects which give the student experiences in developing ideas based on contemporary culture. Sculpture processes which are additive and subtractive, plaster mold making, plus pinch, coil building, and slab construction methods as applied to sculpting will be taught. Glaze lectures, an introduction to electric kiln firing and a technical introduction to the raw materials are also presented.
The class format will include image presentations and demonstrations of hand building and sculpture techniques. Class lectures will incorporate highlights from ceramic history along with many contemporary examples. The course will consist of three major projects and group "lab work"; loading, firing and unloading class kiln firings. You will have an average of six class periods to work on each assigned project.
This course presents projects which give the student experiences in developing ideas based on contemporary culture. Sculpture processes which are additive and subtractive, plaster mold making, plus pinch, coil building, and slab construction methods as applied to sculpting will be taught. Glaze lectures, an introduction to electric kiln firing and a technical introduction to the raw materials are also presented.
The class format will include image presentations and demonstrations of hand building and sculpture techniques. Class lectures will incorporate highlights from ceramic history along with many contemporary examples. The course will consist of three major projects and group "lab work"; loading, firing and unloading class kiln firings. You will have an average of six class periods to work on each assigned project.
Course Goals
1. The course is designed to teach ceramic sculpture techniques including the fundamentals of modeling, carving, coil, pinch, and slab building.
2. Students will be taught technical skills including: model making, the basics of plaster mold making, glaze testing and sculpture surfacing methods.
3. Students will explore diverse sculptural forms as a vehicle for concept.
4. The course will provide experiences in developing visual ideas and analysis of contemporary concepts.
5. The course present opportunities to analyze, discuss and critique ceramic sculpture.
2. Students will be taught technical skills including: model making, the basics of plaster mold making, glaze testing and sculpture surfacing methods.
3. Students will explore diverse sculptural forms as a vehicle for concept.
4. The course will provide experiences in developing visual ideas and analysis of contemporary concepts.
5. The course present opportunities to analyze, discuss and critique ceramic sculpture.
General Information
Course work will consist of 3 projects supported by assigned readings, web and library research.
Maquettes and sketches are required for each project.
I strongly suggest that you read all project statements at the beginning of the semester. The entire course is presented during our first meeting so that you can begin thinking about personal ideas you wish to undertake for each of the projects. Course material is available for your ease and convenience on the course blog site: nansceramicsculpture@blogspot.com.
The projects for this class are conceptually based so that you can focus on a theme and find a artistic and individual solution the reflects your perspective. It is far easier to digest an idea and to consider your options over time rather than to decide overnight. This course is fast paced so please plan ahead!
Maquettes and sketches are required for each project.
I strongly suggest that you read all project statements at the beginning of the semester. The entire course is presented during our first meeting so that you can begin thinking about personal ideas you wish to undertake for each of the projects. Course material is available for your ease and convenience on the course blog site: nansceramicsculpture@blogspot.com.
The projects for this class are conceptually based so that you can focus on a theme and find a artistic and individual solution the reflects your perspective. It is far easier to digest an idea and to consider your options over time rather than to decide overnight. This course is fast paced so please plan ahead!
Class Attendance
Attendance Policy:
Plan to arrive promptly at 3:00 pm and set up to begin working. Attendance will be taken right at the beginning of each class; lateness will be noted and will affect your grade. If you arrive 10 minutes after class begins you will be considered late.
Tardiness, leaving early and absences will result in grade reduction. Three late arrivals will equal one absence. After the third absence, the final course grade will be lowered one full letter grade.
Class attendance is central to the learning process and to your success in the course. It is expected that you will attend regularly and be punctual. Everyone will value this courtesy to the group. Group demonstrations and lectures, roving critiques, individual tutorials, and discussions will be scheduled for many class periods. Students who are absent due to illness should contact me at 273-3083 and bring me a doctor’s note. Without a medical excuse documenting an illness, absence for illness, may not be accepted.
The university recognizes the right of the individual professor to make attendance mandatory. After due warning, professors may prohibit further attendance and subsequently assign a failing grade for excessive absences. Students are responsible for satisfying all academic objectives as defined by the instructor. Students who do not attend at least one of the first two class meetings of a course or laboratory in which they are registered, and who have not contacted the department to indicate their intent, may be dropped from the course.
Ceramic Sculpture is an exacting endeavor. Success in working with clay is skill based on and can be mastered through regular practice. The ceramic process is one which cannot be rushed or neglected without consequences. Sculptural clay works often require an indirect process, where pre-planning the project is the first step in making a successful art work. Information will be given during specified class periods to show a variety of techniques and new options.
Plan to arrive promptly at 3:00 pm and set up to begin working. Attendance will be taken right at the beginning of each class; lateness will be noted and will affect your grade. If you arrive 10 minutes after class begins you will be considered late.
Tardiness, leaving early and absences will result in grade reduction. Three late arrivals will equal one absence. After the third absence, the final course grade will be lowered one full letter grade.
Class attendance is central to the learning process and to your success in the course. It is expected that you will attend regularly and be punctual. Everyone will value this courtesy to the group. Group demonstrations and lectures, roving critiques, individual tutorials, and discussions will be scheduled for many class periods. Students who are absent due to illness should contact me at 273-3083 and bring me a doctor’s note. Without a medical excuse documenting an illness, absence for illness, may not be accepted.
The university recognizes the right of the individual professor to make attendance mandatory. After due warning, professors may prohibit further attendance and subsequently assign a failing grade for excessive absences. Students are responsible for satisfying all academic objectives as defined by the instructor. Students who do not attend at least one of the first two class meetings of a course or laboratory in which they are registered, and who have not contacted the department to indicate their intent, may be dropped from the course.
Ceramic Sculpture is an exacting endeavor. Success in working with clay is skill based on and can be mastered through regular practice. The ceramic process is one which cannot be rushed or neglected without consequences. Sculptural clay works often require an indirect process, where pre-planning the project is the first step in making a successful art work. Information will be given during specified class periods to show a variety of techniques and new options.
Project #1
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“Nature: Observation and Sense Ability”
Visual References: Syd Carpenter, Sadashi Inuzuka, Keiske Mizuno, Susan Beiner, Bethany Krull, Liz Quackenbush, Juan Granados, Etsuko Tashima, Yumiko Goto, Claudi Casanovas, Angus Suttie, Kathy Butterly, Tony Marsh, Chris Gustin, Geo Lastomirsky, Gary Erikson, Ron Nagle, Tori Arpad, Kelley Eggert. and images from the book “Nature as Designer”, author Bertel Bager.
Assigned Reading:
“Postmodern Ceramics”, Chapter 5 – Organic Abstraction . On library reserve in FAA Library
"Hands in Clay", Speight, (Chapters 1, 11,13,14,15) : Intro, Handbuilding, Glaze, Firing)
Design; what subject matter, concept, aesthetic?
Video: Maria Martinez coil building techniques (available at FAA Library and can be shown in class upon request)
Assignment:
Create a sculpture that reflects your relationship to nature using a plant form, either vegetable or floral as a point of departure. Nature has an ongoing cycle of growth and decay. The sculpture should be generated by some personal observation of nature and a conceptual response to this natural occurrence. When you consider an idea you might think about your relationship to seasons; germination, growth, fullness, decline. The work is not to mimic nature or be a mere copy but should involve an idea about a specific occurrence in the natural world that has touched you. The final sculpture should be a fully 3 dimensional form designed to be viewed in the round. The form cannot be vessel oriented. The work can be narrative but should definitely interpret nature to convey a personal response to it. Think about simplifying forms, affecting a feeling of mass and implied weight. Surface, organic transitions and textures should be considered and incorporated into the form.
Technical Requirements:
Visual References: Syd Carpenter, Sadashi Inuzuka, Keiske Mizuno, Susan Beiner, Bethany Krull, Liz Quackenbush, Juan Granados, Etsuko Tashima, Yumiko Goto, Claudi Casanovas, Angus Suttie, Kathy Butterly, Tony Marsh, Chris Gustin, Geo Lastomirsky, Gary Erikson, Ron Nagle, Tori Arpad, Kelley Eggert. and images from the book “Nature as Designer”, author Bertel Bager.
Assigned Reading:
“Postmodern Ceramics”, Chapter 5 – Organic Abstraction . On library reserve in FAA Library
"Hands in Clay", Speight, (Chapters 1, 11,13,14,15) : Intro, Handbuilding, Glaze, Firing)
Design; what subject matter, concept, aesthetic?
Video: Maria Martinez coil building techniques (available at FAA Library and can be shown in class upon request)
Assignment:
Create a sculpture that reflects your relationship to nature using a plant form, either vegetable or floral as a point of departure. Nature has an ongoing cycle of growth and decay. The sculpture should be generated by some personal observation of nature and a conceptual response to this natural occurrence. When you consider an idea you might think about your relationship to seasons; germination, growth, fullness, decline. The work is not to mimic nature or be a mere copy but should involve an idea about a specific occurrence in the natural world that has touched you. The final sculpture should be a fully 3 dimensional form designed to be viewed in the round. The form cannot be vessel oriented. The work can be narrative but should definitely interpret nature to convey a personal response to it. Think about simplifying forms, affecting a feeling of mass and implied weight. Surface, organic transitions and textures should be considered and incorporated into the form.
Technical Requirements:
- Construction method – thick coil building and or stacked slab construction
- Size – the final sculpture must be 24 inches in one dimension
- The use of organic transition and surface texture must be considered
- Controlled drying using a cloth bath towel over the leather hard clay and covering this with light weight plastic will permit slow and even drying. An even dry out will prohibit cracking. It is up to you to control the dry out for the classroom has variable drafts and airflow.
- All sculptures are to be completed by glazing. Underglaze and colored slips can be used on leather hard or bisque clay for color as well as color glazes.
Some notes about Glaze:
Glaze, is basically a clay and glass coating applied to bisque ware and fired to create the color and surface effects which complete your art work. The compatibility of form and surface color and design is a constant consideration in the Ceramic Arts. The options for use of glaze application techniques and glaze types are infinite and provide the completed aesthetic to the ceramic form.
Glaze application can be done by dipping, pouring, spraying, brushing (not recommended for most of our shop glazes), and or sponging onto the bisque clay surface. You will be taught how to achieve a good application using the spray gun.
It has been said there are no "bad' glazes. Poor results occur only through poor application of the glaze being used. Eighty per cent of the success rate in glazing is due to application. It is important to have an adequate thickness of the coating of glaze applied to the piece. On the average the glaze coating should be the thickness of a three by five card or approximately 1/32 of an inch. Thickness of applied glaze can be checked when the glaze dries completely
(an average time of about five minutes) by scratching through the glaze with your fingernail. This will reveal the thickness of the wall of glaze.
Glaze melts in the heat of the firing and flattens in a molten surface that clings to the clay form. Not an air temperature pigment, fired color and surface samples are necessary to practice and learn what application works best. Test tile samples are available to you in our glaze lab to aid in selecting surface, color and textures. However, it is best to test to see how your application works for the result might be different depending upon wall thickness, time within the glaze bucket, or thickness of the glaze itself.
The thickness of the glaze, itself, as well as the length of time that the ware is dipped or poured into or over the ware are two very important factors to notice. The thicker the walls of the clay form, the more glaze it will absorb. Conversely, thin walled pieces can become over saturated with the liquid glaze. This will cause thinner application and problems in drying the glaze on the surface. This information will be discussed in lecture in class. (Please take notes when this is described for each of the glazes you will be using).
Reference materials ‑ Glaze Videos by Robin Hopper (If requested these will be shown in class. Videos are available for overnight check out from the Fine Arts and Architecture library)
You will be graded on:
- Size – the final sculpture must be 24 inches in one dimension
- The use of organic transition and surface texture must be considered
- Controlled drying using a cloth bath towel over the leather hard clay and covering this with light weight plastic will permit slow and even drying. An even dry out will prohibit cracking. It is up to you to control the dry out for the classroom has variable drafts and airflow.
- All sculptures are to be completed by glazing. Underglaze and colored slips can be used on leather hard or bisque clay for color as well as color glazes.
Some notes about Glaze:
Glaze, is basically a clay and glass coating applied to bisque ware and fired to create the color and surface effects which complete your art work. The compatibility of form and surface color and design is a constant consideration in the Ceramic Arts. The options for use of glaze application techniques and glaze types are infinite and provide the completed aesthetic to the ceramic form.
Glaze application can be done by dipping, pouring, spraying, brushing (not recommended for most of our shop glazes), and or sponging onto the bisque clay surface. You will be taught how to achieve a good application using the spray gun.
It has been said there are no "bad' glazes. Poor results occur only through poor application of the glaze being used. Eighty per cent of the success rate in glazing is due to application. It is important to have an adequate thickness of the coating of glaze applied to the piece. On the average the glaze coating should be the thickness of a three by five card or approximately 1/32 of an inch. Thickness of applied glaze can be checked when the glaze dries completely
(an average time of about five minutes) by scratching through the glaze with your fingernail. This will reveal the thickness of the wall of glaze.
Glaze melts in the heat of the firing and flattens in a molten surface that clings to the clay form. Not an air temperature pigment, fired color and surface samples are necessary to practice and learn what application works best. Test tile samples are available to you in our glaze lab to aid in selecting surface, color and textures. However, it is best to test to see how your application works for the result might be different depending upon wall thickness, time within the glaze bucket, or thickness of the glaze itself.
The thickness of the glaze, itself, as well as the length of time that the ware is dipped or poured into or over the ware are two very important factors to notice. The thicker the walls of the clay form, the more glaze it will absorb. Conversely, thin walled pieces can become over saturated with the liquid glaze. This will cause thinner application and problems in drying the glaze on the surface. This information will be discussed in lecture in class. (Please take notes when this is described for each of the glazes you will be using).
Reference materials ‑ Glaze Videos by Robin Hopper (If requested these will be shown in class. Videos are available for overnight check out from the Fine Arts and Architecture library)
You will be graded on:
Forming and craftsmanship
Success of the modeling
The successful relationship of the design and the concept (unity, color, and individuality in portraying your idea)
Successful use of color
Craft of glaze application
Completeness of presentation; hanging and mounting the final sculpture
Degree of difficulty vs. success
Success of the modeling
The successful relationship of the design and the concept (unity, color, and individuality in portraying your idea)
Successful use of color
Craft of glaze application
Completeness of presentation; hanging and mounting the final sculpture
Degree of difficulty vs. success
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