Small Japanese Kiln, The Sequel

In February of 2011, I wrote a blog post about a kind of small Japanese-style kiln built and fired by 柯有政, Ko Yu-Cheng (a.k.a Ah-Pao) at WuXing Creative Design Studio in Taiwan.  Fast forward to a couple weeks ago . . . I received and inquiry via e-mail from one of my readers asking for more details about this kind of kiln.  It was my hope that sometime during my stay in Taiwan, I'd be able to have some hands-on experience with building one of these little gems.  Alas, life got in the way including lots of other ceramics projects, so this little fire monster's realization for me is perpetually TBD.  HOWEVER,  prompted by this curious fellow ceramist, I got some more details today about the kiln's construction and where interested parties can do even more research!

1) Clay.  The kiln pictured at left is held together by wire, because this kiln was made from an unsatisfactory clay body that couldn't withstand the heating and cooling of the kiln.  Ah-Pao did some research on the clay body settling on a body made with fireclay, at 60% clay, 20% coarse grog, 20% fine grog(pictured right). The kiln is cured(fired) at 800 degrees Celsius prior to its first use as an actual kiln.    2) Wall thickness: walls of the kiln are 3-4 cm in width when constructed (wet clay).  3) The book: ISBN 4-575-29122-6 (pictured below) has a thorough, step-by-step explanation about how to build this kind of kiln and several other designs of small kilns including a baby noborigama-style kiln!  (Sorry, it's all in Japanese.)  

ARAC Spring 2013 Resident Program Catalog

Our spirited, familial Spring 2013 Resident Artist group at Anderson Ranch Arts Center, Snowmass Village, CO, worked fervently for a week to produce this catalog of our experience and get it published and at the Ranch before the Open House on April 9th.  I contributed as Copy Editor and as the author of a poem to give an intimate perspecive the unique and transformational experience that is the ARAC residency program. I was asked to contribute about three-hundred words as a reflection . . . so, here it is, exactly three-hundred words:

“300”  a poem by Elenor Wilson

Studios, openings, happenings, lectures, questions, answers, conversations, dancing, music, drink, winebeerwhiskeyvodkatequila, younameitwedrankit, steak . . . purple cauliflower? Étouffée, coooooooofffffffeeeeeeeee, JollyRancher, THE Ranch, branch, investigation, color, material, means, ends, beginnings, wonders, wanders . . . Ski! Ride! Aspen, altitude, alpenglow, Snowmass, Carbondale, Basalt, Glenwood Springs, everywhere in between, upvalleydownvalley, Roaring Fork, spoon, spaces, faces, Facebook, post, poster, Twitter, teamwork, work, artwork, art? Make, makers, Jamaica, history, learn, teach, challenge, tired, sleep, dreams, Twin Peaks, mountains, meadows . . . Harvey. Maroon Bells, SNOW, Bo, ball, baller, holla! Word. Good morning! Laugh . . . more . . . shows, exhibitions, gallery, gift, collector, donor, support, local, Treecours, engage, critique, energize, sophisticate, Karaoke, indulge, friends, fun, laughing . . . again, late night, layers, chairs, mud, clay, cast, form, shape, line, length-width-depth, time, image, video, avocado, banana, Montana, MONOTHON, power, animal, Chucho, costume, consume, weight gain? Workout, rec center, swimbikerunlifteliptical, HOT TUB, time machine, rub, sand, finish, fire, glaze, soda, kiln, print press, drip dry, drugs, buzz, high, thigh, body, figure, pixel, Photoshop, magic lasso, digital, digits, tongue twister, blister, pain, gain, hurt, heartache, horny, sexy, postcards, announcements! Glasses, dishes, duty, grants, writing, grantwriting, $, beauty, ugly, sublime, CAKE, sheepgoatsheavenhell, interviews, rejections, accept[ions], meet, meeting, coffee . . . did I already say that? Tea, ceremony, gravity, heavy, shipping, shopping, thrift store, buy more, art . . . I already said that. Wood, burn, fire pit, stump, hammer, nail, paint, pail, bucket, plexi-, perplexed, tag, like, timeline, tactile, visual, experience, emerging, sticky, jury, application, success, failure, stress, press, steam, bend, come, go go go, U-turn, understand(?), retrace, reinvent, community, quality, quantity, query, he said, she said, BS, raw, SAW, van, trip, Denver, performance, eyelashes . . . HUG ME, opportunity, translate, cobalt carbonate, melt, create, gather, together, here, now, love.

Please contact Anderson Ranch if you'd like to purchase this publication of the Spring 2013 Resident Artist Program - it is a record of an amazing group of great artists and their work! Also, Please visit their websites:

Department	Name	Artist Website
Ceramics	Caitlin Finley	www.caitlinfinley.com
Ceramics	Aki Katayama	www.akikatayama.com
Ceramics	Michael Lentini	www.michaellentini.com
Ceramics	Elenor Wilson	www.elenorwilson.com
Painting/Drawing	Sarah Kurz	www.sarahkurz.com
Painting/Drawing	Eddie Villanueva	www.eddievillanueva.com
Photo/Digital	Rachelle Beaudoin	www.rachellebeaudoin.com
Photo/Digital	Daniel Fonken	www.danielfonken.com
Printmaking	Hae Min Choi	www.choihaemin.com
Printmaking	Claire Typaldos	www.cetdesigns.com
Sculpture	Olivia Erlanger	www.oliviaerlanger.com
Sculpture	Llewelynn Fletcher	www.llfletcher.com
Wood/Furniture	Jennifer Anderson	www.jenniferandersonstudio.com
Wood/Furniture	Kevin Reiswig	www.kevinreiswig.com

Celadon Study, Taipei

Click the above image to see more Historic Japanese Examples from "Ambient Green Flow" at the New Taipei City Yingge Ceramic Museum online.

Because I am working on a design project incorporating historic Chinese Guan Ware (in conjucntion with WuXing Studio), in which the crackle effect of certain celadon glazes is a key element, I've tuned into some of the currently available celadon glaze learning experience gracing Taipei.  There are two that are fabulous: 1. New Taipei City Yingge Ceramics Museum, "Ambient Green Flow"  (11/10/2011 - 3/4/2012 hurry - don't miss it!) ; and, National Palace Museum, "Obtaining Refined Enjoyment: The Qianlong Emperor's Taste in Ceramics" (11/1/2011 - 9/30/2012)  Both exhibit rich and meaningful examples of celadon wares.  

From "Ambient Green Flow" exhibition at New Taipei City Yingge Ceramics Museum, Taiwan Contemporary Art Section; click the image above to see more.

"Ambient Green Flow" is particularly interesting as it shows both historic and contemporary art works.  Furthermore, it exhibits the works by country, Korea, Japan, China and Taiwan.  The presentation of Taiwan's contemporary ceramic works as separate and distinct from that of China does not go un-noted.  One of the richest aspects of this exhibition is the accompanying website, which, for many who are unable to attend the actual exhibition, gives a thorough history, technical explanation, and profile of both the works included and their backgrounds. I cannot even begin to explain to you the plethora of information available there, you must click the link above and explore for yourself.  Get a snack, a cup of coffee and a comfortable chair first, you'll be entranced. I commend the museum on their ability to present a satisfying and educational exhibition complete in both Mandarin and English.  As opposed to other organizations who seem to be unable to proofread their English translations before publishing everything from informational tags to essays that support their exhibitions, the Yingge Museum has this nailed.  Bravo for flawless translating.  For those lovers of sea-foam hues and jade-like translucency, this is the show for you.  Go see it, you will be inspired.  

Click the image above to go to the NPM website and learn more about these beautiful celadon-glazed objects.

For those who enjoy great non-fiction, or are hard-core history buffs, go to the Palace Museum (or to its website if you can't be there in person) and learn about the Emperor's fascination with that blue-green milky hue and the poetics that define its importance.  The Palace's website also is not to be missed before or after experiencing the exhibit.  It give images of the undersides of the works, among other visual candy, not available to your eyes in "real life."  

2011 WuXing Residency

2011 WuXing Residency , a set on Flickr.

New Work! Questions? Please contact me at elenorwilson(at)gmail(dot)com.

Product Design for Wu Xing Design Co.

I am currently the resident artist at Wu Xing Design Co. in Danshui, near Taipei.  One of my responsibilities is to design a functional ceramic product that will be put into limited production.   We are currently in the third stage of production.  The first stage is of course the concept, which is the most arduous -- this isn't just for college credit anymore, this is for real, involving design company, two different factories, packaging, etc.  And, Wu Xing has two successful products already in circulation, see images below.

Designer 鞏文宜 Kung Wen-Yi, "Tom Fun" soup bowl with person-spoon

  Designer 柯有政 Ko Yu-Cheng, "Perfume Leaf" tree incense burner

My concept was born out of three things. 1. Teaching in a classroom using a whiteboard and dry erase markers everyday for a year. 2. The desire to occasionally leave a handwritten note; Ariel and Times New Roman just don't say "Don't forget to pick up some milk" the same way.  3. To take something old, make it new, and then experience it age. Taiwan has a very unique history of ceramic art as shares its heritage with many different east and southeast Asian countries, the most influential being China.  This Song Dynasty Kuan ware vase provided the perfect basis for the combination of these three things. Go here and read about the artifact: http://www.artsmia.org/art-of-asia/ceramics/early-chinese-ceramics-kuan.cfm.

Song Dynasty Vases with "er duo" originally for a rope to carry the vessel.

My design will function as a vase, but as a new product, will not have the darkened lines of the cracked celedon glaze . . . yet.  The glaze on the new vase will be one that crazes (pottery term for cracking), however, the "ears" of the vase that were originally meant for a rope for carrying, will be open on the side for a dry erase marker to clip into. The more you use the marker to write a note to your loved one(s), or decorate the vase with doodles of your own, the more ink will seep into the cracks in the glaze.  Eventually, your new vase will become a Song Dynasty replica!


Second stage, make a model.  The model took about a week to work out the form, brainstorm and project ergonomics, consider how the mold will be constructed.  About once every 1/2 hour I wish I had a computer hooked up to a 3-D scanner and printer. However, if that was the case, I would definitely be writing the National Palace Museum to see if they'd loan out the original for scanning. Maybe one day . . .
The model has been completed as you can see in two parts for the mold factory.  One is the body of the vase and the other is one form that will become the two "ears" (Learn Chinese!  ěr duo [er- dwo] 耳朵). 

clay model (leather hard)

clay model, side/bottom view (leather hard)

Third stage, make one mold and a prototype. The mold factory, located in the historic ceramics town of Yingge, is an amazing place no bigger than a typical American two-car garage. But they create molds that could quite possibly be more beautiful than the object that comes out of the mold. 

Mold Factory in Yingge

The owner's son is making some "cases" for molds. The case is the mold used to make multiple molds - a mold of a mold! 

We took the model to the mold factory on Friday, and by the following Tuesday the first mold was ready to be picked up and taken to the production factory.  The factory is Futen Kiln located in Yingge's neighboring town of Sanxia, who will have the first prototype fired, finished and ready for inspection in about a week.  The boss (Learn Chinese! lǎobǎn [laow- bon] = boss 老闆) said "Time is money!" He puts his money where his mouth is by producing a fully finished ceramic prototype in a week.  

The lǎobǎn of Futen Kilns(left) discusses the production terms with 鞏文宜 Kung Wen-Yi, Wu Xing's  laoban(center), and Wu Xing designer 柯有政 Ko Yu-Cheng (far right).

We'll go to inspect the prototype this week . . . can't wait to see my design "in the flesh"!   Next week, I'll keep you posted on the next steps in the process including any modifications to the product and/or giving the "go ahead" for production.