6

Others were more interested in specifically recognising parallels in the roles
of the historical and contemporary ceramic artist:

During the sixteenth century in Italy, artists painting on majolica
achieved more recognition than ceramic artists of any other time.
Istoriato plates depicted not only mythical and biblical stories but
also current events of significance to the artist. Using similar
technology in clay, glaze and firings I sought to recreate a pope's hat
plate but the decoration has become very much centred in this time. The
images on this plate reflect my excitement in pursuing ceramic studies
at the Emily Carr College of Art and Design. All the vessels depicted
on the rim were made during the last year. In the central well sits the
artist painting this plate, (Gillian McMillan, 1993)

This piece by McMillan contains layers of personal iconographic messages which
describe fragments of her world at the time of making the plate. Whether
these messages will continue to accompany the plece is an unknown factor.
Will the intent of the artist be recorded and will it be compatible with the
intent of the collector? And, if the piece ends up in a museum will these
"intentions" be accessible to the curator? Will s/he ignore them or
incorporate them as part of the conversation about the plece? Will the piece
be renamed by "others"? The students at Emily Carr college were asked to
consider these questions when looking at historic pieces and how they are
presented inside a museum or gallery - ta consider how they felt when their
own piece left their hands and became accessible to everybody - to consider
how the words in their Artist Statements could act as a bridge between the
object and viewer - to consider their piece in an anthropology museum where
the “other” is dominant and to consider the relationship between their piece
and the "other".

Many potters will agree that their work is firmly rooted in the non-imitative
reinterpretation of the history of ceramics. All things new owe some
allegiance to the past so it would seem to be incomprehensible that barriers
be erected to separate these entities. My personal experience of working with
historical ceramics collections, intellectually, physically and emotionally
enabled me to not only think about how objects function in differing
realities, but also how past philosophies can be carried forward and be
incorporated in contemporary work. It was the contact with the objects
initiated by the art school students that actually raised the possibility of a
new reality: a reality not contained in a chronological time or space, rather
a reality that is a concatenation of all the others - perhaps an attribute of
time, space, object which releases, enriches, informs, inspires creative
expression whilst rising above the vicissitudes of language. The opportunity
to share with the students the experience of moving objects from a state of
being distanced, immobilized, contained, to one of being close, mobilized and
released has effected a change in the way I (and hopefully they) think about
objects and what is communicated about them through the vehicle of the
exhibition.

Bibliography:

Caiger-Smith, A. Tin Glaze Pottery in Europe and the Islamic World, wee ow

faeemer-, Lewes, 1075.

Leach, Hermard, A Potter's Book, racer ana @euesr. caren, 187m