Welcome to Raku/CR218, Spring 2012

Hello All,
Welcome to the 2012 Spring semester of Raku.
The syllabus can be found here
The weekly calendar is here.
I am going to suggest that you all join Ceramic Arts Daily for supplemental info.
It is a wonderful resource. Just click on the link and follow directions to sign in. (it is free!)
http://ceramicartsdaily.org/

http://ceramicartsdaily.org/ceramic-art-and-artists/ceramic-sculpture/testing-the-limits-of-porcelain-in-wheel-thrown-altered-and-carved-sculptures/#more-89103

As we discussed briefly last week, just this past year, the Ceramics community lost one it's most innovative artists. Paul Soldner passed away at the age of 89. He was an incredible gift to the world of Contemporary Ceramics and basically invented the Raku process as we will be using it in class this semester. Please see the post below for more information about Raku and Paul Soldner.

Taken from:http://www.paulsoldner.com/

Paul Soldner has made numerous invaluable contributions to the field of ceramics, including developing what has been come to be known as "American Raku", and a technique known as "low-temperature salt firing". His involvement with raku, for which he is now internationally known, came by chance. As Garth Clark relates:

"Invited to demonstrate at a crafts fair in 1960, Soldner decided to experiment with the technique. Using Bernard Leach's "A Potter's Book" as his guide, he set up a simple kiln and improvised a few lead-based glazes. The results were disappointing: the clay body did not respond well to the quick firing technique, and the glazes were shiny and too brightly colored. His fascination with raku (a Japanese technique developed in the sixteenth century) did not diminish, however, and Soldner continued to experiment. At first he produced mainly tea bowls, but soon found these restrictive and somewhat academic, as there was no tea ceremony in Western culture that would give the forms their traditional significance. He gradually discovered he was more interested in raku as a technique and an aesthetic than as a tradition. This attitude resulted in a much more playful approach to form, scale, function, and material." (Garth Clark)

The traditional raku technique, which involves throwing and bisque-firing vessels which are then glazed and placed directly in an open raku kiln to be withdrawn a few minutes later and plunged into water, was adopted, transformed, and manipulated by Soldner as his major medium of expression, and as a result has gained widespread popularity in the ceramic art world. Though through Soldner raku has grown away from it's Oriental traditions and become a strongly American art form, the form still requires the same depth and sensitivity to succeed. As Soldner states:

"In the spirit of raku, there is the necessity to embrace the element of surprise. There can be no fear of losing what was once planned and there must be an urge to grow along with the discovery of the unknown. In the spirit of raku: make no demands, expect nothing, follow no absolute plan, be secure in change, learn to accept another solution and, finally, prefer to gamble on your own intuition. Raku offers us deep understanding of those qualities in pottery which are of a more spiritual nature, of pots by men willing to create objects that have meaning as well as function." (Soldner, 1973)

Go HERE for article by Jori Finkel.