• Introduction • Tableware and other Functional Forms • Playing on Function • Vessel Forms • Sculptural Forms • Abstract Sculptural Forms • Different Ways of Working

Discussing the works in the Ceramic Contemporaries 4 exhibition Knowledge and Understanding: Different Ways of Working   Emilie Taylor Fiona Meagher Marian Anderson Basil Olton   Some of the objects in Ceramic Contemporaries 4 do not fit neatly into any of the traditional categories that we associate with work in clay. Such pieces take their cue from the contemporary art world, where different ways of working, such as conceptual art and installations have become commonplace. Conceptual art means that the artist chooses the material that she/he feels most suitable for expressing her/his ideas. This is a basic underlying principal: the idea is paramount. Installation art and conceptual art have much in common, in that both tend to focus on ideas, but installation art is made specifically for a particular exhibition space and relies on that space to complete it. In other words, we ‘read’ it where we find it, and if it were installed elsewhere, not only would it look different, but its meaning might alter. However, appreciating this sort of work only depends in part on ‘reading’ it in a particular way; it can of course be enjoyed simply for its beauty.