A fine, fine ceramics exhibit – a merger of new technique, concept and curriculum

Yoonchung Kim has curated a world class ceramics exhibit at San Diego City College’s new art gallery.  Casting Plus brings together Korean, Chinese and U.S. ceramic artists – all of whom are getting us to rethink the possibilities of this medium. The works capture a range of emotions and ideas, beyond the expectation of the pretty, the glazed surface and the collectible.



Casting Plus / Gallery Panorama

Kim notes a programmatic aspect of Casting Plus: "This exhibit has an added dimension of launching a new curriculum for Art Entrepreneurship to help fine art majors add skills for making a living in art related businesses. These classes do not help you learn art quicker; we want our students to be able to make a living as artists and designers. Four year university education generally does not include the business end as an artist."

Jeff Irwin / Win, Place and Show / Earthenware 2014
I use a white satin glaze on the surface to support the subtleness of the forms and strengthen a sense of
simplicity, clarity, spirituality, and transcendence between life and death. Inspired by animal trophies
and twisting tree branches I have created a series of all white tree-like animals, which are meant
 to represent our manipulation of nature. For me the work alludes to power, ego, preciousness and loss.
  Using a relatively fragile material like clay to create this work serves to reinforce my message
of the fragility of nature. In Win, Place and Show, these trophies allude to competition and the need to win
as well as depicting our use of nature to entertain and enrich ourselves.

Joe Nalven:  How should we think about ceramics?

Yoonchung Kim:  Ceramics is a medium that can combine sculptural and painterly art works, but at the same time ceramic outcomes depend on firing and glazing. Glaze and underglaze include many chemicals for colorants. Ceramic requires many types of equipment for firing and glaze making. Other sculpture works also require a variety of equipment, like saws, drills, welding, and casting equipment. We are fortunate that we have been getting some advanced equipment with our new building.

For this exhibition, I included artists who use CNC (Calibrated Nozzle Changers), 3D printer for the shapes and laser printer or color laser printer for the surface imageries. These technologies also help the making of multiples faster - which is the way the casting technique is mostly used.

Haesin Ro / Sphere
The work implies a variety of different colors in the controlled shapes. The artist attempts
to create a reciprocal relationship between form and color. Furthermore, color is observed as a means
to express different emotions. Color also insinuates movement, weight and atmosphere.
The process of making is both delicate and complex, requiring patience and time.
The work is made using the slip-casting technique and the pieces are colored by painting
slip directly on to the molds.

Richard Burkett / California Drought Tea Pot / Soda fired slip-cast porcelain / 2014

JN:  With the new Art Entrepreneurship curriculum, I wondered how your sabbatical to Korea and China influenced this curriculum - and, on a personal level, what was the give and take in your working with Korean and Chinese ceramicists?

YCK:  In Asia, ceramic casting is a big part of university education. In the U.S., we emphasize the one of kind, the fine and conceptual ceramic piece. Bringing more of the Asian approach to our institution was what I planned before I went on sabbatical to Korea and China for a year. I learned many technical casting techniques while I was sharing the studio with an artist who has worked casting works for 25 years. In return, I taught image transfer techniques including silkscreen and decal making. My work is always about conceptual approaches with casting techniques; that was part of what I taught when I was in Korea.

Casting Plus: International Ceramic Exhibition Current work by 15 artists from US, Korea & China City Art Gallery:  San Diego City College 1508 C Street, San Diego CA  (Street parking nearby) Gallery hours:  Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday:  12 noon to 4 pm Thursday: 3 to 7 pm, and by appointment Oct. 7 - Nov. 4, 2014 Free  Contact:  Yoonchung Kim:  ykim@sdccd.edu

Mikyung Kim / Stoneage Ware / Porcelain 2014

Terri Hughes-Oelrich / Untitled / Slip-casted clay in molds 
 

Nancy Selvin / Findings #010 / Clay 2010

Lesley Baker / China Flowers
My work is greatly influenced by architecture, the history of ceramics and the quality of
 the porcelain. The floral motif inspired by wallpaper patterns represents the history of place
 and the desire to make things beautiful by mimicking nature. The cast porcelain pieces are
 assemblages of collected forms that redefine the meaning of the object. Scale becomes
 like memory, distorted by time, some larger than life while others are buried. 
Personal history and desire colors the view and projects unique meaning. 
Clay has the endurance to record civilizations, a purity that can let light through, 
and a fragility that demands gentleness. It has the magic of seducing the artist by
 never fully revealing all its secrets.
 

 Seung Wook Hwang /   Canon G35C (left), Polyhedron (right) / Slip Casted Porcelain 2009
I make ceramic works using digital technology such as CAD/CAM and CNC machine. 
Precise form made by using the machine has other charms different from exquisiteness
 and perfectness of the form made by a skillful craftsman. I think that the tools and means 
not only bring the differences in outcomes but also converts the aesthetic decision 
and the way of thinking of the maker. Because things made by using such digital technology 
are related to almost all the lives of people, the attempt to use the digital technology 
for ceramics work has the meaning of the record of aesthetic trend 
and formal tendency of our age.

Yoonchung Kim / Frozen Perspective

JN:  How do you think of your own work?

YCK:  A common thread I had in most of my work are time as a visual element and the scale beyond human perception. The eternal time span of Earth compared to human life and the incredible size of nature compared to the human scale make my existence and art making temporal and humble.

I am fascinated with nature's lasting power and vastness; this is manifested strongly in my works. The eternal enormity of the Alaskan glaciers, powerful ocean and its waves dwarf me. Vast dried earth and sands cleanse me. When I am with nature, I find myself peaceful and spiritual.

Many things in my life have evoked a thought of death as the moment of returning to a primal element such as earth's dust.

Geometric forms from the man made environment are combined with natural forms and organic textures. Harmony is created in contrast: nature versus human, mortal versus immortal, object versus primal element.

Yoonchung Kim /  J's Memory

I am re-defining the concept of human scale and time from a different perspective.

Sometimes the meaning of my work may be ambiguous to the viewers, but I encourage the viewers to have their own interpretation of my works.  I believe they will relate my works with their own views of life. As Marcel Duchamp said, "The viewer completes the creative cycle." 

It doesn't seem that the field of ceramics is static. There seems to be a dynamic energy driving this show -- not only in the vision, but the materials and technology. 

Is this what we are seeing?

The artists in the exhibit are:  Jin Baek, Leslie Baker, Richard Burkett, Seung Hee Lee, Soonjung Hong, Terri Hughes-Oelrich, Jeff Irwin, Jihye Kim, Mikyung Kim, Yoonchung Kim, Nancy Selvin, Hae Sin Ro, Paula Winokur, Seung Wook Hwang, Sol Yoon. 

The images shown in this blog are only a sample of the robust collection of pieces. Each one is worth seeing in this world class exhibit. 

The digital zeitgeist in San Diego - a reposting of my first artblog

I began my art blogging with UTSanDiego four years ago.  My starting point was a reference to digital art.  Digital was an exploding force in the commercial side of artmaking - in print publications and FX movies.  The impact in the fine art world was less discernible for a number of reasons. Just like photography was distrusted as an art form when it emerged in the 19th century; there was also the fear that digital toolsets would mask the assumed creativity of 'traditional' methods; and, when considering multiples, the digital world could create an infinite number of prints and democratize the commercial value of limited editions to the point of zero. 

Yet, change has come; digital tools and digital creations have become more welcome.  

I have also been affected by this recent history of how technology has impacted artmaking. Many of my artblogs have focused on non-digital images, sculptural forms and even performance.  I've learned about artists and artmaking by writing about others are doing in their own art adventure - digital or otherwise.  

I've also focused on art outside the large institutions.  Artmaking abounds in homes, private studios, small and mid-sized galleries, in the many parts of the world outside the major museums and biennales.  Wandering in and out of the large and small places in which we encounter art is an adventure that parallels my journey in cultural anthropology.  

So, here is my first artblog posted with the UTSanDiego when it first experimented (and then discontinued) in the blogging phenomenon.

The digital zeitgeist in San Diego

 
Art in digital media has been around for several decades. Most of us marvel at digital FX movies. These are generally among the highest grossing movies. And San Diego is proud of its Comic Con. This eye candy is often a mix of analog and digital media. More importantly, these examples point to a healthy recognition that digital media extends the toolsets used to make art — both commercial and fine art.

But when we look at our art institutions, digital media doesn't get the respect it deserves. The current exhibit at MoPA has begun to rectify this transformation in the art scene. New Realities nicely juxtaposes old school and new school technology; both Jerry Uelsmann and Maggie Taylor find fantastical visions in their respective toolsets. Maggie Taylor, the digital artist, is quoted in the SDUT: "If I didn’t have Photoshop, I probably would have moved on to making three-dimensional collages at some point and left photography to do some other things."

Yes, Photoshop is that important —along with Painter, Ultrafractals, Lightwave, Maya, Lightroom, Aperture, Adobe Camera Raw and a host of other digital software. The toolsets have changed, but the vision quest is still what drives the artist. Digital artists are just like oil-paint artists or acrylic-paint artists, or watercolorists, or sculptors, or architects or photographers.

There is some interesting San Diego art history worth recalling. In 2003, the San Diego City Council issued a Resolution proclaiming the importance of digital art in San Diego. Here is an excerpt from what was probably the first ever political resolution about digital art:

*WHEREAS, the digital art community invites all to envision the convergence of design and technology, art and animation, entertainment, education, and research at the SIGGRAPH 2003 Conference and San Diego community digital art shows; 

NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, by the Mayor and Council of the City Of San Diego, that this Council, for and on behalf of the citizens of San Diego, does hereby recognize SIGGRAPH 2003 and the digital artists and institutions of San Diego for their efforts to make art interesting, accessible and fun, and heartily congratulates SIGGRAPH 2003 and the local digital art community.*

Photo credit: Diana Jeon Joe Nalven walking through FogScreeen at SIGGRAPH 2003

Okay. I admit having a hand in crafting the resolution, especially the fun part. And you can scoff at politicians somehow having a handle on art, let alone digital art.

But there are important issues here: Who gets to say what is art? Who gets to say where art is located? Who gets to name that this is art and that is not, that this is beautiful or strong or significant and that is not? 

Looking back in time, we can say, "Tut, tut — a tempest in a teapot; moving from wood panels to canvas, not such a big thing after all." But looking forward? There's a lot to be said and no one has all the answers. There's some devilish fun to be had in exploring the art thing in San Diego.

There is also a second benchmark in San Diego worth noting. SONY made a large contribution to the San Diego Art Institute to host its First International Digital Fine Art Exhibition (2006). Marilyn Kushner, one of the leading prints curators from the Brooklyn Museum of Art was brought in as the juror. The San Diego Union Tribune paid attention.

Maybe not a big thing when measured against major shows in San Diego, let alone New York, Paris, Venice and the like. But, in getting a sense of the moorings of the new surface in art (the digital surface) and being part of the new reality, these tokens of history are worth acknowledging in locating the digital zeitgeist.

Joe Nalven Editor, Digital Art Guild ezine 

Oct 13, 2010