As part of the British Ceramics
Biennial 2013 programme , I have been situated in The Laboratory for the first ‘Weekender’
event.
For the weekend of 28th & 29th
September only, visitors to the exhibition at the Spode Works can leave their
mark by placing a ‘Helping Hand’ on any
of the three walls situated between ‘The Pavilions’ in the China Hall. These
‘Helping Hands’ are carrying out ceramic-based activities to repair the walls
and suggest the collective rebuilding and repairing of an industry and reveal
the architectural potential of clay.
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| The Laboratory |
Transferring skills, processes and materials associated with the original Spode factory, ceramic worker’s hands have now turned to the walls; writing, decorating, painting, cleaning, and filling with coloured clay slips.
Day 1 received a steady flow of participants and
the hands began to adorn the walls and re-activate the
space with ceramic- based activity, encouraging visitor’s to look beyond the
exhibition space and explore the building. The project is intended to get people looking
at the walls and considering the future of the factory and industry.
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| Finding areas in need of repair |
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| Some favorite interventions by the public so far |
I have been working to fill and paint areas
pinpointed for repair, for the duration of the weekend.
13 Ceramic plaques in the form of life-sized
ceramic worker’s hands will remain on the walls of the China Hall to highlight
repaired surfaces, or those in need of repair.
The images of the ‘Helping hands’ have been
printed as paper multiples on a series of 30 limited edition cards to promote
ceramic activity beyond the BCB venue. A limited number of ‘Porcelain Pins’
have also been made from offcuts from the ‘Helping Hands’ project - both are
available in the BCB shop situated within the China Hall. ‘Porcelain Pins’ will
be a continuing project for me from this point forward, so watch this space for
more limited edition designs.
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| Porcelain Pins, and info |
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| BCB shop space, China Hall |
Also situated in the Laboratory was and the Burslem China Painters showcasing
traditional china painting techniques. Kay and Diane were really drawn to the
hands, as some of them were carrying out the techniques and methods they use.
The ‘Helping Hands’ promote the handmade and keeping skills alive, which the
Burslem China Painters are all about. It was really nice to see skilled workers
hands at work in the space, and handling the paper ‘Helping Hands’. In one of
the pictures above, Kay’s hand can be seen placing a decorator’s hand on the
wall.
Diane in particular was drawn to the images and chose some of the hands relating to her own skills to copy onto one of her plates and spent the day transferring and painting the outlines in sepia. She intends to paint two plates in two colours using the images. I can’t wait to see the results of a collaboration that came about in the Laboratory. The Burslem China painter’s plates will be on view in the Laboratory for the remainder of the BCB.
Diane in particular was drawn to the images and chose some of the hands relating to her own skills to copy onto one of her plates and spent the day transferring and painting the outlines in sepia. She intends to paint two plates in two colours using the images. I can’t wait to see the results of a collaboration that came about in the Laboratory. The Burslem China painter’s plates will be on view in the Laboratory for the remainder of the BCB.
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| Diane designing and painting her 'Helping Hands' plate |
I am now all set for day 2 (12pm onwards today) where I will be filling and painting the walls highlighted yesterday, introducing today’s visitors to the project and completing the designs on the porcelain plaques which will remain in-situ for the remainder of the BCB.
