Techniken
- How it all started
An attempt to relate the appearance and early development of ceramics to the emergence of social and intellectual life.
In the way cultural life developed from ritual cults to organised religion, it is possible to demonstrate the development of ceramics parallel to it, from concrete observation and functionality to art in various "life cycles". It was always the wider opportunities to develop its potential in a larger context. - The Origins of Glazes
How nature assisted in their invention
Glazes in the West had their origins in the Middle East and Egypt. Without the arid climate in these regions and local geological and botanical conditions, they could not have been invented. Over a period of four millennia, the flux had to be transported to the glass former in the fire in the same way as the arid natural conditions did. It was only after this period that glaze could become established outside the Middle East in the form of lead glaze. In the Far East, glazes developed in entirely different natural geological and botanical circumstances. - Lost Knowledge Today
China's pioneering role in the development of hard-fired ceramics has been refuted by recent findings. In the 4th-3rd millennium B.C. the potters of northern Syria produced "metallic ware" of great hardness, which only made an appearance in China a thousand years later. From the mineral composition of the body, it is possible to determine a firing temperature of 1000-1100°C. A second type of ceramics from the 3rd millennium B.C., found in northern Syria, was extremely heat resistant and was used for cooking pots. It can be used for "fire bowls" for fires in gardens and on balconies. This type of ceramics is from the period in which the Sumerian king Gilgamesh lived in Uruk (28th-27th century B.C.). Both types can be produced in electric kilns. From a cuneiform glaze recipe from the Ashurbanipal's Library (669-627 B.C.), it is possible to reconstruct the materials and techniques used for the Ishtar Gate in Babylon (605-562 B.C.).
The essay consists of three parts which may be downloaded separately:
- The Evolution of Culture and Ceramics
Just as genes pass on the organic development of humankind according to the principles of Darwin's theory of natural selection, it is memes that pass on the elements of culture. In the interaction of the two evolutionary processes lies the creative act.
- Ability from Knowledge and Art from Ability are Outdated – What now?
All art forms derive from crafts. This is also true of ceramics. Where do we stand today at the beginning of the new century? Social psychology affords us deep insights into our situation.
- Neocraft – the movement for the renewal of the crafts
Craft is not satisfied with being assimilated in fine art; instead it is rediscovering its own special nature. As "Neocraft", it self-confidently sets itself apart from fine art and design.
- Creative Destruction
This theory of innovation, which had originally only been applied to society, expanded beyond the social sciences to become a general principle of historical development.
- Dislimitation
With regard to art, we see that ceramics overcomes its limitations and enters into the world of fine art, but art is also dislimiting itself from within.
- The hidden dragon
The Far Eastern attitude to ceramics has a static element to it, with change occurring within tradition. For us, this is also the case in the crafts. In contrast, art has a dynamic element. A decision in its favour is no longer a change in degree but an absolute one. It requires a different kind of creativity.
- Spirit of the age
It is expected of ceramics that it does justice to the demands of a civilised country to have cultural achievements that continually renew themselves.
- Born to be beautiful
- Knowledge, Certainty and Symbol
Semantic art can represent something figuratively which goes beyond what can be put in words. Symbols are semantic signs. In many ways, ceramics is developing in a direction that corresponds to Symbolism in the late 19
th century. This does not consist of symbolism alone but also of the relationship to history, technology and imagination. - Art and Design – Culture and Civilisation
Whereas in German there is a distinction between culture and civilisation, and also between art and design, in the Romance and Anglo-Saxon languages, no such distinction is made. There, design is applied rather to invention and drawing up plans, and civilisation applies to well-mannered behaviour. The far-sighted historical philosopher Oswald Spengler, who was one of the key players in defining the current concept of history, was in contrast of the opinion that civilisation was the final, decaying phase of culture.
- Chance as superior freedom
Chance appears as the final cause in micro-physics, astronomy and anthropology and it can also be this in art.