From dirt to desire: an introduction to ceramics

This undergraduate course will introduce students to the hands-on techniques, historical precedence, and discourse around ceramics and its place in the craft and art worlds. Students will generate a body of work which will be informed by a range of approaches to this practice, which have been developed by key makers, art and craft movements and groups who have sought shift the place and value of this discipline in the arts and crafts scenes. In this course students will be instructed on the basic principles of how different clay materials operate and can be utilized to generate a range of domestic ware and more expressive ceramic results. As part of this process, they will be introduced to this discipline’s studio practices associated with safe handling of materials, a range of making processes (hand building and pottery wheel techniques), kiln staking and firing methods, glazing, and finishing. They will develop an awareness of how to construct clay objects from inception (including the different histories and qualities of different clays) to final resolution. They will also learn about the important historical and cultural material/figures that has shaped this discipline in Aotearoa and which continues to make it a critically important creative practice today.