Enjoy the unique beauty
Day after day, everyday
Ceramic is looking back on 30.000 years of history. Ceramic was produced already in the Paleolithic, first sculptures but latest since 15.000 b.c. also as vessel ceramic.Why does ceramic exist until today? We humans seem to carry a lot of historical genetic information from former epochs with us. We love the elements of nature and the reduction to the essential and simple, whilst simultaneously our curiosity permanently expands our skill horizon. Basically, ceramic possesses its own fascination, maybe because it is formed from earth and burnt in fire. The question arises if ceramic be timeless due to its long existence. I believe the answer is yes and no. There are of course trends in the ceramic world, as the potter´s will to search and experiment is creating new fashions constantly.
Various factors like local occurrence of the “clays” and the firing possibilities, the raw materials and the human desire for something special (outside of the usual), created porcelain, stone ware, earthenware, fired in wood and pit fire using an uncountable number of glaze and decoration options. This power of invention is far from being exhausted. If you do not believe this, go to the pottery markets in Diessen or Gmunden (Austria). Every year many brilliant potters meet there to show established and fantastic new products. On the other hand, is ceramic timeless, as fashions come and go. New trends arise and become main stream. Simultaneously humans seem to be fascinated from the reduction to the essential. Unpretentiousness instead of swank, beauty of simplicity, the WabiSabi. With WabiSabi still many materials, techniques and surface decorations can be combined, but there is an additional rule of harmony, that stimulates our intrinsic sense of beauty.
Insofar is the differentiation in fashion and timeless character of ceramic secondary, as both stream can create aesthetic and unique products, that do not loose their beauty (in the eyes of their owners) also after many years.
More influential on the analysis if ceramic is the differentiation between mass-ware (everyday ceramic) and individual craftsmanship. Of course one can buy functional ceramic in a Swedish furniture store or as mold cast ceramic from China (but also in Sweden and China you can buy expensive individual art). We find mass-produced ceramic beautiful for the moment but after some time it becomes trivial and exchangeable, the beauty was short-lived and superficial. Therefore, I think it is important to learn how the cord of harmony and aesthetics vibrates in us, to understand our personal sense of beauty. Only if we understand this we are able to buy ceramic, that does not loose its fascination for us for a long time.
The beauty lies in the details. A reflection on mass-ware and individual craftsmanship.
The white gold is popular because of its properties, potters however need very special skills to manage this material.
Similar to the rules for choosing the right tea pot there also exist criteria for the selection of suitable cups and bowls.