Contemporary British Ceramics and the Influence of Sculpture

Laura Gray has a PhD in Art History from Cardiff Metropolitan University and is a freelance curator, writer and researcher specializing in contemporary art and craft, and twentieth-century sculpture.

• Table of ContentsIntroductionChapter OneBecoming Partners?Creative Tension: Defining ceramicsSculpture: A category in danger of collapseThe Art and Craft DivideAn Overview of the BookChapter TwoMonumental MattersMonuments and the Collective MemoryTwo Approaches: The logical and the abstracted monument Ceramics in Civic SpaceWheel of Fortune: Monumentalizing Stoke-on-Trent Making it Big: The monumental styleChapter ThreeThe Numbers Game: Multi-part compositionsDo Numbers Matter?Plane Thinking: Horizonal groupsHigh Rise: Stack, build, repeatThe Expressive Possibility of Repetition Clare Twomey: Master assemblerChapter FourThe Art of Destruction: Ceramics, Sculpture and IconoclasmWhat is Iconoclasm?Iconoclasm and ArtVases and VandalismOut of the Ordinary: Destroying domestic wareClay in CommonPast Imperfect: The art of transformative repairDestruction as Cultural CritiquePlease Do Not Touch: Destruction in the vitrineBiting the hand that feeds? Iconoclasm as institutional critiqueChapter FiveEncounters: Ceramics on ShowThinking About ExhibitionsClay as an Authentic Material for Sculpture: The Raw and the CookedCeramics and Minimalism: The New WhiteCeramics Under Threat: A Secret History of ClayPost-Studio Practice: Possibilities and LossesCeramics for the HomeThe Separation of Art and the HomeHome Coming: Contemporary ceramics in domestic spaceDomesticating the White CubeConclusionRadical PlasticityA Single MaterialWorkmanshipThe VesselThe Current of InfluenceThe Future

'This is an essential read for the student of contemporary ceramics, providing a fresh perspective on "post-studio" ceramic practice.' Stephen Dixon, Manchester Metropolitan University, UK