The Journal of Australian Ceramics Vol 50 no 1 April 2011

Focus: Ceramics + Body
Stephen Benwell in his studio
The clash between the ancient and the modern, and the sublime and
the kitsch, inevitably develops a slightly absurdist or comical reaction in
the visitor.
In the work I began after this trip, I reflected on what lay behind this
experience. I decided to arrange objects as if they were a museum display.
Obviously I had no actual antiquities at hand. At first I used any scraps
and pieces lying around in the studio, arranging them casually and then adding a statue or a bust
that I had made. It became clear that these improvisations lacked a framing device to give them more
meaning.
I tried some different shelving, but that didn't work. Next, I commissioned some perspex cases to be
made. After placing the same arrangements and putting on the clear covers, I was amazed at the air
of importance the case gave to its contents. Bits of rubble and broken statues suddenly looked like real
antiquities. Even insignificant fragments and scraps looked as though they might be the remains from an
old tomb.
I realised that the case was like a 'shop window', not just there to protect its contents but having a
significance of its own. I decided to explore this phenomenon by making my own artefacts and putting
them in the cases. It was this idea that I used for the SMFACA proposal, giving it the title Collection.
For the twelve cases that would make up Collection, I started by digging out old pots and statues
from boxes or the back of shelves and, in the process, started a sort of archaeological dig in my own
32 THE JOURNAL OF AUSTRALIAN CERAMICS APRil 2011