The Journal of Australian Ceramics Vol 53 No 3 November 2014

Focus : Collaboration
During filming, the unexpected happened. Japan experienced a severe earthquake and tsunami,
Although not directly affected by the event himself, it had an immediate impact upon his Japanese
collaborators, It created shifts and different resonances in the project, some images acquiring a deeper
poignancy as a result. An ikebana arrangement originally intended to be cherry blossom, became
peonies, white, the Japanese colour of mourning. The ikebana artist strokes the flowers, coaxing petals
to fall. In a hospital room, a vase of scarlet and yellow tulips revives, droops, revives, like the rise and fall
of a ribcage, On a rooftop in Tokyo, a young woman throws pots on a wheel, and near her, a yorishiro
tree extends its twig antennae to the gods,
Kershaw wanted to couple the video sequences with an expression of raw nature manifested in some
form of material presence, For this, he contacted Barbara Campbell-Allen, a Sydney artist well-known
for her woodfired work,
The first brief. to make a slop pile of thrown pots, with an embedded video projector, was abandoned
after the original venue closed down, Twelve months later. the invitation from the Art Gallery of New
South Wales (AGNSW) came, with the use of a larger space. Together they dug up solid chunks of raw
clay which Campbell-Allen Slowly dried and fired,
They debated the concept of form and
formlessness, settling on the need for a
form, Via Skype, there was a to-and-fro
over the form and how the rocks would
be used, Campbell-Allen handbuilt two
large jars. fired and unfired, as generic
forms rather than art objects, one jar to
be penetrated by the rocks with a scatter
of shards, a tacit violence, Together they
worked on the final placement of the
elements of the installation,
Of their collaboration, Campbell-Allen says, "It took me out of that ceramic enclave into a bigger
sculptural arena ," Kershaw says, " I was really excited by Barbara's work " , [Collaboration] enables you
to experiment in other mediums ,,, A certain shift happens in the work that would only be possible by
working with other people,"
References:
Kershaw, Alex. Interview with K. Weiss
Campbell-Allen, Barbara. Interview with K. Weiss
Mills, Ian. Shibli's Dog, Spinoza and the Dyaks. Spirituality Leadership and
Management Conference 1999. University of Sydney.
@ K. Weiss 2014
www.alexkershaw.com.au
www.barbara-campbell-allen.com.au
30 THE JOURNAL OF AUSTRALIAN CERAMICS NOVEMBER 2014