Pottery In Australia Vol 38 No 3 September 1999

One of the ironies for true
potters is that their
philosophical arch-enemy
is someone whose holy grail is a
potty containing a good job. Toilet
training, I'm told has a lot to
answer for. It's an unfortunate fact
that power freaks gravitate
towards positions of power, and
then attempt to redefine human
nature in their own insecure
image. We find ourselves
struggling to uphold principles of
truth, beauty, creativity in an
environment where all values
have been reduced to the dollar.
o thought for those that can't be
converted into cash. It does not
compute!
As artists we are custodians of
one of these important areas of
human value. In his entire life
Vincent Van Gough sold just one
painting - to his loving brother. If
he could see the great money
marketeers snap up his paintings
today for millions, he might
conclude that economic rationalism
is as much help to talent as a potty
full of politician's poo. Good art,
like fundamental scientific research,
often needs help to thrive - the
market is too busy elsewhere
making profit. These are hard times
for artists, once again, and it's
important to maintain the faith
however we are able.
Steve Harrison is such an artist
who has maintained his faith. He has been charting the
ceramic landscape for over 30 years. In this show he
maps the territory of feldspathic glazes. These have a
pedigree going back for many centuries in China, Korea
and later Japan. Jun, guan, shino, and some celadons
belong to this tradition, and are here developed in a
series of simple, beautiful, timeless yet modern pots.
These are undoubtedly what we would think of as
"high fire" ceramics, but they are fired only to 1200°C. In
recent years it has become evident that we have been
seeking some of the traditional oriental glazes in the
wrong places, firing too high and too fast. And of course
the nature of the materials available from your local
ceramic supplier is often not appropriate for some of
Above: Teapot, 'Guan but not Forgotten' w25cm
Opposite: Bowl, 'Light in the Distance' d12cm
these effects. This artist has a long tradition of
experimenting with hand won local materials, sometimes
trying to achieve traditional results, and sometimes simply
coaxing out the characteristics of those rocks, clays and
ashes.
Originally firing to 1300°C., over a period he has
brought the maturing temperature down by a hundred
degrees, still using the same glazes, by firing much more
slowly. There are practical and aesthetic reasons for
doing this. Most of these glazes need to be applied very
thickly to get the visual depth, and to achieve qualities
like ivory or marble or gemstones. In a normally matured
high firing the glaze simply slumps off the pots.
The long low firing fuses the glaze while allowing it to
38/3 SEPTEMBER 1999 + POTTERY IN A USTRALIA 27