View Larger Image “Double-Walled Vessel #3,” 5½  in. (14 cm) in height, thrown and carved stoneware, with rutile/iron glaze, fired to Cone 10 in reduction.

August 22, 2007

The Mathematics of Creating Double-Walled Vessels

by Peter Wang | Read Comments (1)

When you consider that of the many subjects taught in school, math might seem to be the most irrelevant when it comes to artistic expression, you may wonder why a story entitled "The Mathematics of Creating Double-Walled Vessels" is on a website that's devoted to ceramics. But, as you will see in part two of this week's back-to-school issues of Ceramic Arts Daily, there is indeed a place in the studio where the precision of math and the freedom of clay can harmoniously work together to create beautiful pieces of art. In today's feature you'll also get some insight in the classroom from teachers who go above and beyond the call of duty to encourage and motivate their students, keeping them excited about ceramics in the classroom. But first, here's part two of Peter Wang's story.

Inspired by Mathematics
In my view, the double-walled vessel has been the ideal ceramic form to express mathematical relationships. There is a reconciliation of the precision of math and the imprecision of clay (and in any handmade object) in these vessels, and I strive for a harmonious balance between these opposing forces. The equations and program I use to design the outer carved surface are not intended to be perfectly represented by the clay, which I allow to make its own impact through the variability of the forming, drying and firing processes.

Furthermore, I am particularly intrigued by the tension between the sculptural and the functional nature of the double-walled vessel, and it is precisely this ambiguity that elicits the seemingly endless inquiries about my work. Other than explaining the underlying aesthetic and conceptual principles in these pots, I deliberately choose not to enforce any single perspective as to their function or purpose and instead allow the viewer to make his or her own conclusions.

All of my double-walled vessels are thrown from a single piece of clay as a closed form. My early work had outer walls that were curved in cross section, and therefore the designs had to be hand drawn directly on the surface of the pot. As a result, the intricacy and accuracy of the designs were severely limited. To overcome these difficulties, I decided to make the outer walls laterally flat, which allows me to print the design on paper and fit it to the pot. The increase in complexity is reflected in my most recent vessels, which have more than 800 holes.

Having worked with clay for about five years, I still feel very much like a beginner, and for this I am grateful. I firmly believe that we may only grow through the open dissemination of knowledge and by questioning previously established norms. Much in the same way that scientists and mathematicians make advances by allowing debate of old ideas, formulation of new hypotheses, and discussion of results, ceramists must not cling too fervently to past traditions and aesthetics. As such a philosophy applies to the individual, I imagine it is far better to be a beginner, to be willing to take risks and make mistakes, than to be set in one’s ways. We all have so very much more to learn.

Voices from the Classroom: How Teachers Keep Ceramics in School

From Susan Fox Hirschmann
I teach kids in my backyard studio from ages 8 and up and they are really excited about coming here! A REAL potter's studio! I give them their own aprons and their own space at the tables and let them cut their own clay. In other words: My students have artistic freedom. One of the first things I do to loosen them up is to give them each a pencil and let them draw on my canvas tables. I tell them it's all in fun and that whatever they do is right!

I always tell them a funny story about me...how I jump over the chipmunks to get to my studio...how much fun I have creating here...and that this is my REAL full time job and how much I love it. I also tell them how happy I am that they are here, and then I show them a project and how to do it. I help them to cut their own clay and model my technique to them, but I encourage them to do their own version of it. Nothing they do here is wrong, and if they don't like what they have done, I show them how incredible clay is...they can mush it all up and start again! I gear the projects to the age of the kids, so they are excited about whatever they are doing.

They never seem bored. When they are finished with one project I give them ideas for another project, or I'll tell them to do a piece that shows me how they're feeling, which inevitably results in their making happy faces!  Then they come to me for a second time for glazing and I let them paint and mix wonderful color underglazes and give them a few lessons about taking care of brushes and mixing colors. I let them experiement. They love dipping their creation into clear glazes when they're done and by they time they are finished, they even want to help clean up. The kids feel like a sense of privilege in being here and want to be part of it. It's truly wonderful to hear so many of them tell me, "I want to be an artist just like you!" 

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From Chic Lotz
I've been teaching ceramics in classrooms for over 30 years as a visiting artist. Teachers hire me to come to their classroom for the kids to make a fish or a frog or a turtle--whatever is connected to their current areas of study. Also, I taught ceramics for four years at an "alternative" high school school, working with kids who got suspended from their regular school and I ran a pottery studio for the parks and recreation department in Atlanta for ten years. Later, I ran my own teaching studio for eight years in California where I hosted numerous school classroom field trips along with teaching oodles of kids after school.

Probably my most profound ceramics experience in relation to teaching was when I left my special ed job teaching high school kids with learning disabilities and emotional problems to run the parks and recreation department studio. I taught pottery on the wheel to kids as young as seven years-old, and much to my surprise, I had quite a lot of success teaching kids with learning disabilites to learn how to FOCUS! It was much easier to teach them this particular skill using the potter's wheel than anything I had ever tried in the classroom. Even the parents noticed that once their child learned how to focus on the wheel, he could carry that over to other areas of his life. Soon teachers were finding out about it and sending me other kids.