'In-Between', 2024.
PROJECT BACKGROUND AND CONCEPT
My project delves into the complex impact of the British National (Overseas) visa on Hong Kong immigrants moving to the UK since its 2021 introduction. I have been drawing from urban observations in Manchester and Hong Kong to explore notions of belonging deeply. Metaphorically connecting glaze's fluidity to immigrants' unsettled history, I employ 'reverse thinking' and 'deconstruction' theories in my ceramic works. Through the definition of deconstruction, I seek to find a renewed sense of belonging during the transition from one city to another.
My experimentations with glaze challenge conventions about the role of glaze in ceramics. On the other hand, using AI- Midjourney- has become part of my creative process. I discovered the language of nonsense from AI while I generated Manchester and Hong Kong's street views. The creation of "AI language" that mimics but isn't identical to real languages leads to intriguing results and challenges assumptions, its potential to inspire new perspectives and creative exploration has led me to generate pictures of actual buildings in the city to a destructive state. Explore the theme between reality and virtual, I aim to create a surreal experience for the audience when looking at my work, and reimagine our identities, just like the unreal generated AI images.
My exploration then extends to bricks, taking inspiration from the architectural landscape of the UK, particularly its brick buildings. Bricks symbolize both stability and fragility, reflecting on themes of stability and fragility inherent in the immigrant experience. I metaphorically link this transition to the fluxing between clay and glaze, which explores the interplay between clay and glaze, I seek to capture the essence of transition and transformation, mirroring the journey of Hong Kong immigrants relocating from Hong Kong and adapting to life in the UK. A process that reflects the flux of identity and belonging. Through exploring the unusual possibilities of ceramic, my process involves glaze-casting, I utilize glaze-casting techniques and the heat in the kiln to construct and deconstruct my ceramic tower, to explore themes of transition and belonging further. Through my artistic process, I aim to unearth a renewed sense of belonging, inviting viewers to contemplate their own experiences of transition and identity within my creations.
The next step for my future practice
Since my curiosity about glaze, I have been researching and exploring the possibilities of using glaze as a medium to design my objects. In my future practice, I will keep pushing the boundaries of my craft, continue developing my glaze library, invent glazes of all kinds, and keep developing glazes that can stand alone. If I had more time in the past year, I would design different claze stacking positions for my vessel pieces, explore various object forms, and try different firing temperatures and glaze recipes in my work. Now, this will be the direction to the next step.
In conclusion, my artistic journey is a continuous exploration of identity, belonging, and transformation. Through my work, I aim to provoke thought, evoke emotion, and inspire contemplation. As we navigate the complexities of migration and adaptation, may my creations catalyze dialogue and reflection, to find a renewed sense of belonging in an ever-changing world.
BRICKS ARE EVERYWHERE, AROUND ME.
Since last semester I have developed my research on city observations, seeing the difference between Hong Kong's architecture and UK's, I realised the most significant building material in the UK is clay red bricks. When I see bricks, bricks are everywhere in the UK, and Manchester is no exception. Even though it seems like red brick is significant in UK architecture, brick has been identified as a universal common building material. That's when I started to think of using bricks as a form in my project, as a universal language and symbol of architecture.
Seeing bricks daily has seemingly influenced my creation. Bricks represent stable, safe, and not likely to move or change. Therefore, I wonder if I make a piece of brick detort, that might challenge people's conventional assumptions.
Shape-wise for my glaze pieces, brick is a great shape to build a construction, it's easier to stack up my glaze pieces.
I started to develop an interest in bricks and started my research about brickmaking.
I have taken some photos of buildings built with bricks around the University, looking at their designs.
Photo 1: Bricks laying in All Saints Park
Photo 2: The Holden Gallery on Higher Ormond Street (renewing)
Photo 3: St Augustine's church
Brick red, black, brown... these are the colour palettes I will use in my pieces.
Soft Bricks
Brick represents stability as a universal symbol. Brick constructions are sturdy. At the same time, a brick building can be disassembled and collapsed into a pile of broken bricks by man and machine, or even nature. I want to bring up the opposition to its meaning, softening the bricks and letting it collapse as if it shouldn’t be. My theory behind brick has led me to start doing the material experiment, explore the fluxing between clay and glaze, and discover how a single material changes from one state to another. My process has involved casting glaze and clay in plaster mould, constructing the casting pieces into construction and deconstructing it while firing in the kiln. Last semester I explored glaze as a stand-by-alone material, while adding more clay to the glaze to stiffen it, I realised glaze is clay, and vice versa. Since then, I have been exploring one type of clay, adding fluxes in different percentages, and exploring the changes between clay and glaze.
SITE VISIT- DEMOLITION SITE
I have walked around Salford where I live, and discovered a demolition site at 50 N George Street. There are a massive pile of bricks on site. I believe there was a house/ building before, but I couldn't find any information about this site. It has been left unidentified.
SITE VISIT- CROSBY BEACH
Countless rubbles, like bricks, mortar, and tiles can be found all over Liverpool's Crosby Beach. They are left behind after World War II Blitz. Years after years, the tide erodes the bricks, softening their edges. Many of them look like pebbles, very round and smooth, from this I can imagine how long these bricks have been on this beach. The houses and buildings have been destroyed and the bricks are left after conflicts, they could have been some people's homes in the past. This has brought me emotions about them.
DARWEN TERRACOTTA
I have looked back on the visit to Darwen Terracotta last year. They have worked on both restoration and new build projects for some of the most prestigious buildings in the UK and worldwide. The repetitive moulds fascinate me. They have made many plaster moulds to make repetitive tiles in different designs. They also have a glazing section that stores their glaze samples and material samples for making their tiles for buildings.
The visit has a significant impact on me. Looking at how they use the moulds to make repetitive objects to build the buildings has influenced me to think about how to make my glaze pieces and build them into construction.
RESEARCH- BRICK MAKING AND DESIGN
A brick mould is a rectangular box of steel or wood, which is open at the top and bottom of the box and inside.
modular bricks
Longevity of Clay Brick- Clay bricks have been featured as a construction product for thousands of years with evidence of their use dating as far back as the time of the Roman Empire. It is a material prevalent across the UK’s built environment today and continues to be a fundamental ingredient in modern architecture. Hampton Court Palace, an example of clay brick’s longevity, standing for over 300 years. Bricks are a versatile and sustainable building material.
STACKING THE BRICKS...
OLAFUR ELIASSON: THE CUBIC STRUCTURAL EVOLUTION PROJECT (2019)
A project inviting the public to build their city with Lego bricks.
https://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-modern/olafur-eliasson/olafur-eliasson-cubic-structural-evolution-project
Global standard dimensions for bricks
I have referenced the standard size of the brick in the UK and decided to use the dimensions for the blocks in my pieces.
In modern times most bricks in the UK are made to a standard size of 65 x 102.5 x 215mm and laid with nominal 10mm mortar joints, but in former times the size varied quite a lot.
Some early medieval bricks were as big as 13″ x 6″x 2″. Late 15th century bricks were mostly about 9½” x 4½” x 2″. A charter in 1571 specified 9″ x 4½” x 2¼”, and in the 18th century, Parliament specified 8½” x 4″ x 2½”, which is equivalent to the modern metric brick of 215mm x 102.5mm x 65mm.
Some early medieval bricks were as big as 13″ x 6″x 2″. Late 15th century bricks were mostly about 9½” x 4½” x 2″. A charter in 1571 specified 9″ x 4½” x 2¼”, and in the 18th century, Parliament specified 8½” x 4″ x 2½”, which is equivalent to the modern metric brick of 215mm x 102.5mm x 65mm.
https://www.scottishbrickhistory.co.uk/brick-sizes-variations-and-standardisation/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brick
REFERENCE IMAGES - HOW TO DESIGN/ WAYS OF STACKING BRICKS
Images found online.
Images from Brick by Dan Cruickshank (2015).
Photos taken by me in Manchester and also in London. I have been wandering around the cities and took inspiration from the brick buildings surrounding me.
BUILDINGS IN DEVELOPMENTS
Images taken by me when wandering around in Manchester...
REFERENCING COLLAPSING BUILDINGS AS THE FORM OF MY PIECES
The scene of collapsing buildings, either in the demolition process by man and machines, or the ones destroyed by nature, fascinates me. This has led me to apply the 'deconstruction' concept in my project. The blocks of the building fall dramatically, and I can feel the gravity in the photos. I try to replicate the visual effect and the state of deconstruction in the form of my pieces.
Kowloon Walled City in Hong Kong in the 80s. The place has been taken down in the 90s, I found the demolition photos of the city very impressive. Nowadays the site has been redeveloped to Kowloon Walled City Park.
AI-GENERATED IMAGES CREATED ON MID-JOURNEY
I wanted to take some photos of buildings in demolition process, but I realised that having a spectacular demolition scene in motion is very difficult to find in the city, also with safety reasons. Therefore I used Mid-journey to generate some images of demolished buildings, and I have got all the elements that I want in one single image.
Demolition scene in Hong Kong.
Disrupted brick building referenced by Murrays' Mills in Manchester.
