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Elastic/expanding: Contemporary conceptual ceramics

In 1967 Sol LeWitt famously defined conceptual art as ‘dematerialized’, its form little more than a sign of the intellectual process from which it arose, its execution reduced to a ‘perfunctory affair’. Such a notion seems irreconcilable with the supposedly insistent materialism of ceramics. However, Dahn argues that the ceramics field is elastic and steadily expanding. She considers the emergence in recent years of a conceptual mode of practice that is tantamount to a new genre and prompts a contemporary reconsideration of LeWitt’s formula. Examples of work by selected British makers, including Clare Twomey, David Cushway and Keith Harrison are discussed. They all trained in ceramics craft disciplines, but their subsequent engagement with the clay medium can be regarded as a challenge to ceramics conventions. The book has received high praise and was awarded the 2012 Association of North American Librarians Prize for the best anthology on an Art subject. Dr Glen Adamson of the V&A called it ‘the best anthology of recent writing on craft out there’. Julia Bryan-Wilson (University of California, Irvine) stated that Extra/Ordinary ‘critically unravels assumptions about craft and pieces together new theories about contemporary hand-making....’ Namita Gupta Wiggers (Museum of Contemporary Craft, Portland) applauded it as: ‘.....an anthology that matches the dynamism of a field in flux. [...] The essays compiled here provide access to diverse voices and approaches, filling a current void in scholarship.’ Dahn’s chapter was also described as ‘strong’ by Stephen Knott in his review for Crafts magazine UK. Extra/Ordinary is now in its 2nd edition.