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We live in a physical, visible world. However, the forces at work in it, such as gravity, buoyancy, friction, and elasticity, are invisible and immaterial.
Force in Motion focuses on the interaction between natural forces and the ceramic combustion process. The surface and form of the ceramic are altered by dynamic forces, making "invisible" simultaneously "visible".
Year
2020
Type
Material experiment
Duration
3 months
3
coverweb
1 (28 - 21)
3
1/5
(In)visble force
We live in a physical, visible world. But the forces at work in it, such as gravity, buoyancy, friction, and elasticity, are invisible and immaterial. And although science and technology have invented many tools and software to simulate the play of forces in nature, it is still more complex in real nature. Computation simply cannot predict what will happen at the material level down to the last detail.
Before we design something, we already have a blueprint in our heads, but it is always shaped that we can already imagine. To shift the development of form into a process would be to simulate the interaction of forces in the computer. The result, however, is then an ideal computational model that comes about without direct involvement of the material and its deviations.
Research question
How to make invisible forces become visible in the formation of ceramics?
Capillary action
In the project "Wachsen," the capillary effect emerges on the surface of the ceramic material. We usually encounter this phenomenon in plants as they transport nutrients through their cell pathways or in absorbent materials like sponges or paper tissues, where liquids move upwards against gravity.
Ceramic Porosity and Crystallization
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The internal structure of ceramics is porous and it absorbs a certain amount of moisture before it is glazed. So I tried porcelain powder, plain porcelain, semi-finished porcelain after a single firing. Putting them in salt water and trying to show traces of capillarity by crystallization, I eventually found a greater number of crystals on the bisqueware.
Bisqueware salt experiment
different patterns making the capillary visible and aesthetic as well
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Dot
Dots
Line
Lines
Gap
Surface
Fabrication
Plaster Casting
soak in salted water
capillary action
crystallisation
release agent
mold jacket
pouring the slip
demolding
injecting plaster
demolding greenware
bisque firing
glazing
glaze firing
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Gravity in oven
The porcelain develops a softer consistency at high temperatures. To demonstrate this effect, a thin, unfired ceramic surface was placed in a suspended position using cones and subjected to the firing process. Through the interaction of gravity and temperature, it visibly sinks in where it is not fixed. This is how the form is created from the interaction of the material's behaviour and gravity.
Experiment 1: Gravity on Porcellain
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Process
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1. Making the stand
Taking advantage of the qualities of ceramics that deform according to the base during the firing process, I first explored different base shapes.
2. The thin greenware on top
Placing the thin plain ceramic blanks on top, I experimented with different shapes, rounds, squares and some irregular shapes.
3. Bisque firing
I put them in the oven at 1,140 degrees centigrade and fired them into bisqueware.
Experiment 2: Gravity on Clay
Process
1. Making the stand
2. Place the clay sheet on top
3. Waiting for being dry
Taking advantage of the qualities of ceramics that deform according to the base during the firing process, I first explored different base shapes.
The clay is rolled into a thin sheet and placed on a base where gravity instantly moulds it into a specific shape. A higher degree of deformation than porcelain.
Waiting for it to dry naturally, it is then fired in a kiln at 1000 degrees Celsius and moulded in a single firing.
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