‘Living Ceramics’

Ceramics are more than just tiles, dinnerware, bricks, and other by-products of pottery. They are more than just firing the kiln and burning the earth to create a vessel or a jar. Ceramics are strong fragile parts of human life.

Without ceramics, the modern world won’t exist. Without ceramics, there would be no steel and metals to create automobiles, machineries, plans, and other things that need these items for construction. With ceramics as sophisticated refractory materials, people would be able to produce iron and non-ferrous metal.

Can you imagine life without buildings and houses? Thanks to ceramics, we won’t have to worry about such problems. Construction industries pretty much depend on ceramics, particularly bricks and cements, to build infrastructure.

Electricity also depends on ceramics for high tensions insulation. As an excellent insulator, ceramics make it possible for electric companies to safely carry electricity to houses and businesses.

“Ceramics is a repository of culture and history which encapsulates human existence. Introducing ceramics is equivalent to introducing culture, history, and current social structure. Ceramics are living culture,” says Hong won Lee of the Korea Ceramic Foundation, an established international entity that promotes and develops artistic endeavors related to ceramic art.

From the earliest civilizations, the technology and applications of ceramics have come a long way from mere basic earthenwares to modern ceramics. It is just right to take a closer look at these living cultures through the “Living Ceramics: The Modern Touch of Korean Heritage” exhibit at the Korean Cultural Center in Taguig City. The exhibit showcased the celebrated Korean ceramic tradition which has been infused with modern touches and techniques throughout the history of Korea.

Korean ceramic tradition began from earthenware culture back in 6000 BC, during the Goryeo Dynasty in the 12th century, which displayed its high stature throughout the world with its own unique celadon green ceramic. One of the most celebrated ceramic forms in Korea, celadon is characterized by its bisaek, the blue oxidized iron within the clay, as well as its jade-green color.

The Joseon Dynasty in 15th century had seen the rise of baekja, the white porcelain ceramic made of white clay, with transparent glaze, which seems harder and clearer than most ceramics produced that era.

“Based on Confucian philosophy and Sunbi (a virtuous scholar) culture, it highlighted the advanced aesthetic sense of the Koreans which surpassed even the minimalism and monochrome painting techniques of modern arts,” shares Hong won Lee.

The buncheong also thrived during the Joseon period. This ceramic form is characterized by white slip covers with bold and complicated designs. It is considered the “most Korean” of all the forms because it embodies the emerging Korean culture.

Korean ceramic entered its dark age during the colonial occupation of Korea (1910 to 1945). The war didn’t make it easy for ceramics to thrive. But following the end of war, the ceramic culture re-emerged and led the way towards the modern tradition.

“The efforts to trace and redevelop the Korean traditional ceramic technology and production process, together with the creative will to express modern art with earth, is drawing worldwide attention from the ceramic industry,” shares Hong won Lee.

He continues: “Nowadays, Korean ceramics is continuously being researched and efforts are being made to overcome the limitations of ceramics by extending its scope through the  convergence of other art genres with ceramics.”

The exhibit highlighted the unique fusion of ceramics with various fields such as crafts, industry, information technology, visual media, and especially food design. It is geared towards putting Korean traditional dining customs on the cultural awareness of the Filipinos.

In “Nature,” artist Sin Hyun Cho involves the natural changes with the designs formed through different color plates and blended them into the lines. Infused with practicality and aesthetics of life, he presents a visual delight in the food culture.

Artist Panki Kim gives a modern interpretation that embraces the tradition of Korean celadon. In his “Celadon Dinnerware,” the artist expresses his own interpretation, juxtaposes the pure celadon colors with iron glaze and silk thread which underscores its transformation, reflecting the flow of time through color contradictions of the internal and external colors of celadon.

Ceramic artist Se Lim Yu expresses the motif prevalent during the Joseon Dynasty in “White Porcelain Dinnerware” and “Blue and White Porcelain Dinnerware” collections. The white porcelain with traditional patterns are a reinterpretation of the traditional forms with contemporary sentiments and are applicable to the daily life of the people.

“Dinnerware, Buncheong with Plant Design in Iron-Brown,” created by Sang Man Kim, maximizes the material characteristics of the Korean traditional grayish-blue powdered celadon. The artist highlighted the beautiful physical attributes of the material, as expressed by its surfaced texture and the thickness of the glaze, and blended them with simple patterns, shapes, and flavors.

Artist Ji-Young Moon captures the simplicity, the soul of the soil through the lively yet unadorned porcelain. “Relaxation” is a living porcelain that imbibes the beauty of ceramic through the use of natural materials.

The “Moon Jar” by Shin Bong Kang contains the core Korean emotions as well as the faith in the ancient East and West. The artist created the moon jars as symbols that represent the royal authority, the daily lives of the Koreans, and as an expression of beauty.

Hee Sok Ko combines modern design and natural homemade trait, shown as quite peculiar on the boundary lines of industrialized pottery and handicraft work, in “White Flying.” A contemporary artist, he emphasizes the purity of white porcelain through the transparent oil-glazed inside of the ceramic, contrasting with the surface of the self-nitrided white porcelain.

“The Won” by Bok ja Won revolves around the concept of real artistic luxury in pursuit of “living in’ art as it is naturally a part of human life. Through the fusion of Korean traditional celadon and the harp, the artist creates a luxurious porcelain that presents a dining table designed for a special day with different designs and technology.

Sy Young Kim’s “Black Glaze with Tableware” is a reproduction of Korea’s black porcelain. It allows the viewers to re-evaluate the history of Korean black pottery as well as the artistic value of ceramic technology. Soaked with natural colors of deep black and rainbow, the collection is an attempt at modern transformation in harmony with the color of Korean food.

Jae Kyung Lee has consistently worked with the “Eumgwang” (Sound and Light) theme, with several glass works aiming to capture the moment of light, sound, and memory, all the things without the concept of forever. His goal is to show movements, light, brightness, and formation through the composition of the transparent glass.

The “Living Ceramic: Modern Touch of Korea Heritage” is in line with the celebration of the Philippine-Korea Exchange Day as well as the first anniversary of the Korea Cultural Center.

“The Philippines and Korea have a strong diplomatic relations for more than 60 years now, with the Philippines having fought beside Korea in the latter’s quest for democracy. In this sense, if the two countries embark on and continue to engage in a much more aggressive art exchange, the partnership may produce great developments,” says Hong won Lee.

He concludes: “If the characteristics of the two nations – the Filipino’s colorful, optimistic and positive character and Korean’s sophistication and natural beauty – complement each other, there might emerge a new art form which would generate a win-win situation for both countries.”

By MA.GLAIZA LEE

mb.com.ph

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Ever wonder why a day has 24 hours and a minute has 60 seconds?

The most widely used numerical system in the world is the decimal system, using 10 as a base. However, to measure time, we use the duodecimal (base 12) and sexagesimal (base 60) systems. This is because our method of dividing the day derives from the innovations of ancient Mediterranean civilizations. By 1500 BCE, Egyptians (who used base 12) developed a sundial which looked like a T-shaped bar placed in the ground with would divide the time between sunrise and sunset into 12 parts. Because of the seasonal change in the length of time between sunrise and sunset, summer hours were longer than winter hours! Historians theorize that the importance of 12 is based on the number of finger joints on each hand (not counting the thumb) or the number of lunar cycles in a year. The division of the night into 12 parts was achieved by Egyptian astronomers who observed the appearance of 12 key stars in the night sky. Out of these divisions was born the concept of a 24-hour day. However, seasonal hour length was used for many centuries, and fixed hours became common only after the appearance of mechanical clocks in 14th century Europe!

The Greek astronomer Eratosthenes (27 6-194 BCE) divided a circle into 60 parts to create a geographical system of latitude. The reason for the importance of the number 60 is not known, but historians note that it is conveniently divisible by 10, 12, 15, and 30. Hipparchus added a 360 degree system of longitude a century later, and in 150 CE Claudius Ptolemy subdivided each degree into 60 parts. The first division (each of the 360 degrees) was called the partes minutae primae, or first minute, and the second division (each of the 60 parts of a degree) was the partes minutae secundae, or “second minute”. Clock displays were in the shape of a circle, so the former became the modern minute, and the latter the modern second! However, like hours with fixed length, minutes and seconds took centuries to come into widespread use. The first clocks displaying minutes appeared in the late 16th century.

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