| THE PORCELAIN CARPET |
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| EXHIBITIONS |
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Grand Arts, KC. Garth Clark Gallery, NY, Racine Art Museum WI Kohler Art Centre, WI |
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The Porcelain Carpet, an installation consisting of 576 decorated porcelain diner plates, is divided into three groups of 192 plates each, full color, black and white and plain white plates. These three stages represent a ceramic process of image reproduction, in material, in layout and in design. Plates are set directly on the floor creating three dense rectangular surfaces. The surfaces of plates are covered with the pattern of classical north Indian carpets. The original carpet was photographed and scanned into the computer. The pattern of the carpet was then mapped to the shapes of the plates by software. The final digital material was then transferred into ceramic decals, which were applied on the plates and fired. The decorative pattern covers the round surfaces of the plates in consistent directions, creating a ìporcelain carpetî. THE CARPET occupies the majority of the floor space of the exhibiting room, leaving only small passages next to the wools for visitors to pass around. The natural (obvious) tendency of walking on, or through the carpet, is directly undermined by the presence of fragile (breakable) material and the association with the recognizable origin of porcelain dinner plates. The galley viewer is faced with a self-awareness, which manifests itself in tension and caution.Limitation of movement is imposed on the viewer by the sheer fragile nature of the material and the placement of the work. The outcome of this restriction effects the physical and visual interaction with the work and offers a paradoxical experience. The choices of the material/ porcelain, the form/ plates, the image/ carpet and the placement/ floor, are the basic ingredients creating the total installation which provides an esthetic experience filtered through the dictation of space, limitation of movement, and restrictions of the environment. The logistics of producing this work is based on the collaboration between a ceramic artist and the ceramic industry, between traditional production of decorative art and advanced technologies of image reproduction. Traditional carpets are created on semi-mechanical looms and its intricate pattern is a result of the composition of many tiny knots of colored thread. Todayís computer images are also created from tiny points, pixels, through mechanical and electronic applications. The process of creating this work and its final results represent a virtual link between ancient techniques and modern technologies, The employment of the industrial sector in this project plays a critical part: the production of large quantities of necessary elements (the plates) and the creation of digital prints and decals, which are utilized in execution of this installation. The manufacture of carpets and ceramics has many common ingredients. Both are hand and mechanically produced, both require skill and craftsmanship, both contribute to our sense of esthetics and utility. Their surfaces are decorative and utilitarian at the same time and both represent the cultural importance of decorative ornamentation of the utilitarian necessity. The similarities and contrasts of these noble domestic objects, their eastern origins and the traditional status make them a potent and an appropriate subject for contemporary art explorations. Marek Cecula NY 2001 |