New Media Ceramics – Analysis and Methodical Transfer of Craftsmanship Techniques from Chinese Ceramic Painting to the Development of New Glazing for 3D Printed Substrates

Description

In a widely read intervention, The Economist argued in 2012, that additive manufacturing willhave the same game-changing impact on our economy, culture, art and design as that of theIndustrial Revolution. 3D printing now offers the unprecedented possibility of manufacturingany form or part – regardless of its geometric complexity or its congruence with traditionalmodes of industrial production. Despite these capabilities, we rarely see 3D printed objects asconsumer grade end-products. Whilst current 3D printing technologies excel in formalcomplexity, functionality and part precision, they are not designed to adequately articulate thesurface of 3D printed elements with complex patterns, motifs, or colouration.Historically, this problem of synthesis between form and surface reaches back to the firstforming of clay vessels and the added surface articulation as glazing thereafter. In the longhistory of Chinese ceramics, craftsmen were able to balance an intricate knowledge of materialreactions, form, and glazing during the firing process with curiosity and the will to innovate.Starting in the Tang dynasty, the search for even the single, most famous colour blue resultedin a millennium of discoveries of material combinations and glazing techniques. At each step,new tools, methods and techniques led to new artistic expressions, styles and designs.This research will investigate transfer methods of this craft – it will combine scientific,historical, cultural and technical considerations in order to analyze and reflect the digitalmaking process of a glaze for 3D printing. The development of methods and tools to paint ontothe surfaces of 3D printed substrates will lead reciprocally to the development of new designand artistic articulations for industries using additive manufacturing.We propose a combination of material experiment, catalogue, design application and publicdissemination, as an experimental, yet inclusive interdisciplinary research method. We willcreate an index of suitable chemical reagents and develop mechatronic and software tools fortheir application on 3D printed surfaces. We will test these new tools on the available 3Dprinted substrates, establishing design prototypes for digital craftsmanship.The research will be disseminated inter alia in a public exhibition with the developed tools,material applications, design methods and prototypes set in context with traditional Chineseceramics. To engage a wider public audience of researchers, artists and designers, we will organizea symposium with invited guests from the field of ceramic arts, material science, craft andcomputer-aided manufacturing. We will edit the symposium’s recording as a catalogue publication.We will publish research findings in academic journals, which address the crossover of science andtechnology into art.