By Graciela Olio
This article focuses on establishing criteria for analysis and reflections on the place of contemporary ceramics within the framework of current arts in all their media and languages. Within these axes are the post-disciplinary approaches, among which we can analyze a neo-category that we can call post-ceramics.
A series of questions about ceramics in contemporary art challenge us in the context of post-disciplinary artistic practices.
¿ What control devices reduce artistic knowledge and practices to an ordering discipline?
¿ In Latin America, does disciplinary attachment respond to an institutional and pedagogical resistance arising from the postcolonial approach?
¿ Within the era of post-discipline, can we think-enable-dimension the concept of post-ceramics from a disciplinary perspective?
¿ Does the performance practice with ceramic materials, incorporating the body and ephemeral productions within expanded ceramics challenge traditional discipline?
¿ Can we think of post-ceramics as a neo-category of new media within the framework of visual arts or combined arts?
In her article, La acción tiene la palabra: Las artes en la era de la posdisciplina, the Chilean theorist and artist María José Contreras Lorenzini states:
“Disciplinary persistence is not exclusive to these times or to our country; it is rather the result of a foundational mania for classification that has characterized philosophical and epistemological debates in the West. Although criteria, parameters and labels have changed throughout history, the will to seek an ordering of knowledge and activities remains intact throughout the centuries, at least until the 20th century. This old classification mania acquired, however, a new force during the 18th century, coinciding with the strengthening of the disciplinary societies described by Michel Foucault. Responding to the devices of control of conduct, knowledge is also subjugated to the mechanism of discipline: knowledge is reduced to disciplines.[2] As Foucault explains in Discipline and Punish (1975), discipline selects, normalizes, hierarchizes and centralizes content, which results in the control of the production of discourse. In order to speak/produce/share knowledge, one must travel a long path of validation that follows a disciplinary time that seeks, ultimately, the distribution of knowledge. The professionalization of the arts, which in our country implied the entry of the arts into universities as a “discipline to be taught,” responds to this strategy. (Contreras, 2022, p. 2)
From my position as a university ceramics teacher, researcher and visual artist, I believe that disciplinary attachment at an institutional and educational level corresponds to power management, budgets and control of an established order that comes from the postcolonial organization. In Latin America, the knowledge and regulations of Western Europe still persist in an anachronistic position that lacks a contemporary reading.
The history of ceramics in Latin America has changed radically since European colonization in the 15th century. This led to processes of dissolution of the original American cultures and their wonderful ceramics were disqualified. Among many other actions and impositions, European trades established their dominance to the detriment of the autochthonous and original nature of the already existing cultures.
Around these past discussions, contemporaneity supposes an overcoming of cultural and social barriers, where diversity and the expiration of historical mandates coexist. The paradigms of modernity are collapsing, and undisciplined knowledge enables and sustains the post-disciplinary field. From the multiple territories of art, these positions open paths of no return.
In Latin America, many artists develop their artistic practices and productions from post-disciplinary positions, which do not respond to a specific affiliation, they overcome the distinction of supports, procedures, techniques, trades, classifications and ordering pigeonholes. Within these spaces of creation that propose to rethink, enable, and take a critical-reflexive position around artistic production, perhaps we can think of post-ceramics from a disciplinary perspective.
As an example of these practices, we can mention two Latin American artists, Claudia Toro from Argentina and Ana Gómez from Mexico.
Claudia Toro is an artist who moves between various languages: visual, sound, verbal, and corporal. The Golpear la Tierra project (Hitting the Earth), carried out in Buenos Aires with the artist Fernanda Rodrigo in August 2024, forms a body of performative and installation work. An ephemeral project that takes place over two days, and the photographic and audiovisual records make up the memory of this. The artists describe it this way:
The project Golpear la Tierra is a spin-off of an enormous movement that continues to generate others. Folds and refolds of matter. The Baroque as an operative function that never stops making folds to infinity, its excess. The folds of matter, the folds of the soul are the concepts that run through us, that shape our thinking. In Golpear la Tierra, there is the artistic gesture, in what it states. There is no metaphor or symbolism. We hit the raw and dry clay to make body, mass again. We hit to unite the parts and put together something new. The violence that the Earth allows us and art allows us. What needs to be violent to continue, to transform. Hitting the Earth, to continue, to insist, to make primary gestures present again, to update them in new movements, and for other folds to surprise us.
Varied materials such as clay, plaster, a dead plant, branches, Earth, Ceramic bones, snails, stones. The words in poetry, performative improvisation, nonsense, the animal, the sensation, the ritual, the non-representative. Everything appeared and brought new questions about life and death. A laboratory of meanings that exchanges the poetic and the scientific. Lights and shadows, ceramic minerals, work processes that poetize what nature does with matter in a journey without origin or end. (photos 1 – 3)
Claudia Toro and Fernanda Rodrigo. Golpear la Tierra. Performance-Installation (detail). 2024. Photos by María Urdiales Goyeneche. Video link. Video by Claudia Toro and Fernanda Rodrigo. Realization: María Urdiales Goyeneche. Texts: Arnaldo Calveyra, Claudia Toro and Fernanda Rodrigo. Voices: Anita Donndorff and Juan Diego Puentes. Sound: ifAUDIO.
Ana Gómez is a multidimensional Mexican artist who currently resides in San Miguel de Allende in the state of Guanajuato. Academically trained in design and visual arts, she works with ceramic materials and has crossed and overcome orthodox disciplinary positions.
One of her latest productions from 2024, a performance recorded in an audiovisual work, is part of a project called El Cuerpo como Territorio (The Body as Territory), originally conceived as a two-channel projection with two videos (Tierra Húmeda and Como es Afuera es Adentro) that are complementary. For its presentation, the artist decided to edit them to project it as a single split-screen video, evidencing the dialogue and connection between the two.
Ana reflects on this production as follows:
The approach to expanded ceramics, the review of contemporary artists who work with this resource, the questioning of the imperative of the kiln or the use of closed knowledge about processes and combinations of materials, the experimental stance, as well as the attention to matter, the body, and the context triggered processes that I incorporated into my research/production. The productions of the project The Body as Territory speak of a female body, an earth body, a fertile body (maternal and erogenous) and value their existence as it is. A body that expresses itself and creates, and that in creating becomes something else: Earth, clay, territory, universe. They speak of the place where I live, the land of potters and bricklayers, the place of sun, valleys, mountains, and volcanoes. The action of lying down on clay soil and digging my silhouette, that is, using the body as a matrix, and the footprint as a mechanism to record the territory, denote a body-matrix materiality, which is feasible to be used to influence other supports. The support is the territory itself, the soil that is clay, ceramic material where one traces and incises. The result is a ceramic-graphic, gestural and ephemeral piece. (photos 4-7)
Ana Gómez. El Cuerpo como Territorio*. Video-Performance. 2022-2024. Technique: Video performance (single channel, 2 min) performed at Presa Allende AGEstudio, in San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato, México. Materials: local clay (mud obtained from the Presa Allende, San Miguel de Allende) Registration: Claudia Péres Oavón, Cecilia Rodarte. Federico Jordán and Matthew Sanabria. Editing: Federico Jordán and Matthew Sanabria. *Grand Prize of Honor of the 63rd Annual International Ceramic Art Exhibition in the category of other disciplines in dialogue with ceramics. Heritage Argentine Center of Ceramic Art (CAAC), 2024-2025. Video link.
Artistic practices become ephemeral, provisional—they become performative actions where the body becomes a fundamental tool for questioning and enunciation. Regarding performance, I quote Diana Taylor:
“Performance, as the authors included in this volume point out, simultaneously implies a process, practice, act, episteme, event, mode of transmission, performance, realization, and means of intervention in the world. In the words of the Mexican theorist Antonio Prieto Stambaugh, performance is a “mutant sponge” that absorbs ideas and methodologies from various disciplines to approach new ways of conceptualizing the world. The fact that it cannot be definitively defined or contained is an advantage for artists and theorists who cannot carry out their professional tasks exclusively within prescribed structures and disciplines. For all, then, these essays open the doors to another way of developing practices and theories in this world in which the aesthetic, the economic, the political, and the social are inseparable categories.” (Taylor, 2011, p.28)
In this sense, the concept of expanded ceramics proposes these sudden or programmed actions, these events, which can arise anywhere and at any time, or not, where the body and the material (raw clay in different states) merge to express themselves in front of an audience. Clearly, this type of artistic practice challenges, questions and provokes profound changes in traditional disciplines, marking the displacement of margins and breaking down rigid boundaries and borders.
At the same time, the incorporation into ceramic practice of other ceramic materials such as cement, plaster, glass and raw clay in its maximum expression also provokes questions about the traditional craft where historical guidelines do not conceive of these material and conceptual displacements. In this type of practice and production, the material transformation by the action of fire becomes more indirect and is even suspended in terms of artistic expression. This is part of thinking about post-ceramics, without detriment to traditional ceramics, but rather, opening up multiple possibilities that can be stated as disruptive, ephemeral, provisional and unstable. Perhaps, we can think of post-ceramics as a neo-category within the new media in the visual arts. Although it sounds a bit strange to try to categorize a concept that unites theory and practice in a field as expansive as contemporary art.
In an attempt to define something uncategorized, which implies not having a precise definition, post-ceramics enables practices and productions that definitely do not obey the patterns of the traditional and orthodox ceramic craft, where other ceramic materials are incorporated and manifested in a post-disciplinary space at the crossroads of different languages (visual, corporal, verbal, sound). A space where autonomous disciplines disappear, merging into a kind of magma that is not transdisciplinary, nor interdisciplinary, nor multidisciplinary, but is post-disciplinary; it is a space-time where disciplines in their multiple combinations are part of the past.
When asked, ¿Why would this be important or noteworthy, or a concept to think about in the context of contemporary art? One possible answer would be that contemporaneity lacks certainties and is made up of doubts, questions and uncertainties, and distrusts the value judgments and authorizations defined by spaces of power.
Many ceramic artists or those who do not consider themselves ceramic artists work in this direction. In Argentina, I can mention Florencia Sadir, Luciano Gimenez, Gabriel Chaile, Marcela Cabutti, Mónica Girón, Santiago Lena, Luciana Poggio Schapiro, Adrián Villar Rojas, Eugenia Bracony, Juan Sorrentino, Nacho Unrrein, Leila Córdoba, Pablo Insurralde, among others. In Brazil, Ana María Maiolino, Celeida Tostes and Nydia Negromonte stand out. From the rest of the world, we can mention William Cobbing (UK), Linda Swanson (Canada), Alexandra Engelfriet (Holland), Juree Kim (Korea), Sam Bakewell (UK), Negumi Naitoh (Japan-USA), Jason Lim (Singapore), Phoebe Cummings (UK), Belinda Blignaut (South Africa), Clare Twomey (UK), among many other artists. (photos 8-15)
The field of art education in Latin America still presents a marked disciplinary distribution. In the words of Contreras Lorenzini, this disciplinary conflict has been sustained since colonization onwards at all levels of art education. Especially at the university level, an institutional order has been built that supports and needs differences to survive from the conceptual and budgetary point of view. However, contemporary pedagogy incorporates into its institutional schemes and opens options of choice in the academic paths of its students, thus creating personalized careers and offering proposals for crossing both languages and procedures without focusing on the disciplinary.
Within the frame of this contemporary context of university teaching, it is interesting to highlight the teaching work carried out for 10 years by the team that formed Cátedra Olio. In the Department of Visual Arts of the National University of the Arts (UNA) in Buenos Aires, Argentina, between 2014 and 2024, a teaching project was developed in Ceramic Workshop 2, 3 and 4 of Cátedra Olio, a degree subject within the Bachelor of Visual Arts of said university. In these 10 years of intense work, the concept of expanded ceramics was developed in-depth, about which we have already written in an article published in 2021 by Ceramics Now called Decolonizing the Discipline from Expanded Ceramics. Questions for Emancipating Pedagogical Practice. Authors: Graciela Olio, Anabel González Alonso, Claudia Toro.
Both the teaching work and that of the students who took the course reflect this post-disciplinary position. The performative, the ephemeral, the provisional and transitory, the experimentation with raw and fired ceramic materials in different fires and temperatures, and the development of projects based on contemporary concepts have placed this teaching work in a place of renewal. pedagogical at an institutional level. (photos 16– 20)
In turn, the formation of research teams in the field of expanded ceramics consolidates this concept and affirms its axes of study from the material, the disciplinary and the pedagogical.
The research projects developed from 2018 to the present are the following: Expanded Ceramics. Disciplinary conceptualization. Contemporary practices and productions. Contributions and pedagogical experiences at UNA. Part I and Part II. The current project is called Expanded Ceramics. Transdisciplinary and post-ceramics. Towards a decolonial pedagogy. Part I.
As a conclusion to this article, I would like to quote Elsa Laurelli and Claudia Tomadoni, who maintain:
“The field of post-disciplinary studies involves crossing disciplinary boundaries and investigating complex processes, seeking new theoretical and methodological approaches, as well as more flexible practices. It has been precisely the social sciences, humanities, and arts that have provided these tools the most. Nanotechnology, biotechnology, bioeconomy, social studies of technology, studies of performance in art, urban-regional studies, work studies, etc. would not be possible without breaking down disciplinary boundaries and using more flexible methodological practices. Disciplines, paradoxically, have disciplined researchers, imposing content, hierarchies, orders and controls that have distanced them from the reality to be interpreted. Post-discipline implies, paradoxically, displacing researchers from the established order and inviting them in some way to rebel and transgress.” (Laurelli, E.; Tomadoni, C. .2014, p.16)
The proposal of the aforementioned researchers from the National University of La Plata encourages to work from displacements, transgressions, and attitudes of rebellion in research, conceptualizations, and artistic practices. My final question would be: ¿Does contemporary artistic ceramics not manifest itself in this terrain of transgression and rebellion, challenging the traditional postcolonial craft, and supporting a post-ceramic proposal from a material, disciplinary and pedagogical point of view?
A phenomenon like this cannot manifest itself within established disciplinary formations. I believe there has been a huge leap into the creative void, a foundational movement with no return.
Graciela Olio (b. La Plata, Argentina) is a visual artist and professor specializing in expanded ceramics. She holds a degree in Plastic Arts with a focus on Ceramics from the National University of La Plata (UNLP), where she teaches postgraduate courses and directs research. From 2014 to 2024, she led the Ceramic Workshop II–IV at UNLP and directed the postgraduate Specialization in Contemporary Graphic Ceramics at the National University of the Arts (UNA) in Buenos Aires. Her work explores themes of collective memory, fragility, and impermanence through ceramic and mixed-media formats, blending conceptual, technical, and technological approaches. Olio regularly lectures and conducts seminars in Argentina and abroad and has participated in numerous exhibitions, residencies, and international events. She received the Grand Prize of Honor (Ceramics) at the 90th National Salon of Visual Arts in 2001 and has been a member of the International Academy of Ceramics since 2009.
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References
• Contreras Lorenzini, M. J. La acción tiene la palabra: Las artes en la era de la posdisciplina. Artículos OC Observatorio Cultural 16. 2022. Ministerio de las Culturas, las Artes y el Patrimonio. Gobierno de Chile. Available here.
• Laurelli, E.; Tomadoni, C. (2014). Al encuentro de los paradigmas del siglo XXI: La posdisciplina. Revista de estudios regionales y mercado de trabajo (10), 9-33. En Memoria Académica. Available here.
• Taylor, Diana (2011): “Introducción: performance. Teoría y práctica”, en Diana Taylor y Marcela Fuentes (Eds.), Estudios Avanzados de performance, México D.F., Fondo de Cultura Económica. Available here.
Captions
- Photos 1-4. Claudia Toro and Fernanda Rodrigo. Golpear la Tierra. Performance-Installation (detail). 2024. Photos by María Urdiales Goyeneche. Video link. Video by Claudia Toro and Fernanda Rodrigo. Realization: María Urdiales Goyeneche. Texts: Arnaldo Calveyra, Claudia Toro and Fernanda Rodrigo. Voices: Anita Donndorff and Juan Diego Puentes. Sound: ifAUDIO.
- Photos 4-7. Ana Gómez. El Cuerpo como Territorio*. Video-Performance. 2022-2024. Technique: Video performance (single channel, 2 min) performed at Presa Allende AGEstudio, in San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato, México. Materials: local clay (mud obtained from the Presa Allende, San Miguel de Allende) Registration: Claudia Péres Oavón, Cecilia Rodarte. Federico Jordán and Matthew Sanabria. Editing: Federico Jordán and Matthew Sanabria. *Grand Prize of Honor of the 63rd Annual International Ceramic Art Exhibition in the category of other disciplines in dialogue with ceramics. Heritage Argentine Center of Ceramic Art (CAAC), 2024-2025. Video link.
- Eugenia Bracony. Autorretrato. Photo: Graciela Olio. Exhibition Fuego Sagrado, September-October 2018. Museo Provincial de Bellas Artes Emilio Pettoruti. La Plata, Argentina.
- Luciana Poggio Schapiro. Mis cosas. Performance-Installation. Photo: Graciela Olio. Exhibition Fuego Sagrado, September-October 2018. Museo Provincial de Bellas Artes Emilio Pettoruti. La Plata, Argentina.
- William Cobbing. Meld. 2021. Camera Thomas Wootton for LNCC and Maison Margiela copy. Copyright William Cobbing.
- William Cobbing. Will.je.suis. 2020. Video-still copy. Copyright William Cobbing.
- Linda Swanson. Templum of a Precious Thing of No Value, A Shapeless Thing of Many Shapes. 2020. Photo: Tony Hafkensheid
- Linda Swanson. Occulus. 2019. Photo: Gaëtane Girard
- Alexandra Engelfriet. Tranchee. 2013. Photography of the performance. Photo: Estelle Chretien. Source
- Juree Kim. Evanescent landscape. 2017. Photo source
- Cátedra Olio student project. Luciano Lalande. 2023. Photo: Graciela Olio
- Cátedra Olio collective work of students. 2022. Photo: Graciela Olio
- Cátedra Olio student project. Madeline Flynn. 2024. Photo: Graciela Olio
- Cátedra Olio student project. Florencia Fernande Mejuto. 2022. Photo: Graciela Olio
- Cátedra Olio student project. Bettina Pavetti. 2023. Photo: Graciela Olio
Excelente!!