Wiggers and Strand on Across the Table, Across the Land
Today on the Tales of a Red Clay Rambler podcast I have a discussion with Namita Wiggers and Michael Strand. I talk with the duo of curators about their project for NCECA's 50th anniversary Across the Table, Across the Land. Taking place over the better part of the year the project encouraged the public to submit both object and event-based works around the idea of ceramics, food and community. The project culminated with an exhibition at the Charlotte Street Foundation in Kansas City. In the interview we talk about how ceramics can be a catalyst for communal gatherings, the role of emotion in exhibition design, and the documentation/analysis of social practice. For more information on the Across the Table please visit www.ncecaacrossthetable.com.
Henry Crissman stokes his woodfired backpack kiln as part of the exhibition. The mobile firing allows Crissman to educate and entertain as he performs the process for the crowd. The stereophonic cup that was fired inside the kiln was later used to amplify a sound recording of the crowd watching the process.
Namita Wiggers is a writer, curator, and educator based in Portland, OR. She is the Director and Co-Founder of Critical Craft Forum. Wiggers teaches in the MFA Applied Craft + Design, co-administered by Oregon College of Art + Craft and Pacific Northwest College of Art. For more information please visit www.criticalcraftforum.com.
Michael J. Strand is an Associate Professor and Head of Visual Arts at North Dakota State University in Fargo, ND. With a background as a functional potter, Michael’s work has moved seamlessly into social practice and community engagement, while remaining dedicated to the traditional object, as he investigates the potential of craft as a catalyst for social change. For more information please visit www.michaeljstrand.com.
This episode of Tales of the Red Clay Rambler is sponsored by FLM Studio in Petaluma, CA. This multipurpose studio offers workshops for Bay Area ceramic artists while also serving as the studio for Forrest Lesch Middelton. On June 4th and 5th I will be teaching a two day hands-on workshop titled from Flat to Functional. Join me for this exciting weekend to learn more about using foam molds to create hand built tableware. To register for this event visit www.flmceramics.com.