Every other year, LSU hosts 8 Fluid Ounces, as an exhibit of the cup and a showcase of national ceramic talent. Last fall, as curator and juror, I selected artists whose works together compose a wide range of conceptions on the cup as a functional object, as a visual composition, and as a sculptural problem to solve.
This exhibit features 89 artists, some of whom are professional potters and educators while there is at least one cup that was made by a student in an Intro to Ceramics class. Each artist’s cup is capable of drawing out the specific interaction between the object and person drinking from it or viewing it. Selecting a cup to use is responsive to mood, time of day, intended drink, and sometimes nothing more than whim and a fancy. Without the specificity in each of these cups, selecting one would simply be a response to the pragmatic use of a vessel for holding a liquid volume. That’s not really a catchy idea and these artists recognize that a strong cup necessarily needs to do more.
Cups are an extremely difficult format for artistic expression. It really is not enough to create a volumetric space that could contain liquids. Simply stated, something that looks like a cup is not yet necessarily a cup. What finalizes its transformation is a distinct understanding that cups need to blend three attributes; they must simultaneously be visual, tactile, and functional. These attributes can be obviously described in the work, but more than likely, a successful cup will create a rich and dynamic blend so that as the viewer all we realize is the unity of an idea. We see a cup.
The artists in 8 Fluid Ounces 2010 demonstrate the tremendous potential for creative design that exists in cups. Through attention to rims, feet, formal expansions and recesses, color, glaze surface, pattern, proportion, texture, shape, and handles the artists have choreographed extremely delicate observations of both material and human social interactions into objects that provoke extremely individualistic, active participation from each person who uses them. This is one of the most remarkable traits of a good cup, that it can respond to pre-existing lifestyles and behaviors and that it can perhaps influence new behavior. A good cup maker understands how its details promote lively and useful interactions.
That said, several of the artists chose the format of the cup and its associated connotations towards presenting non-functional, sculptural intentions. At times these pieces return our attention back to function, making us more aware of utilitarian design through exaggeration, and at other times presenting the viewer with content delivered on a personal and intimate scale. Since cups are so well connected to both lips and fingers, the nature of the sculptural content often can imply consciousness of our bodies alone or within society.
So as juror, thank you to all of the selected artists for providing LSU and Baton Rouge with such inspiration. Since the show’s opening, the LSU students have referred to the exhibit and to specific artists by name during course critiques. In two years we will host 8 Fluid Ounces 2012. I’ll look forward to seeing the work produced for that show and to see how the next juror envisions the cup. If you are a cup maker, I hope you’ll consider entering the show and visiting the next exhibit here in Baton Rouge. Please introduce yourself when you do.
Andy Shaw
Assistant Professor, Ceramics
LSU School of Art
Curator and Juror
8 Fluid Ounces 2010
