Abstract

This research describes, analyses and evaluates the technical processes behind a series of original ceramics artworks,which take varying degrees of technical risks in the making process. The aesthetic evaluation of these artworks includes the ways in which the ceramic artworks might be perceived as successful or unsuccessful.
The traditional Korean moon jar was adopted as the primary form to investigate taking risks in the making in addition to the employment of many traditional procedures and processes. Historically, these unusual yet now highly acclaimed ceramic treasures were underestimated, and were regarded in the history of Korean ceramics as failed artworks. This common perception significantly influenced this project to reinterpret and recontextualise the value of traditional Korean moon jars. The viewer is confronted with an artwork,which challenges the paradigm of traditional ceramic practice.
This research explores the ways in which Korean moon jars can reveal elements of risk taking in the making process and describes the key characteristics of risk taking. Methodologies deployed include the creation of original ceramic artworks through an investigation and interpretation of the making process; a review and interpretation of historical and contemporary material including archives, databases, museums and galleries; and case studies of artists and critics through interviews, electronic correspondence and questionnaires.
Conclusions drawn from the research include an aesthetic and critical interpretation of taking risks in the making of Korean moon jars. They contributeto the paucity of research in this area, and assert the need for a critical re-assessment of Korean moon jars in contemporary ceramics.The written thesis makes a vital contribution to the limited published material regarding Korean moon jars, in particular the making process combined with the concept and practical features of risk-taking in sculptural moon jar forms. In addition, this research provides the first complete theorisation of tacit knowledge and workmanship of risk,with regards to the Korean moon jar and demonstrates the employment of failure or discarded pieces that contribute to aesthetic theorisation, such as the sublime within Korean scholarly ceramics. Taking risks during the making process became a key conceptual feature of the investigation and inspired three new understandings of deploying and evaluating risk taking while working in the medium of ceramics, with emphasis on the moon jar form.