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The Living Urn: an Embodied Practice

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The Living Urn: an Embodied Practice The Living Urn: an Embodied Practice Peter Dwyer M.F.A College of Fine Arts, University of NSW, 2014 Research Masters by Studio Practice An exegesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Fine Arts in the School of Design College of Fine Arts The University of New South Wales, Sydney Australia March 2014 Peter Dwyer M.F.A College of Fine Arts, University of NSW, 2014 3 Table of Contents Abstract Acknowledgements Introduction Chapter 1: The Decorative Urn: a History Chapter 2: Contemporary Directions in Clay Chapter 3: The Body as the Living Urn Conclusion Appendix 1: Historic Architectural Publications Referred to in Chapter 1 Appendix 2: The Garment Construction Process Appendix 3: Ombres Noires Garment Design and Production Appendix 4: Kyoto Collection Garment Design and Production Appendix 5: Living Urns Stage Presentations during the Masters Research Period Appendix 6: Print Publications Presenting Living Urn Garments from Chapter 3 List of Figures Bibliography Peter Dwyer M.F.A College of Fine Arts, University of NSW, 2014 4 Abstract Historically, the decorative urn appears to have been an object of great importance. The Urn, as a subset of vases, appeared as a form in Greek and Roman classical times and was reintroduced to Europe during the renaissance, which began with artists such as Giotto in the 14th century and continued to the 15th century and beyond. In the hands of architects, designers and artists, the fundamental form of the classic urn has been continuously reinterpreted and applied as a decorative ornament to architecture, the interior, furniture and landscape design. However, more recently, the decorative urn appears to have fallen from favour. Now, newer versions are needed if this once essential object is to be reinstated as a desirable form, appropriate to contemporary culture. This research observes the relationship between the decorative, ornamental urn and the human body and uses this lens to comment on the usage of the decorative urn within specific points of material culture: 18th and early 19th century English architecture, object and interior design, 20th century ceramics and 21st century fashion. Studio-centred art works are created in a parallel response to these literary investigations: mimicking early urn incarnations, appropriating construction methods, reinterpreting the urn to represent the human body and as wearable structures for the living human body, particularly the female body. At particular points within the research, there is evidence of the decorative urn’s service to mankind, adding value with its placement and inspiring new design with its form. The urn’s association with classical antiquity and the rituals associated with the celebration of death and remembrance has imbued it with an aura of purity, chastity and solemnity. Historic and subsequent usage of the decorative urn adds to these, the values of ‘style’ and ‘taste’, in each manifestation. This research suggests that a collective understanding of the urn’s history and symbolic values sit subliminally within our psyche. This mutual respect for the traditional urn encourages and prompts our acceptance of new designs; now referencing its morphology, indicating the form of the decorative urn is timeless. Peter Dwyer M.F.A College of Fine Arts, University of NSW, 2014 5 The literary and studio based outcomes of this research are documented within this exegesis and an exhibition of contemporary, decorative urn artworks to be presented at ‘COFAspace’ UNSW. College of Fine Arts, Sydney 2014. Peter Dwyer M.F.A College of Fine Arts, University of NSW, 2014 6 Acknowledgements: I wish to acknowledge the following people who have been integral to this research: Roderick Bamford Wendy Parker Leong Chan Liz Williamson Jacqueline Clayton Charles Chan Joanne Borgatti Claudio De Macedo Petra Svoboda Sharon Blain Ian Golding Sandy Chong Leesa Smith Sally Clark Craig Smith Sharyn Collins Alex De Ravin Jaime Montuerto Melissa Laird Susan Weir Donna Rowe I would especially like to acknowledge Charles Chan for his unwavering support at every stage of this research. The expansive nature of this project, especially the work outlined in Chapter Three, was accomplished on time and on budget, due largely to his project management and personal assistance. Peter Dwyer M.F.A College of Fine Arts, University of NSW, 2014 7 Introduction. I have a fascination for urns: parapet urns, garden urns, urns on the mantelpiece, on the sideboard, as lamp bases and urns used as vases. They seem exciting, elegant, ornate, perfectly balanced, quiet, respectful, worth something and somehow, worth keeping. There are many differing definitions of urns, all variations on the same theme ranging from descriptions of their anatomical forms to uses as tea making devices. However, I believe the following, from A Dictionary of Architecture and Landscape, does justice to this versatile object: Urn. Lidded ovaloid vase on a circular plan used in Classical Antiquity to contain cremated remains. It was a form later revived for purposes of architectural decoration, on balustrade pedestals, set in niches, used as garden-ornaments, employed in funerary monuments (often draped, or with a portrait-medallion of the deceased on its side, especially in Neo-Classical examples), shown in relief on friezes, etc., and sometimes with representations of flames issuing from the lid (CURL, 2000) (Figure 1) I first noticed that urns were often placed in commanding situations, high on walls and placed in pivotal points within the landscape. They appeared as visions of grandeur, objects of style, a symbol of culture, even wealth and prosperity. I was a product of my surroundings. In the presence of these elegant, perfectly proportioned and richly ornate objects, I felt my own life existence seemed to resonate with these very same values. As ornamental and decorative objects, these urns appeared as ‘beacons’ of style and taste, imbuing their placement with a sense of abundance, as if to say, “Life is good”. As an art student, in 1982, the urn shape maintained its influence within my artwork and although I drew female fashion figures, they resembled vase shapes with tiny waists, full rounded hips, all balancing on tiny points as they touched the earth. Studies in ceramics led to an appreciation of ancient vessel forms and a love for the pottery wheel, where I created full-bodied urn forms balanced on tiny bases. The body became more prominent in my work with the addition of fashion design training, a love for pattern-making, unique constructions for the body, and an appreciation of vase shaped female dress forms. Peter Dwyer M.F.A College of Fine Arts, University of NSW, 2014 8 Urns Figure 1. Franz Sales Meyer, Urns, The Handbook of Ornament, (Page 307. Meyer, 1957) Peter Dwyer M.F.A College of Fine Arts, University of NSW, 2014 9 These experiences underpin this research that spans a four-year period of literary research accompanied by practice-led research implemented in two Sydney-based art studios. This research sits within the broader canon of the history of the urn. As a complete overview of the urn would need more time than this research period allows, I have selected the period 1730 to 1830 of English material culture as the initial frame of reference. Here, Neoclassical origins have been principally investigated through the lens of architecture and the practice of ‘key’ individuals, who assisted in the re- emergence of the urn as an important decorative object within the built environment. Additionally this document referenced the work of contemporary ceramic artists that created urns and finally, I have documented my own personal studio experiments, creating urns for our time. This research makes a distinction between the different types of urns: • Memorial urns that commemorate a person and event, • Cinerary urns that contain the ashen remains of the cremated human body and • Decorative urns that visually enhance the built environment. Though there are overlapping urn examples and applications within these categories, it is the decorative urn that forms the core thread of this research. As the term indicates, the ‘decorative urn’ is one that is used as an ornamental element, a decoration placed into a situation, to beautify and add value to its environment. These urns, (and the same applies to all other categories of urns), are subject to change and constant realignment with shifting popular aesthetic and cultural preferences. Based on my preconceived ideas that the urn celebrated life, I initially avoided all notions of death associated with memorial and cinerary urns, only to find during the literary review, that all three were essentially entwined. An example of this overlap is apparent in Richard Sennett’s essay on Nakedness; the citizen’s body in Pericles Athens” (c.495-429 B.C.). Speaking of the funeral urn as an essential marker of any burial in the early Athenian city, Sennett states: Once inside the gates, the city took on a less forbidding character. Entering the city through the Thriasian Gate, we come immediately into the heart of the Potters’ Quarter (Kerameikos). Potters concentrated near the newer graveyards outside the wall and ancient gravesites within because the funeral urn was an essential marker of any burial. From the Thriasian Gate running in towards the Peter Dwyer M.F.A College of Fine Arts, University of NSW, 2014 10 center of the city lay an avenue dating from at least five hundred years before the age of Pericles; originally lined with giant vases, in the century before Perikles it began to be lined with smaller stone markers (stelia), a sign of Athenians’ developing skill in calving stone. (Sennett, 1994) It appears even the ancient urn, made by potters, if not used to house the dead, certainly commemorated their passing. Sennett does not elaborate on the purpose of giant vases lining the avenues of the Athenian city, however, he indicates they were placed into the landscape.
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