Today’s A Journey
through Aesthetic Realms
will be presented
in Chinese,
with subtitles in Arabic,
Aulacese (Vietnamese),
Chinese, English,
French, German,
Hungarian, Indonesian,
Japanese, Korean,
Persian, Portuguese,
Russian, Thai
and Spanish.
Creative viewers,
welcome to A Journey
through Aesthetic Realms
on Supreme Master
Television.
Clay is a common
substance which is found
in all parts of the world.
It is mainly composed
of fine-grained minerals
and comes
in a range of colors.
Clay is an amazing
substance which has been
known to be used as
an ancient writing medium,
water and air purifier,
in making ceramic items
and musical instruments,
in medicinal and
agricultural applications,
and applied in
manufacturing processes.
Its distinctive property of
plasticity, which depends
on its water content,
enables clay to be formed
into different shapes
for a variety of uses.
The art of pottery
makes use of clay
to beautify the world.
As one of the oldest
art forms and human
technologies,
pottery is still
widely popular today.
The basic tools are the
hands and potter’s wheel.
From there, various methods
have been created
to shape the clay
and different glazes
are applied.
Pottery can be either
purely decorative or
made into useful items.
Today we present
an introduction
to the delicate art
and traditional culture
of Chinese pottery
with Wong Guo Zhen,
a renowned
Formosan (Taiwanese)
ceramic artist.
His creations have been
exhibited in prestigious
museums such as
the National Museum
of History in Taipei,
National Museum
of China in Beijing,
Taipei Fine Arts Museum
and many others.
Mr. Wong’s talent
has been recognized
with numerous accolades
throughout the years.
Mr. Wong, can you please
share with us
the philosophy behind
your artistic creation?
Basically,
my artistic creation is to
reveal the most primitive
and natural aspect
of ceramics.
As you know, during
Tang, Song, Yuan, Ming
and Qing dynasties,
Chinese traditional
ceramics had a great
variety of colorful glazes.
There are two primary
categories of ceramics,
pottery and porcelain.
Pottery wares have a
simple and unpretentious
appearance.
So my art works are
mainly made with pottery.
Most of my pottery wares
have cracked lines
on the surface, like those
on a turtle’s shell.
This is to show my respect
for Mother Nature.
What’s the difference
between the type of clay
you use and ordinary clay?
All types of soil on the
surface of the Earth can
be used to make pottery.
But they have to meet
certain conditions.
First of all, it should
have plasticity.
Without plasticity,
the clay can’t be formed
into shapes,
not to mention
the following processes
of drying, glazing,
and glaze firing.
I had tried to use
a kind of sticky clay.
However, the more you
work on this kind of clay,
the softer it becomes.
That makes it hard
to take shape when
doing wheel throwing.
Despite its stickiness,
the clay can’t take shape.
When you squeeze the clay,
water would ooze out.
The more you work
with the clay,
the softer it becomes.
However, when we form
clay wares on the wheel,
we need to use water
to wet our hands.
If the clay is already soft
without adding more water,
it will completely
break down
when we add water.
So the first condition
is plasticity.
Second, the clay must be
pure without containing
too many other elements,
such as sand, stones
or decayed wood pieces.
If the clay contains too
many of these elements,
it won’t be able to hold
together when you try
to mold it into a shape
and the texture will not
be very smooth either.
So it can’t take shape
when you try to mold it.
It will break down.
The third condition is
also very important.
It must be able to endure
high temperatures.
To fire pottery,
the temperature ranges
from 1,230° Celsius
to 1,240° Celsius;
and the temperature
can be as high as
1,280° Celsius.
So if the clay can’t endure
1,230 degrees Celsius,
it will melt down like
mercury after being fired
in the kiln, even though
it did take shape
before you fired it.
Clay may not always be
available in its most ideal
form for making pottery.
Skilled artisans
are able to test and
prepare the clay for
their intended purposes.
Therefore, in order to
prepare the clay,
we need to filter the
impure elements out of it.
Then we need to pinch
and poke at the clay
to see if it has
enough plasticity.
If not, we can mix it
with other types of clay.
We may have to mix two
to three different types of
clay together to make it
ready to be molded
into a piece of pottery.
Before we fire any pottery
in the kiln,
we never know whether
or not a certain type
of clay can endure
high temperatures.
Once an artist
molds the clay,
the material takes shape
and can be heated up,
whereupon a beautiful,
new creation emerges
from the kiln.
A Journey through
Aesthetic Realms
will be back with more
on the art of traditional
Chinese pottery.
Please stay tuned
to Supreme Master
Television.
Welcome back to
A Journey through
Aesthetic Realms.
Today on our show,
we are introducing
the art of ancient
Chinese pottery with
ceramic artist
Wong Guo Zhen.
Bisque pottery refers
to wares that have only
been fired in the kiln
once and are not glazed;
thus natural fissures may
appear that look similar
to cracks in the earth.
Mr. Wong explains
the detailed process
of creating works
using this ancient form
of pottery making.
There are three steps
involved: First, I take a
piece of traditional clay,
which is quite sticky.
It’s very sticky
and it can be bent
without splitting.
This is the clay that I mixed.
It’s less sticky.
This clay breaks easily
when you bend it.
So basically, we have to
change the structure
of the clay so that
it’s less sticky,
but is looser and harder.
This is the first step.
Second, when I try
to mold the clay
into a shape, I will add a
layer of the make-up soil.
The make-up soil is
a kind of dry soil powder
that has been fired.
When I add it to the wet
surface of the clay body,
it will be a little dry
on the outside,
in contrast
to the wet interior.
The third step is the most
important one.
When you try to do
wheel throwing, you
should use only one hand,
use your left hand
to work from the inside
to press out the curves
and crack lines
of your product.
If we use the right hand
to support on the outside,
the crack lines outside
will not look natural.
So you have to know
the quality and moisture
of the clay, and know
how much force to use
to do wheel throwing and
even how to control your
breathing while doing it.
Your breathing and
your force, have to attain
an ultimate harmony.
Only then can you make
a perfect piece with
“Earth’s Cracks.”
As one living
on our shared planet,
Mr. Wong is alarmed
about the state of our
Earth and expresses
his environmental
concerns through his art.
Why is this piece entitled
“Drought?”
Around 1984 or 1985,
people became aware
of the greenhouse effect
caused by the depletion
of our natural resources.
We didn’t protect
the forests and we didn’t
try to save energy and
cut carbon emissions.
Many people may
still remember clearly
that during that period
of time, there were water
shortages in many places
in the world.
There was a picture
of a child standing
on a barren land,
which was the bottom of
an arid lake or reservoir.
The child was staring
at the sky praying
to Heaven for a little rain
so that people could
have water to drink and
the drought would end.
Those images were strongly
impressed on my mind.
I was wondering
if I could incorporate
people’s concerns about
environmental protection
into my pottery work.
This piece is called
“Drought,” so when you
see this piece of art work,
you will know
that during a drought,
the surface of our Earth,
and even our skin
becomes like this.
It’s very terrifying.
With water shortage,
we can’t have a normal
and convenient life
in any aspect.
So after I created this piece,
“Drought,”
I hope that when people,
as global citizens,
have the chance to see
this piece, they will not
just pay attention to
the difficult techniques
I applied to this piece,
but also contemplate
on the importance
of co-existence with
the Earth and the
seriousness of this issue.
In touch with nature
and his spirituality,
Mr. Wong endeavors
to convey his noble
aspirations in his
artistic creations.
This piece is entitled
“Seeking the Truth.”
This depicts that during
the course of our life,
when we follow
an enlightened Master
or a teacher, when
we seek profound wisdom,
we have to have
a very humble
and respectful attitude,
just like what this piece
stands for.
To create such a piece,
you need to have
a thorough understanding
of the stickiness
and structure of the clay,
so that in a split second
you can change the clay
from the shape of a bottle
to the shape
of a Truth seeker.
How is this color glaze
formed on the surface?
This is not color glaze,
but ash glaze.
It was done in
the wood firing kiln.
In the firing process,
wood ashes were produced.
After a while,
the ashes accumulate
to a certain amount,
it forms a layer of natural
coating on the surface
of the clay body.
Through high temperature
the wood ashes
would melt and create
a layer of natural
ash coating on the pottery.
So this is a kind of
natural glaze which
is different from
the chemical glaze.
Why is this pair of works
entitled,
“Opening and Closing”?
Through practicing,
I learned some of
the essence of Tai Chi.
“Opening and Closing”
refers to stillness
in movement, and
movement in stillness
so this work consists of
two pieces.
How do we integrate
the art of pottery into life?
Actually, pottery can be
very easily cooperated
in our life.
For example, the Chinese
like to drink tea,
so we can design tea cups
for savoring the fragrant
High Mountain Tea of
Formosa (Taiwan).
Here, I pour
the freshly brewed tea
into this pottery cup.
Please enjoy, sister!
Thank you.
With this kind of tea cup,
the tea tastes
especially sweet.
From tea cups to vases
to containers,
throughout history,
pottery works have been
integrated into our lives
as useful, decorative
artistic creations.
We thank Mr. Wong
for sharing his expertise
and elegant works
illustrating the beauty
of traditional
Chinese pottery.
May you continue
on your path of crafting
beautiful and meaningful
artworks to
share with the world.
For more information on
Mr. Wong’s art creations,
please contact:
Wong Guo Zhen
OR
Email:
Kind viewers, thank you
for your presence today
for A Journey through
Aesthetic Realms.
Please stay tuned
to Supreme Master
Television
for Vegetarianism:
The Noble Way of Living,
coming up
after Noteworthy News.
May all lives be enriched
through the beauty
of the arts.
Kind viewers, thank you
for your presence today
for A Journey through
Aesthetic Realms.
Please stay tuned
to Supreme Master
Television
for Vegetarianism:
The Noble Way of Living,
coming up
after Noteworthy News.
May all lives be enriched
through the beauty
of the arts.
Reinventing printing,
an age-old industry,
in the name
of sustainability:
We don't utilize anything
that would be considered
a regulated toxin
in this facility;
we just don't have it.
When this company
was started by my father
years ago, he said,
“Listen, we're going
to make these products,
but we're going to take
all these thousands of
chemicals in this list,
and tell the chemists
we're not going
to use them. Period.
I don't want to hear it,
we're not going to
use them.”
Join us on Friday,
March 12th on
Golden Age Technology
for part one of our
two part program
introducing Amerikal,
an innovative company
providing sustainable
and clean pressroom
solutions.