Since postmodernism, characterizations have embarked on free variations. Contemporary art has turned its focus away from reason to the opposite extreme of the physical body, expressing it as a hybrid body, a fusion or mating of various images, by inco...
Since postmodernism, characterizations have embarked on free variations. Contemporary art has turned its focus away from reason to the opposite extreme of the physical body, expressing it as a hybrid body, a fusion or mating of various images, by incorporating diverse images of the body. These new forms eliminated classical ideals, representing not abstract sculptures but rather a variety of images such as humans, animals, imaginary beings, cyborgs, and more. Furthermore, as independent and individual forms break down and genre boundaries crumble, there is a tendency towards hetero-combination, fusion, and mixing with other fields.
In modern ceramics, the ‘objet’, a figure based on animals, has expanded to include clay as a medium of expression. It is spreading as a new ceramic art style through deconstruction and combination while metaphorizing the joys and sorrows of life, social satire, and criticism.
Animals bring close intimacy and emotional richness to human life. Ceramists have personified this phenomenon and are expressing various ideas about modern life in creative formative language through
formative techniques that emphasize or transform specific parts of animals and humans.
This study analyzed the phenomenon of hetero-combination in the field of sculptural arts, categorizing it into 'mythical entity representation,' 'combination and fusion of humans and animals,' and 'hetero-combination as a plural existence.' Subsequently, the study examined the world of artists by dissecting the portrayal of human "objet" in contemporary ceramics, focusing on 'media combination,' 'artist's intent,' and 'creativity and individuality,' and summarized the characteristics thereof.
Summarizing the first part of the research, the hetero-combination in the form of mythical entity representation involves combining humans and animals such as dragons, snakes, horses, and oxen to create new forms. It also includes creating hybrid entities with upper or lower halves in the form of animals or humans. This hybridization of the human body and animals is closely related to the various forms of hybrid expression in contemporary sculptural arts, indicating a profound connection.
The hetero-combination of humans and animals observed in the analysis of contemporary sculptural artworks unfolds in various forms, transcending the boundaries of traditional specific forms and genres, as the expressive scope expands through the morphological transformation of the human form and the aesthetic creation of sculptural art.
The development of figure objet in contemporary ceramics originates from the pioneer of postmodern ceramics, Robert Arneson's Funk Art, and has evolved into a new form of ceramics characterized by free variations, combining human and other mediums, semi-human and semi-animal forms, as well as various genres and boundaries such as metaphor and narrative.
The semi-human, semi-animal figure, not biased toward either humans or animals, incorporates contrasting values into a single body, depicting a synthesized hybrid world that is both similar to and different to humans.
The metaphor of figure objet encapsulates the artist's purpose to artistically express self-realization, a spirations for the ideal, and boundless freedom by making the artist themselves as a subject or the
me.
In the latter part, the Author’s work, 'Figure Objet Series,' has been detailed, including its artistic intent, characteristics, motif selection, materials, shaping, firing, etc. and elaborated on the entire resear
ch process in detail, including clay selection, production techniques, glazing, and firing, accompanied by photographs.
The intention of combining the motifs of animals such as dogs, cats, chickens, snakes, lions, sheep, rabbits, etc., with the joys and sorrows of human life is rooted in the Author's animal-loving philosop
hy and personification of animals. This is based on the perspective that animals, while repeating the cycle of creation and extinction, lead a natural life similar to humans and have emotions similar to humans.The storytelling of ideals and reality depicted in the artwork is a metaphorical representation of the Author's life connected to everyday experiences through the language of sculpture. The transformation, deconstruction, and combination of forms are intentional results achieved through creative expressive techniques.
The figurative forms created in the Series are approached through mythic humans, human and human, human and human combination, and semi-human, semi-animal types. This is intentional, aiming to convey the fresh aesthetic impact presented by the sculpturally expressed figure objet.
The conclusion of the figure objet artwork production research for <Glee-Ⅰ>, <Glee-Ⅱ>, <Glee-Ⅲ>, <Madness-Ⅱ>, <Madness-Ⅲ>, <Lovesickness-Ⅰ>, <Lovesickness-Ⅱ>, <Lovesickness-Ⅲ>, <Imagine-Ⅰ>, and <Imagine-Ⅱ>, completed as a result of this study, is as follows.
First, figure objet that consider animals as akin to humans and metaphorically express the researcher's life philosophy through sculptural language are not only associated with the phenomenon of increased interest in pets in contemporary society but also contribute to enhancing the aesthetic value of ceramics (美) and expanding the scope of ceramic objet.
Secondly, there is an anticipation of enhancing the ability and creative level to produce various unique objets (一品) by reinterpreting the symbolic features of the human body and animals through the researcher's intuition.
Thirdly, the artist's internal imagery and emotions, composed as a narrative, and the production method that artistically combines the expressions and movements of the human body and animals, connect the visual effects to additional value through empathy and communication.
Fourth, different attempts in figure objet artwork production, including deconstruction and combination, utilization of media, and experiments with the combine painting technique, connect the researcher's theoretical and practical research results to the artwork, resulting in the completion of original sculptural art. The development of such works is expected to establish figure objets in a new form within the realm of sculptural art, as advocated by contemporary ceramics.