ARTH 264 Aspects of the History of Ceramics

• Instructor: Dr. Susan Surette

 During the last three thousand years, ceramic tiles have performed the function of containing, cladding, and dressing buildings. However, in the twentieth century this rich history was largely eclipsed by modernist architecture’s rejection of ornament. Happily, it lingered on within non-Western practices and at the periphery of Western practices and discourse just long enough to become a force in late modern and postmodern expressions. This resurgence is evident by the wide variety of artistic approaches to ceramic tiles within the art, craft, and architectural communities, including the modernist works of Josef Albers and Claude Vermette, as well as postmodern examples that combine industry and craft, decoration, and concept. Turning to examples of tile forms, their glazed and relief decorative surfaces, sculptural variations, and applications to buildings from the first millennium BCE to the present, this course explores how contemporary Western ceramic tiles have revisited historical precedents. Specific historical tile productions this course covers include Islamic, Medieval, Renaissance, and later European and North American studio and industrial productions. Through their fabrication processes and original and present architectural spaces, we will consider these tiles within social, cultural and even political contexts. This interdisciplinary course looks to art and craft histories, anthropology and material culture and explores issues pertaining to heritage, decoration, orientalism, and the applied arts.