Ceramics Monthly: World-Fire: A Project Invitation was comprised of wood-fire kilns located at the University of Montevallo (UM), Clemson University, Shaoxing, Jingdezhen, and Yixing, firing simultaneously and connected via Zoom. How was the project conceptualized and how did it unfold?

Scott Meyer: Years ago Dr. Graham Harper, a visiting scholar, facilitated remote communication between members of the collaborative “Crucible Project” artists, of which I am a member. He asked me what would be next. “How about World- Fire?” I blurted out. It would be over a decade before I knew what that meant.

We first fired our 40-foot (12.2-m) anagama “Fat Bastard” (at the University of Montevallo) in April of 2002 and over the years its atmosphere has been enlightened and challenged by a vast array of visiting artists, each with unique creative goals. Answering those diverse needs has developed what my old professor deemed a “dream patina” with the question, “What if…?” propelling a myriad of possible solutions.

Most of our visiting artists/crew (regional and global) fire in multiple settings and carry information from kiln to kiln like pollinating bees while the proprietors of these kilns are often isolated not just by geography, but by the daunting tasks that keep us close to home. And so, a “What if…?” presented itself. What if we had a way to connect firings from remote locations in real time, sharing techniques, insights, and the human dynamic common to all of us? A World-Fire.

CM: Considering your extensive experience in art education, what impact has the shift to remote teaching and virtual platforms had on the field of ceramic art, and how has it influenced the dynamics of events like World-Fire?

SM: Another ingredient in this developing concept presented itself as a consequence of the communication efforts designed to bridge the isolation created by the pandemic. While I am admittedly a technological dinosaur, the university setting and the need to find methods to continue teaching forced on me at least a modest competence in Zoom and other such platforms. Isolated individuals were effectively connected in real time. World-Fire now seemed tangible.

With our university encouraging collaborative projects, Professor of Mass Communication Jay Cofield took on the technical challenges, which went well past the Zoom format. The world-traveling ceramic artist/writer/educator Elaine Henry contributed vital links to those iconic kilns in China. Professor John Cummings at Clemson University expressed interest. Suddenly World-Fire was real.

It would become surreal as the 100+ hours of the firing evolved and fatigued, but happy faces looked in on each other sharing challenges and possible solutions as they occurred and sharing the human dynamic, as well, that creates one language out of many, that of elemental process. Professor Cofield’s “simultaneous elsewhere” was achieved.

Like any creative first, the pilot project World-Fire must be critiqued. Language issues made the planning phase particularly difficult. Communications were subject to periodic darkness. While incredibly impressive, the production of this event at UM involved state-of-the-art equipment equal to a sports or news production. For World-Fire to continue, we must discover less-involved production strategies. Perhaps with a smartphone, our kilns, and our desire to dissolve distance, our simultaneous “What if…?” will define our future.

Photo: Fernando Rosado.

Topics: Ceramic Artists

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