Clay, Cars, and Design Pt. 2: Market pressure & 40 years of BMW Evolution

1972 3.0 CSi

Mid 1990's 5 Series

The 2011 Alpina B7. Comes standard with a 4.4-liter, V8, 500-horsepower, turbo engine. Try over looking the embarrassingly low gas mileage- 14 mpg city, 20 mpg on the highway. Click here for a Bloomsberg Business Week's review.

One question that I didn't get to ask the BMW design team is how it feels to work within one of the greatest design traditions of the modern era. You might not have noticed from the pictures but all of the designers are under forty, probably closer to thirty. BMW is harnessing the creativity of a new generation while maintaining a look that originated more than eighty years ago. (BMW started manufacturing airplane motors in 1916 before moving onto motor cycles in 1923. Cars were introduced five years later in 1928. Click here for more BMW history.) Reviving the same thread of design must be a challenge. On one hand, BMW has to maintain a signature style to ensure the customer stays loyal to the brand. On the other hand, those same customers might become disinterested if there is not enough change.

Looking at the pictures above you can see how the need for change manifests in the brand's evolution. I have included cars from 1972, the mid-1990's, and 2011 to show change in roughly twenty year increments.  Look at the front grill and headlights of the 1972 and 1990's models.  While the body of the car has changed these essential BMW characteristics look strikingly similar. Now fast forward another twenty years. The 2011 Alpina at the bottom of the page displays a greater evolution in a similar amount of time. The proportions, detailing, and overall body design have changed. It is not exactly a fair comparison because all three cars are not the same model but it makes the point that innovation can increase or decrease over time. In Staying Alive: Survival tactics for the Visual Artist Robin Hopper suggests that a small business production line change about 10% every year. This can be new forms or new glazes but the core of the line remains similar to last years version. At first glace this number seems small but in contrast to the innovation of BMW this number is huge. If we could statistically plot the change needed to evolve from the 1972 model to the 2011 model BMW the change per year would be in the 0.001% range.

In car design the speed of innovation depends heavily on how the market reacts to the brand. Market pressure is a natural biproduct of a supply and demand economic system. As artists we are subject to market pressure even if its affects are more subtle. Think about how you choose the forms you make in your studio. Isn't it natural to make more of the things you sell and slowly change the things that don't sell as well? The difference is that artists aren't driven only by the needs of the buyer. We are motivated as much by emotional factors (creative pleasure, aesthetic expression, success within our peer group, etc.) as we are financial factors (security, accumulation of wealth, success within the larger economic system, etc.). Our emotional motivations often lead us to the outer edge of economic norms. How many times have you heard a question like this? "So your an artist...Are you a starving artist?" This stereotype is so common that it has a wikipedia definition. Genius has even been tied to the poverty level of famous artists. This has created the misconception that financially successful artists have "sold out" by dumbing down their artistic vision. Individual artists can learn from design brands that market pressure is a useful tool that can lead to financial success.

To further contrast the design brand vs. artist comparison lets look beyond our motivations to the concept of time itself. Can you imagine someone telling you that you will make the same basic pots for the next 40 years? Sounds a little overwhelming doesn't it? Long duration design continuity is the norm for car design. Idea have evolutionary curves that can be plotted chronologically. Only recently have I become aware of the timeline of innovation in my work. The nature of my studio practice is that I work intuitively letting forms/decoration percolate for about a few years at a time. I change small elements until I feel the design idea has been created in the best three dimensional form possible. It is ironic that once I reach a state of completion I often loose interest. The process of innovation is more interesting than the end product itself. Selling the versions that it took to complete the idea comes from a necessity to fund the overall process. In contrast design companies often spend large amounts of money and time on research that the public never sees. This is true in science as well. Think about the miracle cure-all WD 40. The name comes from the fact that there were 39 unsuccessful versions before a suitable water displacement solution was found.

To wrap this post up I challenge you to think about your artistic motivations (emotional vs. financial) and the affect time has on the evolution of your ideas. As an mental exercise try researching your favorite design brand and then compare their evolution to your own studio practice. I find looking at non-ceramic design helps clarify my own ideas and progress as an artist.

This post is the companion to Clay, Cars, and Design: BMW stops by the Pottery Workshop Shanghai. I want to thank the Munich-based BMW team that came to The Pottery Workshop Shanghai. The conversations we shared have provided much food for thought. 

In the Studio: Working with Rectangles

I've been working with rectangle trays recently. The top two (color) are 9 inches and the bottom one (white-on-white) is about 14 inches. I've made square plates/platters for awhile so it is a nice change to elongate the form. As I think about it this might be the first time I've worked with a rectangle. 

I used the dogwood pattern a lot on these but I'm diggin the honeysuckle more. Its asymmetry feels more natural than the others. The next time I make the larger one I'll shrink the pattern increasing the negative space. This will make that left flower seem really lonely over there in the corner, which will call for the food presentation to complete the pot. I like setting up this scenario. I create tension on the form with decoration and the user releases it by arranging the food.

Any thoughts/preferences from the bloggerverse on these?

Turning Point: The moment your (ceramic) life changes

Every potter has moments where the course of their studio life changes abruptly. A well timed critique, hours of solitary studio exploration, or flipping the pages of ceramic magazines can lead to major shifts in an artist's world view. Although I have experienced positive changes from all of these the most drastic turns have come from direct interaction with historical pots. There is no greater feeling than being left speechless by a work of art.

One of my turning points was viewing the show Iraq and China: Ceramics, Trade and Innovation at the Freer Sackler Gallery in Washington, DC. (Click here for a great Flash site documenting the show. The gallery houses the Asian art collection for the Smithsonian.) During my visit I was in the grip of a major ceramic infatuation with Japanese aesthetics. I like many potters had read Susan Peterson's book on Shoji Hamada. I was caught in the romance of the humble potter. I was convinced that the Mingei movement would be the foundation of my ceramic life. Even though Soetsu Yanagi's words rang a bell deep inside me, the pots that my Mingei inspired friends made never looked like mine. Critiquing my pots with theirs was like showing up to a playoff game realizing you are wearing the opposing teams jersey. While the spirit of Mingei remains influential I have come to understand that my more-is-more aesthetic doesn't fit into a philosophy of making simple humble objects.

The body of work that I was engaged in at the time directly referenced quilt patterns (see the pot above). I was moving away from the less-is-more aesthetic by doing my best to decorate every square inch of the pots surface. In all honesty I have never been a less-is-more person. Excess is in my blood. More food, more soccer, more baseball cards, more peanut butter, more pots, more music, more, more, more. I tried for years to simplify. I thought maybe if I could stop decorating just a bit earlier I would make the "right" pots. I'm not sure how I settled on what the "right" pots were but I knew I wasn't making them.

As I walked through the Freer that day in 2005 I had a major breakthrough. Those Islamic pots showed me that excess is a tool, not a deficiency that should be worked against. Great power can be gleamed from overwhelming the senses with repetition, scale change, and detail. Reading more about Islamic art I have learned that these tools are used to speak metaphorically about the role of Allah in daily life. Infinite dense pattern is representational of an omnipresent God. I find this to be theologically interesting but also an accurate description of the experience I had when I first saw the Samanid bowl below. I spotted it out of the corner of my eye and even in my periphery it pulled me in. I stood in front of the display with my face pressed to the glass like a kid peeking in a toy store window. In hind sight my interest in this type of pot comes from a desire to figure out patterns. Layered patterns are puzzles that engage my brain in a pleasurable way. (I often find myself stopped on the street smiling at the brick pattern on the sidewalk. Life in a big city is a numbers game where the chaos will arrange itself if you are willing to spend the time looking.)

When I look at the pattern on this bowl I count the larger elements first. Five central floral elements created by black on white negative space. I look at their contours, their similarities, and their differences. I dive into the fine bits letting them soak into my vision. The red and black quatrefoil patterns on the exterior band fill the negative space between the script in an unexpected but interesting way. I can't read the text but I appreciate the line quality and gesture that it conveys. The last touch is the alternating red and black semicircles that border the rim. The pattern repeats but deviates in one spot. This subtle switch makes me go all the way around the pot to see if it happens again.

This bowl represents one of my turning points. Seeing that show was the first step down a path that I am still walking in my studio today. This post is the first in a series where guest bloggers will talk about the turning points in their own work. I've been asking friends to write on the subject and I look forward to posting them in the future.






10th century Iran Samanid period. Earthenware with painted under glaze
H: 11.2 W: 39.3 D: 39.3 cm

"This deep bowl exemplifies the high technical quality and compositional sophistication achieved in 10th-century ceramics from northeastern Iran. Its central decoration consists of an abstract tree with five branches ending in palmettes and revolving around a small rosette. The dominant counter-clockwise movement of the stems is subtlely reversed by a branch to the trunk's left— a shift that ingeniously draws attention to the ovoid mark at the beginning of the Arabic inscription below. This inscription is bordered at the rim by a band of red and black scallops and on the walls by a series of irregular panels following the contours of the letters. It translates as follows: "It is said that he is content with his own opinion runs into danger. Blessing to the owner."

Check out the carterpottery.com revamp

Carterpottery.com just got a fresh new look. Check out the new format with new work. A big thank you to Mark Granto at Technically Speaking for the design help.

Clay, Cars, and Design: BMW stops by the Pottery Workshop Shanghai pt 1

One of BMW's design teams stopped by the Pottery Workshop for a day of clay last month. They were on assignment in Shanghai doing market research for three months.  I am impressed by BMW's dedication to their employees. They support their designers by sending them on extended trips to analyze current market trends. In a world of downsizing and hyper efficiency I respect BMW's commitment to creating the necessary space for an idea to develop.

The group of eight designers are part of a world-wide group that is four hundred strong. They were energetic, detail oriented, and focused. We frequently host corporate events that focus on team building but we rarely have actual designers in the studio. They came prepared, some even with auto cad sketches, and we spent six hours changing their ideas from two to three dimensions. This level of professionalism was a refreshing contrast to the birthday parties full of screaming 10 year-old girls that frequent our studio.

In their daily work these designers have very specific jobs. A pair of designers might work on interior trim but one works solely on seat upholstery while the other designs only handles. I think they appreciated the creative freedom of clay. They had no preset assignment except to respond to the medium. It was interesting to see the way interior designers worked as opposed to designers that worked on exteriors. The work I found most interesting was exterior driven. They had a keen sense for line that could be a welcomed addition to the ceramic world. For complete beginners they took large leaps into the medium. It was a great challenge to help them complete their ideas. Check out the elaborate support system we came up with to bend a slab on multiple axis (third to last picture above).

This class was as much fun for me as it was for them. I spent a lot of time asking them about their design practice. I talked at length with an interior designer about the relationship between mug and car handles. They work within preset perimeters but have many choices to make based on the variables of scale, proportion, material, and cost. It was good to hear that they agonize about angles and comfort the same way that potters do.

The invisible variable car designers work with/against is time. At this moment they are working simultaneously on the 2015 model year while still fine tuning next years 2013 model. Design breakthroughs and changes must be communicated up and down the production cycle to insure continuity. There must be 1000's of meetings between the preliminary design and the road model. The ability to change designs must decrease significantly as the deadline for production approaches. To build a car you would have to be absolutely certain your idea can be produced on a large scale and will be marketable to the public.We are talking about major factory production that takes tremendous amounts of financial and intellectual capital just to get the assembly line up and running. Thinking about that makes me grateful for the fluidity of my design process and equipment. I can switch my practice from hand building to throwing at any time with very little setup. I can even change temperature ranges and clay bodies with relative ease when compared to the energy that is expended to change the bumper of any mass produced vehicle. I'll have to remind myself of that next time I'm hunkered down in the glaze lab trying to stop my favorite liner glaze from crazing.

Stop by later in the week for part two of this post. It focuses on innovation in the BMW design tradition. 

Dragon boats, Zongzi, and a table full of glaze ware.

We just celebrated the Chinese Dragon Boat festival. This public holiday has many origins but the most repeated is the story of the poet, Qu Yuan. The "story holds that the festival commemorates the death of poet Qu Yuan (Chinese: 屈原) (c. 340 BCE – 278 BCE) of the ancient state of Chu, in the Warring States Period of the Zhou Dynasty.^[5] A descendant of the Chu royal house, Qu served in high offices. However, when the king decided to ally with the increasingly powerful state of Qin, Qu was banished for opposing the alliance. Qu Yuan was accused of treason.^[5] During his exile, Qu Yuan wrote a great deal of poetry, for which he is now remembered. Twenty-eight years later, Qin conquered the capital of Chu. In despair, Qu Yuan committed suicide by drowning himself in the Miluo River on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month.

It is said that the local people, who admired him, threw lumps of rice into the river to feed the fish so that they would not eat Qu Yuan's body.^[5] This is said to be the origin of zongzi. The local people were also said to have paddled out on boats, either to scare the fish away or to retrieve his body. This is said to be the origin of dragon boat racing." (Excerpt from Wikipedia Duan Wu festival)

It was raining hard for most of the day so I didn't head out to see any dragon boat races. These races involve twenty-man teams that furiously paddle to propel a longboat through the water. They are held in the Shanghai area but they pale in comparison to races held in other Asian regions. Hong Kong has multiple races spread around the surrounding islands that have as many as 30,000 participants a year. (click here for details) Although the Dragon Boat tradition is of Chinese origin cultures from all over the world have been using long boats for racing and travel for thousands of years.The Maori used a similar style boat to explore the south pacific before finally settling in New Zealand in the late 1200's A.D.

Another Dragon Boat tradition involves the serving of Zongzi. A sticky rice mixture is packed around meat, or fruit, and wrapped in a banana leaf. They are tied together in a triangular shape with thin strips of the banana leaf. The presentation is a beautiful study in food art. Zongzi would be great for drawing classes with their diagonal lines and rice textures. 

Most of my dragon boat festival was spent glazing. I had a serious back log of bisque that needed attention. After years of complicated glaze schemes I have moved all my decoration to the slip stage. This makes glazing so much faster. One month of making/decorating turns into one day of glazing.

For you guys that are working at mid-range here is our PWS white satin. It is a variation of VC White that we have altered to melt lower. We fire it to cone seven where it develops a smooth stone-like surface. Let me know if it works out for you.

Attack of the Orange Bat Mold!

We bought new masonite bats for the studio and they came with a special gift. Something tells me this fluffy neon orange mold isn't so good for your health. We haven't figured out how to make it stop yet. It appears as the piece dries. Any ideas?