Transcript Making a Clay Chop - Banning High School

Soft Slab Project
Mrs. Asker-Chipman
Ceramics 1B
High School
Arts Content Standards
2.0 Creative Expression
• 2.1 Create original works of art of
increasing complexity and skill that reflect
their feelings and points of view.
4.0 Aesthetic Valuing
• 4.4 Articulate the process and rational for
refining and reworking one of their own
works of art.
Slab Building
• Hand building pottery using slabs of
clay is an exciting way to create shapes
that could never be produced using a
potter's wheel or that would be difficult
to achieve even with coiling.
• Slab pots are being produced by
contemporary potters in many styles
and using a number of techniques.
History of Slab Building
• Slab-building techniques were
used extensively by
Mesoamerican Pre-Columbian
potters, with some very
beautiful results.
•Other than these potters, though,
slab pots were not used much by
other ancient cultures across the globe.
Slab Building
• Today, slab pots and slabbuilding techniques are
experiencing a new
popularity.
• Modern potters and
ceramic sculptors have
embraced the slab,
creating works using both
soft slabs and
stiff leather-hard slabs.
Making Slabs
Slabs can be made in a variety of
methods.
-The most common method is to
roll out the slab by hand using a
rolling pin.
Other methods include using:
-Slab rollers: large pieces of equipment that enable
potters to roll large slabs to uniform thicknesses
very rapidly.
-Hand Tossing: slab can be formed by tossing the
clay onto a hard surface at an angle.
Soft Slab Construction
•Many potters have developed a
style that uses slabs that have
just been freshly rolled out and
are still very damp.
•These soft slabs can be formed into lovely, flowing
structures often reminiscent of leather.
•They can be used to with slump molds or draped over
hump molds to create repeatable forms, leaving the
potter to concentrate more on finishing the form with
surface textures, decorations, or firing effects.
Designing Your Project
• Think about the
properties of a soft
slab.
• What can you do with
it?
• You will need to look
for a texture that you
like.
What Can you Make with a
Soft Slab of Clay?
• You can wrap
it around a
cylinder.
• What could
you make?
What Can you Make with a
Soft Slab of Clay?
• You can drape it
over a mold, a
ball, a bowl, or
anything else
that isn’t sharp.
• What could you
make?
What Can you Make with a
Soft Slab of Clay?
• You can slump it
into a bowl, a
plate, box or
anything else
that isn’t sharp.
• What could you
make?
What Can you Make with a
Soft Slab of Clay?
Soft Slab Requirements
• It should be:
– “Family Size”
– Textured
– Finished on all sides, including the lip
• It needs to have a handle, foot, or decorative
attachment which matches and is attached well.
• The project must take advantage of the
properties of a soft slab.
• The project must be three dimensional
(not a tile or flat wall hanging).