An article outlining the origins of my current research.

Featured in international ceramics magazine: Ceramics Technical.

Originally published in 200

Binns, David Stuart

David Binns

English

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Aggregates in Clay Bodies A Research Project  David Binns describes the development of his polished aggregate bearing ceramic work through combining his professional experiences with academic research57-62 BINNS David  8/30/06  12:15 PM  Page 57AS AN ARTIST IT IS OFTEN DIFFICULT to clearly identify and articu-late exactly how and why one first discovers and adopts a particular pro-cess or series of working practices. More often than not it seems anevolutionary process, arrived at through a complex blend of experience andemotional responses. My current work started life this way but, over time,evolved into a planned research project.Like so often, the work originated partly through accident, response toobserved phenomena and a desire to ‘say something new’. Fairly rapidly, how-ever, I grew to realise the potential of the process and this combined with anopportunity to dedicate time to the project, led to a fully fledged research pro-ject, involving considerable systematic testing and analysis. Ultimately how-ever, whether undertaken haphazardly or systematically, developing a newbody of work for me is about the enjoyment of creating and solving problems.ACCIDENT, OBSERVATION & RESPONSEFor some time I had been working on a body of work, involving shallowcurved slabs of clay, pierced with varying configurations of holes. Initiallyusing a smooth unglazed terracotta body, I gradually became interested inusing coarser textured brick clays. In order to refine the surface, I startedsanding the fired clay with fine abrasive paper. When sanding the fired surfaceof these clays, I began noticing that the particles of coarse grog were revealedmore clearly, producing a far richer surface quality, reminding me of polishedbeach pebbles. This was an exciting discovery as it introduced a completelynew ingredient; my work has always been inspired by architectural or mechan-ical form, but had never revealed anything of my love of the natural environ-ment. The pieces for the first time embraced this plurality of influences – theman made, combined with the natural world.Having made this discovery, I started considering how I might capitalise onthis further, seeking greater control of the colour and texture. It then struckme that I could adapt the base clay through adding further grog material. ICeramicsTECHNICAL  No. 23  200658Hand mixing aggregatesinto a batch of porcelain.Adding molochite aggregateto a batch of porcelain.David Binns dries  out stained clay in readiness to fire for making grog while on a residency at the ceramic studio,Keskemet, Hungry.57-62 BINNS David  8/30/06  12:15 PM  Page 58began exploring the possibility of gaining total control through preparingunique bodies, starting with a smooth, neutral base clay and adding whatevercolour and textural material I desired. Commercially available grogs while dif-fering in grain size, are similar in colour, being usually made from crushed buffcoloured firebrick or kiln furniture. Considering how a wider palette ofcolour might be achieved, I added stains to a small batch of porcelain. InitiallyI thought of adding small broken pieces of stained, unfired clay to the base claybody, but then realised they would re-soften and the colour would merge intothe base clay during preparation, not giving me distinct suspended particles ofcolour I desired. I therefore broke the plastic stained clay into small lumps andfired it too around 900’C. Once fired, the pieces could then be crushed easilyto whatever grain size I required.I went on to prepare three different batches of coloured grogs, crushed themto varying particle sizes and wedged them into 10 kg of porcelain. Porcelainseemed the most appropriate base clay, because the coloured grogs would standout distinctively. I proceeded to make a piece similar to previous work – rolledout slab, pierced with a grid of holes, then draped the slab in fabric to give a shal-low dish form. Following slow drying, the piece was fired to around 1200’C,recognising that fired any higher, it might be difficult to sand the surface.Following firing, there was only a slight indication of what lay below the sur-face. During the forming process the finer particles of clay seemed to migrateto the surface, hiding the coarser particles of grog within the fired form. Istarted sanding back the surface with wet & dry abrasive paper to reveal myadded coloured grogs. The particles started emerging, but it soon became clearthat to reveal the true extent of the grog additions would require many hours ofhard labour, hand sanding the surface. Alternatively I could attempt to findsome form of mechanical device to assist the process. Having created the problem of wanting to sand (or now grind) back the topsurface layer of the fired clay – how could this be resolved efficiently? Workingin a university design department that includes other craft disciplines, I soughtthe advice of colleague in the glass department, knowing that many glass-fin-ishing processes involve hours of grinding and polishing. He suggested using alarge flat bed grinding machine. This was fine for grinding flat surfaces, but ofno use for curved or concave surfaces. Seeking advice from a local granite fin-ishing company offered a more appropriate solution – a hand held powergrinder, similar to a builder’s regular angle grinder, but with a water feed toprevent dust and wash away waste material.The tool in question a Flex Angle Grinder, supplied by DK Holdings Ltd inthe UK, uses a series of velcro backed diamond pads, from coarse to ultra fine.The particular advantage this tool has for me is that the grinding face is small –10 cm diameter grinding face, with a sponged backing. While it is not possibleto grind complex, deeply concave openings, it allows me to grind shallowconcave surfaces – the perfect tool for the purpose.Using a series of six grades of abrasive pad, I found I could quickly cutthrough the rough fired surface, gradually achieving a silky smooth finish thatrevealed the rich texture of the added grogs. The only negative side to the pro-cess is that the power tool throws off considerable amounts of water whenoperating, so realistically can not be used in my studio. When grinding, I needtherefore to work outside, getting soaked through, at the mercy of Welshweather – why is it I always seem to have exhibition deadlines in January?While the process was successful, I started to feel that maybe the piercingswere no longer relevant or important – the piece conveyed all I was hoping toCeramicsTECHNICAL  No. 23  2006 59Once the process was fullyproven, giving me the surfacequalities I desired, I beganunderstanding the immensepotential of the process andsaw two particular issues emerging:1. What other materialsmight possibly be added toclay and what new aestheticqualities might be achievedthrough the process – theneed to start a process ofsystematic research into therange of surfaces that mightbe achieved – types of claybodies and granular materialsthat might be added.2. The development of arange of new forms. Piecesthat both harmonised withthe surfaces I was nowachieving and yet weresimple enough to be groundback, using the powergrinder. Filling a long boat mould withstained, aggregate bearingporcelain.Pressing and shaping ofcorrugated edged standing form –adjustable wood and plastermould, with corrugated insert.57-62 BINNS David  8/30/06  12:15 PM  Page 59say, through the simple, angular and clean linedform (mechanical) and contrasting with the geo-logical textured surface (natural). Furthermore, I was particularly excited by thefact that what was seen on the surface of the form,was not an added decorative ‘skin’, as in glazedware, but passed through the solid core of thepiece. This conveniently connected with my longstanding philosophy with the ‘truth to materials’tenet of modernism, stating that the natural orinherent nature of material should not be hidden.I continued making batches of different stainedgrogs and embarked on developing a series offorms, relatively simple in shape, that couldaccommodate the grinding of all faces – shallowcurved boat like forms seemed most appropriate.The surfaces I was achieving were not dissimilarto terrazzo and I started considering the granularmaterial I was adding as ‘aggregate’ – the termused for the stones or chippings added to cementin the making of concrete.SYSTEMATIC RESEARCHHaving a full time teaching post at the Univer-sity of Central Lancashire (in Preston, UK),meant little time was available for a major researchinvestigation. Fortunately around this timeresearch was emerging as a major issue within UKuniversities and a new Research Board had beenestablished to fund research within Art & Design– The Arts & Humanities Research Board(AHRB). I prepared a proposal and was fortunateto be awarded a period of leave, enabling me tospend time developing the project. I embarked ondeveloping a substantial series of tests, exploringdifferent base clay bodies, a wide range of stainedaggregate additions and varying the percentageamounts of added material. I also started explor-ing what other materials might be appropriate foradding to clay bodies.One particularly interesting discovery wasadding copper stained grog. Unlike grog colouredwith commercial stains, the copper grog bledslightly into the surrounding clay, giving a halo ofgreen colour, fading out from the each granule.Altering the percentage amount of copper pig-ment in the grog, affected the amount of bleed.In considering other materials appropriate foradding to clay, I fell upon using ceramic-basedrefractory materials, used within the refractoryindustry. These materials are generally less famil-iar to studio-based ceramic makers, being used inthe making of high temperature furnace liningsCeramicsTECHNICAL  No. 23  200660Work awaiting slow firing in large flat bed kiln.Pressing and shaping of corrugated edged standing form –adjustable wood and plaster mould, with corrugated insert.Pressed and shaped corrugated edged standing form.57-62 BINNS David  8/30/06  12:15 PM  Page 60for the metal and chemical industries. I contactedrefractory materials manufacturers. and testedmany previously unknown materials such as Sin-tered Mullite, Granular Zircon, Mulcoa, DenseFused Mullite. The advantage of these particularmaterialss (apart from their aesthetiic appear-ance), is that during their manufaacturing, theyarrre fired too temperatures in excess of 1400°C,making them totally stable at  any temperature Iwas likely to be firing. The companies found itamusing that I intended using their materials fortheir ‘decorative’ qualities, rather than their scii-enntifically calculated technical properties.Another interesting development was the realisa-tion that I might be able to include found materi-als such as fine pebbles or rock chippings.In my enthusiasm to develop new surfaces, Igathered an amount of fine beach shingle – tinypebbles ground and polished by the action of thesea. Having picked out any obvious pieces of shelland seaweed, I prepared a batch of porcelain andpebbles and made a large boat-like form. Thepiece fired perfectly and when ground back,revealed the most astonishingly array of colouredfragments of rock, inlaid into the white firedbody. The piece sat pride of place in my nextexhibition, but fortunately failed to sell. A few weeks after returning from the show, Idiscovered to my dismay, the piece in numerousbroken fragments. It was then I realised the shinglemust have included fragments of calcium bearingrock such as limestone. The stones had calcinedand then slowly absorbed atmospheric moisture,creating a monumental case of ‘lime spit’.This proved a valuable lesson in over-eagernessand another problem to solve – how to ensure sta-bility when adding found materials. The simplesolution turned out to be pre-firing and washingall found mineral material. Any calcium materialturned to soluble quick lime, leaving the remain-ing material stable and inert.Since then I have continued researching andtesting many found materials. I have become par-ticularly interested in the idea of making piecesfrom collected granular mineral material, givingeach piece of work a sense of place or belonging. Ihave made pieces including grey granite from themountains of North Wales, beach shingle fromthe east coast of England and even pink granitegathered during a visit to Tasmania. I now nevertravel without my collecting bags, always lookingfor interesting granular material.CeramicsTECHNICAL  No. 23  2006 61Test samples of varying clay bodies and aggregateadditions.Grinding tall standing form, using Electra-Flex anglegrinder.Grinding fired form at International Ceramics Studio,Kecskemét, Hungary.57-62 BINNS David  8/30/06  12:15 PM  Page 61Ironically, the creative element of my making, apart from the clay prepara-tion, now mostly occurs at the model and mould-making stage, exploiting myoriginal interest in woodwork and cabinet-making. The actual makinginvolves little more than ‘throwing’ the clay mix into the mould.Unlike more conventional ceramic processes, where the final firing revealsthe glory (or otherwise) of the finished piece, it is at this point for me, that thereal work begins. Grinding may take many hours, particularly if the piece hasslightly distorted in the firing. As the pieces are clean lined and precise in form,it is crucial there are no unseemly changes in surface configuration. Thereanalmost infinite variety of materials that might be added to clay; the amount ofeach material to be added can be varied, materials may be combined and thebase clay may itself be coloured and the research is ongoing and in reality, theaesthetic and creative  possibilities are endless.David Binns is Reader in Contemporary Ceramics in the Department of Design at the Uni-versity of Central Lancashire, Preston, UK. He is currently writing a book, titled Additionsto Clay Bodies for publishers A&C Black (London). Caption title page clockwise: Tas-manian pink granite. Copper stained grog (pre-fired fired to 850˚C). Dense Fused Mullite.Crushed flint pebbles.CeramicsTECHNICAL  No. 23  200662As the grinding process hasdetermined to an extent theshape of the pieces, I havedeveloped a repertoire ofbold, simple forms – myaesthetic inclination hasalways lent towards asimplicity of form. Becausethe making process seemedto lend itself to pressing, Ihave developed a range ofsimple wooden and plastermoulds. In a number ofinstances, I have developedmoulds that can be adaptedto give different sizes fromthe same basic mould.  Group of 3 Standing Forms. Left to right  Manganese stained terracotta with mixed aggregate additions,Porcelain with copper aggregate, Copper stained porcelain with sintered mullite & molochite aggregateMax height 40 cms.57-62 BINNS David  8/30/06  12:15 PM  Page 62

Aggregates in Clay Bodies - A Research Project

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