This practice-‐based research examines ceramics collections and artistic practice. It explicitly focuses on the exploration of object engagement beyond the historic models of clay practice and the uses of clay as a medium through which to examine cultural and museological challenges. It is centred on five artworks by the author made between 2006 and 2015 (Trophy, 2006, Forever, 2010, Exchange, 2012, Piece by Piece, 2013, Manifest: 10,000 hours, 2015). These employ advances in curatorial practice and theory that have informed the curation of ceramic artefacts held by museums seeking to reframe the relationship between material culture and clay culture, and the modes and devices of how ceramics are displayed. These five exhibition works have interrogated traditional understandings of ceramic collections in museums and their boundaries. These exhibitions, together with this commentary, constitute this PhD by publication. Ceramics, clay practice and craft are the context of these developmental works that have expanded thinking within the field. The thesis discusses the long-‐term development of ceramic and craft practices of immersive works that can be used as a tool to access our understanding of ceramic collections and trajectories. The research recognizes shifts in the contextual development of craft practice and in the literature developing alongside practice during a period from the 1960s onwards. In the contextual review the museum and the collections in focus are addressed in the contexts of audience engagement, participation and live works, and issues are raised in relation to time-‐based works and shared authorships. The critical developments of clay practice are also addressed within the timeframe of each section. Each of the five artworks is outlined in terms of context, research and development. These works have addressed the main question of how ceramic collections may be animated and explored through the audience’s participation. Through ten years of research, experimentation and close investigation, these questions have been slowly and carefully developed to test the boundaries of knowledge regarding arts and museum practices, encouraging a continued relationship with these concerns
