CLAY holding/transforming/performing is a season of clay at the National Sculpture Factory. It celebrates clay as a fundamental and complex material. A key tenet of this clay season is to be witness to experts in moments of live practice, to look into the complexity of clay production and material negotiation. This season of clay presents the breadth of material practice from the skills of traditional practices to the urgency of this material vital to expressive and sculptural live practices. The programme of live practice and keynote live conversations will present deep insights into the production and elemental demands of this ancient and current material.
The Live Bench is the space for Transforming.
The Live bench is an open studio space on the Factory floor where individuals can come in, make a small ceramic work that can be fired in our NSF Raku kiln during the August Weekend.
This continual live production bench that will be open from July 24th and will be operational throughout the festival on the Factory Floor. Visitors can engage in the production and transformative nature of clay by creating their own small ceramic work which will be stored and kiln fired by Bernadette Tuite in our Raku kiln on the final weekend of the Festival in August.
So please do come in, engage, participate, and we can transform together.
Drop in times are Monday – Friday 10am – 4pm
This event is supported by the Arts Council of Ireland and the British Council, August Craft Month, Scarva Pottery Supplies and DBI Pottery Supplies.
9:30
Saturday Introduction with curators Clare Twomey, Nuala O’Donovan & Dobz O’Brien
9:45 – 11:30
Artists’ presentations on their individual Practices with William Cobbing, Florence Peake, Simon Kidd and Bernadette Tuite
12:00pm – 13:30pm
Live Practice with Simon Kidd – Removing the silicone moulds and preparing them for translating them into clay objects through press moulding.
14:30 – 16:00
Clare Twomey in-conversation with William Cobbing. This will be a performative conversation with William Cobbing followed by a round table discussion with the audience.
16:00pm – 18:00
Live Practice with Bernadette Tuite – Raku Firing the end results of the live bench
9:30
Sunday Introduction with curators Clare Twomey, Nuala O’Donovan & Dobz O’Brien
10:00 – 13:00
Live Practice with Simon Kidd – The making of the clay artefacts from the silicone moulds through press moulding, including the incorporation of local materials gathered from the NSF.
Live Practice with Nuala O’Donovan
Live Practice with Bernadette Tuite – Raku Firing the end results of the live bench
14.00 – 15:00
Live Performance with Florence Peake
16:00 – 17:00pm
Festival reflections on the Factory Floor – Discussion with Clare Twomey, Florence Peake & William Cobbing.
