Ceramics I – Professor Greco

Syllabus

Queens College
Art Department
ARTS 186-04/ARTS 379-02/ARTS 728-01
Ceramics I / Special Projects in Ceramics
Friday 10:00am-1:50pm
Spring 2020
Klapper 181

Instructor: Matt Greco
Office: Klapper Hall Rm #108
Hours: Friday 9:15am-10:00am
Email: matthew.greco@qc.cuny.edu mfgreco@gmail.com
Course Website: www.professorgreco.com

Course Description:

Introduction to Ceramics will cover the basic technical and aesthetic aspects of using clay as a sculpture medium. Students will explore the historic importance of clay, modern technical processes in clay, and contemporary issues in ceramic sculpture. The course will include fundamental techniques in ceramics such as hand-building, wheel-throwing, glazing, and firing. Through study of ceramic sculpture and a close critique of the students’ work as well as the work of their peers they will come to better understand the creative process as it applies to ceramics.

Course Objectives:

At the close of this course the successful student will have a comprehensive understanding of basic ceramic technique and of theoretical and aesthetic issues in contemporary ceramics. They will master a ceramic workflow that includes familiarity with different building techniques, clay bodies, glazes, and firing. They will expand their vocabulary to include the proper terminology for creating and critiquing ceramic sculpture. They will demonstrate the ability to think creatively, form project ideas, and follow those ideas from conception to realization.

Course Requirements:

Students will be expected to complete all assignments on time and to the best of their ability. Students are expected to attend every class but life does happen so you get 3 absences, after that you lose a letter grade for every absence. Be on time please; for every 3 times you are late you will lose a letter grade. There will be a museum field trip (TBA) and attendance is required. There will be a paper due (relax, it will be a short paper) and will relate to the museum field trip. We will have a mid-term critique and a final critique; attendance is required at both.

Course Website:

Please check our course website every week for updates to the syllabus or schedule, links to information and resources, and a student gallery page where we will showcase your work throughout the semester.

Grades:

Sculpture Assignments – 20%

Mid-term portfolio – 20%

Paper – 20%

Final portfolio – 40%

Sculpture Assignments (all assignments must be glazed and fired):

Pinch Pot

They did it this way for thousands of years. No tools, just you and the clay.

Coil Pot

Hmm – this is certainly better than just pinching it. Using the extruder.

Totem Sculpture

Subtractive carving, making sketches, using your brain, research glazes. Keep it leather hard! Carve.

Wheel Thrown

Finally! I’ve been waiting all semester. Ughh – harder than I thought.

Paper:

The paper due will be two pages, typed, double-spaced and will be a response to one or more works that you see during the museum field trip. This is a response paper not a research paper; I want to hear your thoughts, feelings, and reactions to the work, not a list of facts, figures and dates. Ask yourself these questions: What is this? What do I think the artist is trying to communicate? Does the work communicate this to me? What techniques did the sculptor use and did these enhance the power of the imagery? What emotional or intellectual reactions did I have to the work? Plagiarism of any kind will not be tolerated.

Clay and Glaze:

You get 75lbs of clay (3 bags) to start with after that you can purchase more clay. KEEP YOUR CLAY COVERED SO IT WON’T DRY OUT! KEEP IT COVERED GOOD! You have access to our glaze room; all glazes are provided for you. All firing is provided for you.

Tools:

Please bring all tools with you to every class. Keep them clean. Lockers are available to keep your clay and tools in. You will be given a shelf to keep your work-in-progress on.

Required: