Ceramic as Contemporary Art－IAC 国際陶芸アカデミー国際会議講演より－

田中哲也 Tetsuya Tanaka(美術学部)去る 2018 年 9 月 30 日(日)から 10 月 4 日(木)まで、台湾新北市 New Taipei City Hall及び新北市立鶯歌陶磁博物館にて、IAC International Academy of Ceramics 国際陶芸アカデミーの第 48 回国際会議が開催された。
New Orientalia 東方を国際会議のテーマに、初日の台湾国立歴史博物館館長廖新田氏、モデレーターJacques Kaufmann 氏による基調講演からはじまり、2 日目、林康夫氏、楊元太氏、モデレーター劉鎮洲氏による対談、滋賀県立陶芸の森美術館学芸員三浦弘子氏、奈良美智氏による特別講演に続き、3 日目、4 日目には、約 20 名の IAC 会員による講演が行われた。私も「Ceramic as Contemporary Art」と題し 10 月 3 日（水）に講演を行った。本著では、その講演内容を写真とともに記す。

IAC 国際陶芸アカデミー会員 田中哲也

My name is Tetsuya Tanaka. I come from SHIGARAKI, Japan. Today, I will give a presentation on mywork which is ceramic works as contemporary art.

My first series are QOO series. This name from Chinese or Japanese character 漢字 空. This means skyor empty. For over ten years I am making ceramic works that were combined with metal. Though theseworks look like genuine metallic products, the main material is ceramics and only a few parts are real
metal. This is 空(QOO)-KINMIRAI Nostalgia. This work is over 3 Meter. I exhibited it at BIWAKO
biennale that international contemporary art biennale. I exhibited in old Japanese house. Recently inJapan, exhibiting contemporary art pieces in traditional space become trend. I feel contemporary art
pieces are suitable to Japanese traditional space. Japanese traditional architecture is based on ZENspirit. There is no decoration. Only there is comfortable space made of natural things such as light, wind,and so on. ZEN spirit is similar to concept of minimal art that fashioned at 20 century in U.S.A. andEurope. Maybe it is reason I feel so.

This is one of Thinking on the Wall series. Thinking on the Wall series combine ceramic and metal thingalso. This part is motor head of grinder. Sometimes I use scrap things.

These are tea wares. I am making functional art pieces also. Many Japanese ceramic artists are making
fine art piece and functional art pieces both. There is almost no border between arts and crafts inJapanese ceramic arts. Japanese craft is called "KOUGEI". KOUGEI is slightly different from Westerncraft. In the West, art is considered to be higher than craft. In Japan, KOUGEI and arts is the same,
sometimes the KOUGEI is higher than art. Please imagine sometimes one tea bowl is traded at 30
thousands euro. These tea bowls are not antique. Japanese contemporary ceramic art is growing fromthis KOUGEI.

This is a flower vase. Japanese post war modern ceramic artists developed ceramic sculpture fromfunctional objects like flower vase. In our generation, there are ceramic sculptures already. Sometimes I
put sculptural element back into functional objects.

Next are recent works. I am trying approach to contemporary art from ceramic art. We as a potter, makevessels. I am making vessels for invisible or things without shapes and volume. For example vessel forsounds, vessel for time, vessel for light or rays. This is HIBIKI vessel for sounds. If you stand in front of
this work, you can hear outside sounds from works inside.

This is KAGAYAKI. KAGAYAKI is vessel of lights or rays. I made KAGAYAKI body by translucent clay. Iilluminated it with LED light from inside.

This is installation work. I exhibited it at Kobe biennale. Kobe is a big port town. There are so many
containers for shipping. I exhibited these in 12 meter container.

This is KAGAYAKI‐Vessel of light. I exhibited this work at Gyeonggi International Ceramic Biennale
2015 in Korea.

This is wall work of KAGAYAKI.

This works image from KATANA sword. My work is a Contemporary art and also KOUGEI craft. I have
tried to create artworks by the new ceramic technique or idea developed from the basic and traditional
way of KOUGEI. I am challenging to create my works with the aim of the fusion of KOUGEI art andcontemporary art. I hope to be an artist who will expand a new style or area with possibility of my pursuit
for this fusion and will greatly contribute to the ceramic culture.