Clay sculpture

Creation of a clay sculpture with a skeleton structure and template

A clay sculpture is a sculpture consisting mainly of unfired clay , which was created as an independent work of the visual arts or as a design element of the applied arts .

Background and material

Clay has been used for building since ancient times. The clay minerals form the stabilizing element in the use of the clay. The physical drying process turns the damp clay into a solid building material. In conjunction with other additives (e.g. dung, straw, lime, hair, blood, etc.), clay becomes stronger and more weather-resistant - the clay brick is therefore the "primordial stone" of all human architecture .

Terracotta , the technique of fired clay, has a special position. Here the clay is irreversibly changed by the process of heating on a molecular basis.

Mythology and religion

Adam , “taken from earth” (Hebrew adamah / red earth ) formed from clay by the Creator, can be considered the first clay sculpture. The Dogon in Mali also assume that Amma , the creator god, once formed it from clay. Myths and stories also entwine around the golem , a creature made of clay from the Kabbalistic tradition of the Middle Ages.

History and dissemination

Humans used clay for lining and for the artistic design of caves. The cave paintings at the end of the Ice Age were partly created using clayey earth colors. The use of clay and loam to make figures later led to the art of pottery .

Larger clay sculptures and structures were erected by the Maya and Egyptians, in China, India, Yemen and Mali . Many served both architectural and sacred purposes. In the Andes, at the end of the 19th century, the impressive remains of two monumental pyramids made of air-dried bricks were discovered at the mouth of the Moche River. The Huaca del Sol measures 288 × 133 meters at its base and is believed to have been 48 meters high. In the Middle East, entire cities were built from clay, such as Sanaa or the citadel of the city of Bam in present-day Iran. The biblical Babylonian tower ( Genesis 11, 2–4) was made of clay. African and South American art is associated with the use of the earth element.

Finds from the Kofun period , such as the Dule temple and the terracotta warriors from the grave of the first Chinese emperor Qin Shi Huang Di , indicate that clay was also widely used in Chinese art. In the 10th to 13th centuries, numerous images of the Buddha were made from clay in the Himalayas .

Modern forms

Modern forms of clay sculpture construction can be found in addition to the equally widespread clay building architecture in the areas of art and environmental education , but also for the production of molds (art and bell casting technology) and in virtual engineering (e.g. prototype construction for cars or airplanes).

Protagonists

The contemporary artistic use of clay as a building material ranges from the “Ceramic Houses” by the clay architect Nader Khalili to the art buildings by the painter and sculptor Hannsjörg Voth to the clay (play) sculptures by the artist Rainer Warzecha in Berlin. The Scottish artist Andy Goldsworthy , who mainly uses clay for his temporary works , is known far beyond the English-speaking world . Kiko Denzer from the United States mostly designs clay ovens in the shape of animals. The Austrian Martin Rauch uses rammed earth techniques and built the Chapel of Reconciliation in Berlin . His works, as well as projects by Gernot Minke (dome and dome vaults ) are, even if they use artistic forms, primarily clay architecture. The return to natural building and design has meanwhile produced further representatives.

Among the modern classics, alongside Joseph Beuys , Alberto Giacometti and Henry Moore should certainly be emphasized, who first formed their later bronze sculptures in clay. However, sculptors have always made use of the advantages of clay as a design material in the design and execution of their work.

literature

Christian Luczanits: Buddhist Sculpture in Clay: Early Western Himalayan Art, late 10th to early 13th centuries. Serindia Chicago 2004.
Rainer Warzecha: Building and playing with clay. Luchterhand-Verlag 1997, ISBN 3-472-02510-7 .
Nader Khalili: Racing Alone. Chelsea Green Pub Co, 2002, ISBN 978-1-889625-00-3 .
Laird Scranton: The Science of the Dogon-Decoding the African Mystery Tradition. 2006, ISBN 978-1-59477-133-0 .
Martin Rauch, Otto Kapfinger: Chapel of Reconciliation downtown Berlin. Verlag Birkhäuser, 2001, ISBN 3-7643-6461-0 .