Today, I helped out Artist-In-Residence at University of Wolverhampton Betül Katigöz organise the shattered remnants of Wali Hawes' Firehand and select pieces of work for testing.
The Firehand was linked to Gladstone Pottery Museum's Fired Up Project. Pioneered by composer Ellie Davies Fired Up celebrated the cultural heritage of the Potteries using music, dance, performance, film and participation. International ceramic artist Wali Hawes' contribution used the imagery of the hand to represent the five towns of Stoke-On-Trent emerging from the palm of the 'mother town' Burslem.
The Firehand was built at Gladstone Pottery Museum by Wali Hawes, the students at Wolverhampton university and decorated by visitors and workers at the museum. Deemed a health and safety risk, the Firehand was moved to the Spode Factory site to be fired.
Just for context, this is what the Firehand looked like in all its blazing glory after it had been moved to the Spode Factory Site in Stoke:
After it was fired, the structure became quite brittle due to the low temperatures that were achieved during wood-firing. After workers had attempted to move the sculpture, it looked a lot more like this:
The Firehand was linked to Gladstone Pottery Museum's Fired Up Project. Pioneered by composer Ellie Davies Fired Up celebrated the cultural heritage of the Potteries using music, dance, performance, film and participation. International ceramic artist Wali Hawes' contribution used the imagery of the hand to represent the five towns of Stoke-On-Trent emerging from the palm of the 'mother town' Burslem.
The Firehand was built at Gladstone Pottery Museum by Wali Hawes, the students at Wolverhampton university and decorated by visitors and workers at the museum. Deemed a health and safety risk, the Firehand was moved to the Spode Factory site to be fired.
Just for context, this is what the Firehand looked like in all its blazing glory after it had been moved to the Spode Factory Site in Stoke:
After it was fired, the structure became quite brittle due to the low temperatures that were achieved during wood-firing. After workers had attempted to move the sculpture, it looked a lot more like this:
So today, we inspected the remaining rubble and tried to piece together which-bit-went-where. Betül selected several pieces determined from different part of the hand to see how well they cope with being re-fired in an electric kiln
I believe the current plan of action is to use the pieces to create a mural, but I'll keep posted if I hear further.
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