Fragments of Theory and Ceramic
by Guy Marshall-Brown UCA PhD candidate

Designed to echo a cabinet of curiosities, this presents a fictional collection of fragmented imaginary ruins, materialised as a byproduct of thorough testing of clay bodies within a studio context – offering a glimpse into ceramic advancements and the meticulous labour behind the creation of clay body compositions. It celebrates the serendipitous outcomes born from pushing the boundaries of clay while also paying homage to the incidental ephemera of the ceramic studio – those bits of clay that cling to the undersides of buckets, the scraps left from sculpting, now fired and preserved.

Acting as an artificial archaeological archive, these fragments become indicative of more than their physical remains. The fragment is synecdochic; a part is representative of a whole, and collectively, they form narratives that can be read – reflections on a fabricated past and projections of a speculative future, echoing historical collecting practices. Consequently, Marshall Brown mixes incidental production with deliberate fabrication to elicit concepts of imaginary architecture and architectural ghosts.

Fragments of Theory and Ceramic marks a point of reflection in Marshall Brown’s ongoing research degree, where consideration of these fragments as museological objects has contributed to the questioning of the narrative within his practice – what has become a balance between an artist fabricating a collection of ruins and presenting objects as though they are found ruin fragments.