Description
Book SynopsisFired Clay in Four Porcelain Clusters examines how energy use in the ceramics-making industry has evolved as a result of technological advancements and changing social norms and ideas in environmental conservation. Three main research themes are highlighted. First, the book examines how the evolving use of energy fuels has impacted the developmental history of the ceramics-making industry, especially with regard to productive output. The second theme focuses on energy use by networks of specialists and technicians in ceramics-making artistic clusters and how ceramicist communities in the world organize themselves institutionally to maximize resource-sharing. Third, at a cognitive level, the volume studies changes in production and design, environmental thinking, energy use, and aesthetic trends among ceramicists and consumers. The four cities or towns of Arita, Hong Kong, Jingdezhen, and Yingge are the settings for this research.
Table of ContentsList of Figures List of Tables Acknowledgments Introduction Chapter 1: Japanese Trade Ceramics in the Premodern Global Trading Space Chapter 2: Interpretations of Japanese Modernity: A Case Study of Japan’s Energy Transition in the Ceramics Industry Chapter 3: Energy Transition in Creative Production: Narratives and Fieldwork about Energy Use in the Ceramics-Making Industries of Hong Kong, Japan, and China Chapter 4: Blue and White Fired Clay in Everyday Lives: An Ecology of Creative Production, Energy Use, and Aesthetics of Arita (With Comparative References to Jingdezhen) Chapter 5: Ideas about Resource Use and the Natural Environment in Pottery-making: A Historical Comparative Case Study of Two Communities in Hong Kong and Japan Chapter 6: Post-Modernism and Pottery-Making: A Case Study of Issues of Artistic Production, Environmental Awareness and Energy Use in Hong Kong with Comparative References to China and Japan Chapter 7: Negotiating the Narrative of the “Last Frontier”: A Case Study of a Fourth-Generation Hong Kong Potter and his Art as well as Environmental and Ethical Consciousness through Non-Governmental Initiatives in Myanmar (Burma) Chapter 8: Shek Kip Mei’s Artistic Green Village Chapter 9: Fieldwork in Arita: The Ecology of the Town, its People, the Natural Environment, and its Energy Use Chapter 10: A History of Jingdezhen Kilns, Its Development, and Energy Use (With Comparative References to Arita) Chapter 11: Yingge – The Town, Its Developmental History, and Energy Use Conclusion Bibliography
