The
kiln works from 1979 to 1992 were inspired by a wide range of natural and
conceptual ideas. Originating from my studies of geology and oceanography as
a
student in the late 1960's (this research is still very much ongoing) the materials
of sculpture and ceramics are perceived and worked with from the viewpoint of
natural origin, process and scale; dolomite, kaolin, feldspar, etc., existing
a
powders in the glaze room made up rock formations I had studied in nature. This adjustment of scale and context
was further informed by a strong interest in the work of 19th century landscape
artists such as Turner, Homer and Kennsett. In graduate school at Humboldt State University in the
early 1970's I was especially intrigued by the nighttime firing of an older
salt kiln by another student.
Flames were pouring out of numerous spaces that had opened up between
the bricks and around the loosely stacked door Ð I realized from that experience
that the firing itself was for me the real thing and that the objects inside
were essentially ÒresidueÕ of that event, of more or less interest but not at
the heart of the matter, it took me another 6-7 years to figure out how to
engage this idea fully .
Teaching
at the University of Kentucky in the mid- 1970's I focused on the residue
aspect of the firing Ð an analog to fossilization, the kiln burning out organic
material, straw, twigs, pinecones, etc., was an accelerated fossilization
process, and with the ship works of the time they represented the idea of a
voyage into the unknown ("like Antarctica," was the phrase I used at
the time), the zone of 2000 degrees F, the ships were extensions of myself into
that space
that could not be directly experienced.
I set up numerous structures designed to collapse during the firing,
clays near their fusing point, burning out of organic structural materials,
etc. This was also inspired by the
emphasis on chance that I perceived from Japanese ceramics and the Shinto-inspired
attention to nature in their work, wood ash, objects being fired over and over
again. Also during this time a
friendship with the New York conceptual artist, Dennis Oppenheim was begun, he
was a visiting lecturer at UK, we
had numerous conversations about earthworks, process, conceptual strategies,
etc., this began a long friendship that still continues.
In
1979 I was invited to University of Notre Dame to work for a week in their
large field-house, here I did the first experimental kiln work, Fired Earth
Piece, a simple 20 ft long kiln in the shape of a boat hull made of stacked
bricks about 6 rows high with a suspended Kaowool top and no bottom. I was interested in seeing how the
native earth would react to ceramic temperatures. I made a point of not knowing
the "cone" that the kiln reached, I basically inserted one burner at one end
of the kiln and walked away, purposely trying to let thing happen and defuse
the
overt (I thought) emphasis on specific temperatures and control Ð I wanted
things to be out of control, more like nature. In 1980 I too a trip to the big
island of Hawaii specifically to see the active volcanoes and lava flowsÉ lava
flooded forest, Kilauea Crater (Sheridan Volcano House).
This
attitude first found its expression in a series of ceramic landscapes and
objects of the early to late 1970's that got larger and larger approaching
outdoor scale. These relationships
were further expanded in the 1980's to early 1990's into a body of work
utilizing site-generated kilns as instruments of experimentation, performance
and transformation of natural materials in the landscape. An important property
of the kiln projects that has informed later work is an unleashing of natural
force or substance such as fire, weather or sediment in a enclosed structure,
like a scientist's test-tube or retort,
allowing the forces to have their own voice and create a visual engagement
between the artist/observer and that force. Regarding the firing of a kiln project I noted in an earlier
essay:
Since 1979 a series of experimental kiln projects
have been completed in various sites in both America and Canada. These projects attempt to present the
kiln, an instrument of change, as having its own quality as an associative
object or force, as well as an investigative tool for exploring the process of
change and products generated by that process.
The kilns are constructed as specific images out of
high temperature insulating blanket made of clay fibers suspended from inside a
metal armature. Heat is produced
from propane powered burners that generate temperatures of over 2000¼ F. The firings occur at night when the
kiln can become a glowing effigy as light from the heat is transmitted through
its surface.
Most of the kilns are bottomless, beneath which a
surface is often prepared with glaze materials that melt to form other imagery
of fused materials revealed when the kiln is removed either at the peak of the
firing (as in Land Monitor/Fired Volcanic Boulder) to show the molten state or
upon cooling (as in Prairie
Starfish/Glacial Epoch) to show a
solid, glass-like state. This
image is related to the kiln itself by form alone but also through the
materials being subjected to the dynamics of heat movement and intensity,
causing chance mutations, flows and blendings. In the Wave Kilns #1 and #2, the
kiln bottom
is sealed to that the glowing image, a "mold of heat." is the
result. In Mountain Kiln/Black
Orchid, a central "throat"
or opening is the bottom of the fused "Orchid" serves as part of the
image as well as part of a draft system for the burners connected underground
to a remote flue.
The kilns are designed from a knowledge
of principals about heat flow, from conceptual ideas and from an intuitive
point of
view. The kiln's operation and
results are only partially predictable and are allowed "a mind of their
own." When successful, a
firing can approach an irrational point, the verge of losing control, and a
metaphor is suggested of the unconscious in a primitive or vulnerable state
where time becomes emotion, chemistry spirit and matter theater.
John
Roloff, Kiln Projects, Artery,
William Paterson College, February/March, 1983, pg. 6
A
complete listing of the kilns and directly related projects:
Fired Earth Piece, University of Notre Dame, 1979,
Small Fiber Kiln, San Francisco, 1979,
Prairie Starfish (Glacial Epoch), Craven, Saskatchewan, 1980,
Drawing: Tributary
Furnace, 1981-86
Wave Kiln No. 1, No. 2, Oakland, CA,
Coral Orchid, Oakland, CA, 1983
Wave Ship (of Fire), Detroit, MI, 1984,
Drawing, Study: In-Situ Vitrification Project, Gas Works Park, Seattle, WA, 1984,
Collision: Lava Ship/Trellis Ship, San Rafael, CA, 1985
Obsidian
Terrace (Seabird Caves)/Shellmount (White Forest), 1985-7Signal
Caldera/Shell Flow (Ohlone Shore), 1985-7
Taking Tree,
Reno, NV, 1987,
Drawing, Study: Falling Knight Furnace/ Forest, 1990,
Drawing, Study: Wissinger Tomb Furnace/Orchard, 1990,
Drawing, Study: Orchid Eclipse (Spherical Furnace
with Slowly Closing
Refractory Petals), 1990,
Video
Installation,
51 Million BTU's / Metabolism Study / C3H8,
e-, NaCl, 1991
,Metabolism
and Mortality/O2, Elkins
Park, PA, 1992,
Rotting Flame, Oakland, CA, 1994, Photo/Orange pieces, Oakland, CA, 1994-5,
Draped Flames, Manchester Guild, Pittsburgh, PA, 1995
Process/Photo works, 1995-96
Wrangelia
I & II, Seattle, WA, 2000.
John
Roloff, 2004