A Jug Of Positive And Negative Space

This display draws attention to the jug’s manufacture and design by presenting the jug with a scattering of hand-cut clay shapes, which echo the negative spaces of the jug. These forms allude to the pieces that would have fallen out and to the floor whilst the potter was decorating its outer surface with a piercing tool. The scattered pieces suggest recent movement, as if the potter had gone for a break soon after he had cut out the last motif, leaving his work-space just as it was.

The scattered fragments can be read as static and integral to the plinth. They are painted the same colour in order to provide continuity between the two, and to give the impression of being fixed and immobile. In contrast to the smooth uniformity of the plinth, the jug’s obviously hand-made quality is emphasised. Lastly, the display is designed to draw attention to the formation and loss in the process of making, by the negative forms – the slits in the jug’s outer shell – and in the positive forms – the volume of the removed pieces re-imagined and scattered on the plinth.