Recycle porcelain or not. For me, it takes a lot of effort (to break it down into small enough pieces, wet and blend thoroughly). Plus long time passive concentration over a few days to have them dry (like watching water boiling, the catch is if you don't catch it right at the beginning, the process got to start all over again.) Another down side is, recycled porcelain loses it's plasticity. It takes some aging to get it back. So, why all these inconvenience. Firstly, making pots is not a convenience activity to begin with. Secondly, I think about ancient Chinese potters have been so proud of their translucent porcelain (kaolin) for hundreds of years before the German rediscovered the method of compounding and firing it, how can I just throw it away. Thirdly, we might ran out of kaolin one day, just like coal or fossil fuel. Should we leave some for generations come after us?
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Mud pie dilemma
Recycle porcelain or not. For me, it takes a lot of effort (to break it down into small enough pieces, wet and blend thoroughly). Plus long time passive concentration over a few days to have them dry (like watching water boiling, the catch is if you don't catch it right at the beginning, the process got to start all over again.) Another down side is, recycled porcelain loses it's plasticity. It takes some aging to get it back. So, why all these inconvenience. Firstly, making pots is not a convenience activity to begin with. Secondly, I think about ancient Chinese potters have been so proud of their translucent porcelain (kaolin) for hundreds of years before the German rediscovered the method of compounding and firing it, how can I just throw it away. Thirdly, we might ran out of kaolin one day, just like coal or fossil fuel. Should we leave some for generations come after us?
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