Made in Spode

Katya de Grunwald

We had a splendid time with Smithski & J9 at the British Ceramics Biennial this afternoon.  As seems to be the current art world trend it didn't have quite the immediate visual impact of previous versions, but there were some interesting ideas and there was enough to keep us happy for a while.  Sometimes the building or the setting for the art provides it's own story as an aside and this biennial has just that effect.  The Spode factory closed long ago, but relics still remain piled up in corners or rooms no longer used.

In her exhibition space, Katya has a series of photos taken of the old moulds used to fashion plates, cups, mugs and whatever else she could find.  A pretty powerful reminder of an industry that has, to a large extent, decamped off to China.  On the table in the middle of the room were plate and mug moulds, arranged just as they would be for a meal.  An echo of Rachel Whiteread's Ghost House - we were looking at the negative space, or what would be the fresh air around (or, as in the case of Ghost House, within) the object.  It created a sombre mood.

The local authority has plans to re-develop the Spode site, partly as artists studios, and that can only be a good thing because the site is a white elephant as it is - it's existence can't be justified as a biennial site alone.  But generations of history will get whitewashed away and photos will be all that is left when these objects are consigned to landfill.