PETER VOULKOS CERAMICS: ESCAPE INTO FORM AS THERE IS NO ESCAPE FROM MATERIAL

It is thought that the art and design of ceramics led the art and craft production of humanity in the civilization process. Ceramics, which has such a rich history, has a permanent meaning that has taken its place in the audience's visual reading. This situation arises from the nature of the goods to which ceramics has owed its existence since primitive times. Historically, the imaginary and object characteristics of ceramics and the meaning associated with it follow a process that is shaped by primitive needs, turning into functional materials that help life, and in this respect, into goods. In this sense, ceramics created an intercultural code in the minds of the audience regarding the characteristics of the goods with which ceramics is associated. In this context, the return of the material and traditional object production in the art of ceramics also gains a functional form semiotic expression. Especially in the face of the changing artistic expression and the traditional understanding of art, which was falling apart after 1960, it is seen that the art of ceramics passed over this atmosphere with the discipline's own inner conflict regarding functionality. Ceramic artists or artists who prefer ceramics as a material and use ceramic technology in the production of art objects have made it possible to get rid of the traditional codes of ceramics and to reveal their subjective art creations by being loyal to the material that forms the character of the discipline only through the practices they carry out regarding form. In this sense, Peter Voulkos, whose art practice is discussed, has an abstract expressionist attitude that eliminates functions such as cutting, adding, drilling and assemblage, which he applies in his intervention to ceramic form, apart from the predetermined and taken-for-granted situation such as function and usability, by breaking it off from its functional context and with an intuitive understanding of shaping examined. Keywords: Ceramic Art, Peter Voulkos, Contemporary art