I was thrilled to be able to attend the launch of the Fragments Found book and installation at the Make It Glasgow Bothy, beside the clay pits. This volume brings together a collection of contributions on the theme of found pottery fragments, including pieces by artists, archaeologists and mudlarks. In the volume there are reflections on what it means to find something, hold something, that might not have been felt in decades, or centuries. Why do people collect pottery, what do they do with it, and who does it connect us to?
At the launch there was an exhibition of some of the Fragments Found Project’s other outputs including a series of (re)produced and (re)collected ceramic art pieces, soundscapes and audio-readings inspired by and from the publication, and the Fragments Found database, which includes sherds from across the globe, from Glencoe to Montevideo in Uruguay.
A performance delivered by Eva Jack and colleague Ella Mackay explored ‘a possible history’ using live film, projected in a shipping container. Through these performances the biography of pottery; from clay at the nearby clay pits, through a Glasgow pottery works, to use, destruction and deposition was explored, in a biographical style, juxtaposing archival images manipulated and animated by hand, with acts evocating of the Chaîne opératoire of pottery production, from raw clay, rough and buried, hacked out by shovel and pick, worked and refined, tempered and shaped, decorated and fired, sold and used, broken, and lost. Watching the performance unfold was gripping, even as we could see the effects taking shape in front of us which played with a variety of textures and techniques, the projected scenes were magnetic. I watched in mild horror as a pick head broke through clay, felt warmed by the mirrored glow of a kiln firing plates, and, surprising myself, shed a tear as a plate broke in a basin of soapy water, becoming the fragments from which this project, and event, took its name. All I can say is if you get the chance I would recommend catching this performance if it comes around again!
In the Fragment Found volume you can find an article about our work in Glencoe, written by myself, exploring the early shieling excavations in Gleann Leac na Muidhe, conducted as part of my PhD with a team of my conscripted friends as co-diggers. The piece explores a small fragment of a blue and white decorated ceramic bowl we uncovered from the midden of a whisky bothy in this glen, and the thrill of the find after digging a number of finds-sterile shieling huts.
You can find put more about the Fragment Found Project, and pick up a copy of the book here!
– Dr Edward Stewart (Archaeology Scotland)
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