The Ceramics Reader - by Kevin Petrie & Andrew Livingstone (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

The Ceramics Reader is an impressive editorial collection of essays and text extracts, covering every discipline within ceramics, past and present. Tackling such fundamental questions as "why are ceramics important?", the book also considers the field from a range of perspectives - as a cultural activity or metaphor, as a vehicle for propaganda, within industry and museums, and most recently as part of the 'expanded field' as a fine art medium and hub for ideas. Newly commissioned material features prominently alongside existing scholarship, to ensure an international and truly comprehensive look at ceramics.

Review Quotes

"The Ceramics Reader is a triumph. I do not doubt that it will be recognised as the most influential ceramics title of our decade." --Crafts

"This book is absolutely recommended, and fortunately it is fitted with an index so it can also be used as a reference work." --Keramiske noter (Bloomsbury translation)

"I have been reading sections of this superb and fascinating book in no particular order, such is the arrangement of this presentation of articles, essays and conference papers." --Anglian Potters Newsletter

"The Ceramics Reader is part seed bank, bedrock, reagent, and compass. Livingstone and Petrie have assembled an invaluable reference that so elegantly represents and agitates both historic and contemporary discourse in the field of Ceramic Art" --Brian Gillis, Associate Professor of Art at the University of Oregon, USA

"Bringing together a rich collection of critical texts, from ceramic luminaries such as Philip Rawson and Garth Clark to the provocative writing of a younger generation of practitioners, The Ceramic Reader is the book we have been waiting for." --Stephen Dixon, Crafts Research Group Leader at Manchester School of Art, UK

"The persistent echo of the art / craft debate and a long dismissal of ceramics as fine art has caused an identity crisis. This is a remarkably full and timely account to start a dialogue of inclusion and diversity in the art world." --Salvador Jiménez-Flores, Artist in Residence at the Ceramics Program Office at Harvard University, USA

"An inspirational book that brings together informative and thought provoking texts that explore ceramics from different perspectives and viewpoints. Invaluable for research, it will make a significant contribution to the discourse, encouraging dialogue and debate between students and academics alike." --Felicity Aylieff, Head of the Ceramics and Glass programme at the Royal College of Art, UK

"There is something in this book to inform anyone interested in ceramics, be they student, collector, academic or practitioner who work with or are interested in fired clay." --Shards: South Wales Potters Newsletter

About the Author

Andrew Livingstone is Reader in Ceramics at the University of Sunderland, UK.

Kevin Petrie is Head of Glass and Ceramics at the University of Sunderland, UK.