Exposition

Uncovering an Occupational Folklore of Ceramics: Small Stories Found in the Spaces Between Word, Gesture and Clay (2025)

Natasha Mayo, Kim Norton, Sam Lucas
Natasha Mayo
open exposition

About this exposition

The term ‘Occupational Folklore’ refers to the social expressions of people, linked to the work that they do. This exposition explores the possibility of there being a common language of clay, a vernacular that can be used to story-tell, and how stories arise from the studio, from the intersection of making, thinking/talking and clay. Comprising three discrete projects, we move from a study of the materiality of voice to establishing a vocabulary of clay to a narrative collection of embodied experiences. Their combined knowledge leads to a fourth project, in the form of conversations held whilst making around a studio table. Passages from the exchange are filmed and analysed from the perspective of ‘small stories’, an oral history methodology that gives focus to the speculative, iterative and nuanced decisions often overlooked in a conventional account of a conversation. When applied to the making process, it begins to uncover a deeper understanding of the processual and implicit decisions that take place through the interaction of making, thinking and material properties. The passages allow us to witness the very emergence of storytelling taking place, the moment at which life experiences intersect with formations in clay. The aim of collecting all four projects together is not simply to document examples but, as with all modes of folklore, to use story to identify and share more resilient and connected ways of being in the world. Within these intersections lie the porous and mutable properties of clay practice, that are rapidly redefining the wider field of ceramics in terms of its social contribution. Contained within these social expressions of clay lies its ability to connect with and contribute to wider community and environmental issues. The term occupational folklore is used in recognition of the historic continuity of behaviours, actions and beliefs that arise from these interactions, if only we shift our focus from individual attainments to the collective knowledge and transferable learning these small stories contain.
typeresearch exposition
keywordsCeramics, Oral Histories, Occupational Folklore, Ecologies of Practice, Small Stories, Small Talk, Tacit Knowledge, Embodiment, Narrative, intuitive knoweldge, socially engaged art, collaboration, clay
date03/06/2024
published11/12/2025
last modified11/12/2025
statuspublished
affiliationCardiff Metropolitan University
copyrightNatasha Mayo, Kim Norton, Sam Lucas
licenseCC BY-NC-ND
languageBritish English
urlhttps://www.researchcatalogue.net/view/2853340/2853341
doihttps://doi.org/10.22501/ruu.2853340
published inRUUKKU - Studies in Artistic Research
portal issue23. Re-Imagining
external linkwww.natashamayoceramics.com


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nameClaireClipm4a_ppv2GX3g
copyrightNatasha Mayo
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nameOn the Way to Language Slide
copyright]Kim Norton, Haptic/Tacit
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nameSerra
copyrightRichard Serra
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nameKim Architectural Work
copyrightKim Norton, Haptic/Tacit
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nameInterpretation of the verb slide
copyrightKim Norton, Haptic/Tacit
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namehands and porcelain
copyrightKim Norton
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usagesslideshow
nameThe Three Workshops/Exhibitions slide
copyrightKim Norton
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nameVerbs and Notes
copyrightKim Norton, Haptic/Tacit
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nameDropped by Height, Pressed by Air
copyrightKim Norton, Haptic/Tacit
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nameStudent Quotes
copyrightKim Norton
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nameSecond Student Quote Slide
copyrightKim Norton, Haptic/Tacit
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nameMy Body In My Hands Poster
copyrightSam Lucas, Nicola Grellier
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namelots of participants
copyrightSam Lucas
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nameTHE FINAL My Body In My Hands pdf
copyrightSam Lucas and Nicola Grellier
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usagespdf
nameIntro to Small Stories Approach
copyrightNatasha Mayo, Kim Norton, Sam Lucas
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name1. Passages 4 PAUSES
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name2 Passages 3 CONVERSATIONS
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name4 Passages Conclusions
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nameVenacular Catalogue image
copyrightKim Norton, Haptic/Tacit
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nameHaptic/Tacit Catalogue
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nametranscript
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nameprocess transcript
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nameHannah McAndrews and Emilie. Taylor Conversation
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nameSara Radstone, Jacqui Ramrayka and Sarah Christie conversations
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nameSusan Halls and Sharon Griffin Conversation
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nameNatasha and CJ INTRO Conversation
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name4 Passages 5 COLLABORATION
copyrightN.Mayo, K.Norton, S.Lucas
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nameHEADER: Stills from Video of making
copyrightN.Mayo, Kim Norton, Sam Lucas
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usagespicture, picture, picture, picture
nameOccupational Folklore: Embodied Narratives
copyrightN.Mayo and Helen Walsh
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nameCollating points at which clays social expression starts to emerge.
copyrightN.Mayo and Sam Lucas and Kim Norton
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