THICKET
This series began at The Pottery Shop in Philadelphia in 2009 as part of a residency connected to the stilt manufacturing operation there (For those unfamiliar with ceramic terms, stilts are used for firing objects with glaze on the bottom. They keep the object from sticking to the kiln shelf when the glaze melts by balancing the clay on sharp metal or ceramic points). Each piece includes a porcelain bird, chosen from among the birds that can be found in the Philadelphia region. Each bird is surrounded by a thorny tangle made of kiln furniture clay along with nichrome wire "thorns". In creating an environment analogous to a natural setting, but with the aspects of nature replaced by the "environment" of the kiln, the "thicket" was built on a kiln shelf, and the whole scene has been "weathered" with glaze runs, poorly applied kilnwash, fumed clay surfaces, and glazed forms fused onto the kiln furniture.
This piece also includes an interactive audio component. In the base, there is a set of speakers, along with a microprocessor and a motion sensor. Each sculpture is set up with audio accurate to the depicted bird, which plays randomly until the bird is "scared" by a viewer who walks too close. The audio then stays silent unless the viewer either stands still long enough, or backs away from the sculpture.
