Ceramics in the Context of Art and Memory: A Fragile Look at Souvenir Photographs

Abstract

Art and memory is a rich research field covering disciplines such as anthropology, sociology, psychology and culture. In this context, photographs have a special importance because they record moments with personal or collective content and importance, thus serving as an external memory in the context of preserving memories. However, photographs may begin to deteriorate, fade and disappear over time, depending on the surfaces they are printed on. Their temporary nature makes visual memories difficult to preserve in the long term. On the other hand, ceramics, used both as a part of daily life and as works of art, can survive for centuries with their durability and structural flexibility. Ceramic works; for example, while they meet people’s needs for eating and drinking as tableware such as serving plates, dinner plates and soup bowls, they also offer people aesthetic pleasure as ornaments such as vases in which flowers are placed and displayed. In examples of both types of use, some images can be found on the surfaces of ceramics. Based on this, it is thought that ceramic surfaces can be an alternative printing surface for souvenir photographs stored in various boxes or albums. Fevziye YELMEN’s series titled “Preservation” offers an innovative combination of these two mediums by combining the temporary qualities of photographs with the permanent nature of ceramics. There are 81 ceramic works in the series, and this series was created by transferring the same number of souvenir photographs to the ceramic surface using the mono printing technique. In this article, the “Preservation” series is discussed as an application example in which the conceptual and technical aspects of ceramic and photography arts are revealed. The application in question, carried out with an interdisciplinary approach, was evaluated through Christine Ulivucci’s thoughts in the context of the relationship between art and memory.