Following their participation in Tuesday’s MacArthurxBGC: “What is Research?” panel, join Tom Joyce and Hideo Mabuchi on Wednesday, November 6, at 12:15 pm, for a conversation entitled, “Making in Iron and Clay.”

Tom Joyce is a sculptor and one of the foremost practitioners in the art of forging iron. He writes,“Before iron passed into the hands of makers, it made a long and circuitous journey; from its explosive origins in dying suns; to its emergence as nanoparticles in soil, plants, animals and every other living thing; from microscopic bacteria to the largest mammals inhabiting Earth. Iron in blood and the oxygenating properties it facilitates in our bodies not only sustains life as we know it, but also acutely affects our immune system; brain development; learning capacity; memory; metabolism; motor skills and manual dexterity.” This presentation will consider how iron emerged as such an indispensable ingredient and building block in our solar system and in the objects passed from a maker’s hands into the hands of others.

Hideo Mabuchi is a physicist at Stanford University. He’ll consider how ceramic making is an extended process encompassing the sourcing, shaping, firing, and framing of clay. Meaning enters the work at every stage and a finished piece holds material memories of its becoming. In looking at the layering of creative expression with material agency, he will propose some corresponding tenets for ceramics medium analysis, and consider what new ideas may emerge for ceramics curation and conservation as modern science encroaches increasingly upon the autonomous development of traditional craft.