Beyond the Masterpiece: Embracing Failure in Ceramic and Glass Art

Organizers: Francine Giese, Sophie Wolf, Annick Herren (Vitrocentre Romont), and Zuzanna Sarnecka (University of Bern)

Keynote Speaker: Rachel King (The British Museum)

This conference sets out to explore the multifaceted realm of technical failures in glass and ceramic arts. Early modern written accounts on the so-called “arts of fire” acknowledged the great risks involved in the production processes and highlighted the role of fortuna, or chance. Due to the many variables, seemingly identical approaches yielded undesirable and unexpected outcomes. The study of those faulty products has a significant advantage over the analysis of high-quality masterpieces in that it exposes the learning process, with the procedures clearly manifested in the objects themselves. Tests and experiments were indispensable components of artistic practice. At the same time, radical solutions were introduced when artists remained assured that the financing depended to a limited extent on the success of their ventures.

By shifting attention from the novelty and ingenuity of glass and ceramic media to instances of failure, fragility, and fallibility, we seek to explore artistic practices in terms of not only what was produced and ultimately preserved, but also as paths of discovery regarding what went wrong. A consistent focus on displaying only complete, flawless pieces has obscured our understanding of the material characteristics of these artefacts. In fact, the challenges faced by ceramicists and glassmakers were directly linked to the complexity of the process. Embracing failure helps us to develop alternate methods to study art by highlighting the generative nature of risk rather than continuing to celebrate the final masterpieces.

Download Call for Papers here.

13–14 May 2027