vitrifying the virtual

There was some contention at EDGE,the 1999 International Ceramics Conference in Perth WA, about virtual ceramics being called 'ceramics'. The irony here didn;t escape me at the time as I had't heard anyone mumbling any objections to unfired clay objects being called ceramics. Ceramics by definition is so called because of the firing process. All that aside, the name for the conference, EDGE, clearly carries with it conotations of the latest inovations in ceramics. I certainly would not have come to virtual ceramics without my deep seated background in ceramics. It was the 'lath tool' as analogy for the potters wheel that seduced me into deviating into the realm of the virtual form. The exhibition "Craft is Daed; Long Live Craft" travelled to Perth for the Conference. A number of artists including myself delivered papers on their involvment in Virtual Ceramics during the week. My paper "Vitrifying the Virtual - From Computer Screen to Ceramic Surface" outlined my personal history that allowed me to bring the creations I had produced for CID:LLC and turn them into ceramic tiles with screen printed on glaze decals. This history covered my early decal experiments, my obsession with the panorama, my involvment in computer software and annimation, and the technical skills involved in turning a virtual pot into an image on a ceramic surface. The images I present here are stills from annimations that I produced especially to support my presentation at EDGE.