Slab Building

The practise of creating work, using the technique of slab building as the sole means of making, has increased dramatically in recent years. Since the beginning of the Studio Pottery Movement in the 1960s, many potters have included some slab-built forms, or forms in which the techniques of throwing and slab building are combined in their repertoire. Ceramicists have also used slab building in the creation of relatively large scale sculptures. But using the technique to make a range of work which is domestic in scale is a relatively recent phenomenon. Ceramicists persist in using this sometimes difficult technique, as they believe that the unique qualities which can be achieved by slab building, such as softness and liveliness in which the properties of soft, unfired clay appear to be retained in the finished piece, are the most appropriate for the style of work they make. In this book, Coll Minogue looks at the use of the technique of slab building throughout the history of pottery and then takes an in depth look at the work of an international selection of ceramicists, all of whom use this basic technique in the creation of a diverse range of ceramics.