A-B PROJECTS

You still have a chance to join The Shape of Time with @amandaleighevans and a small group of other interested participants this June! There is just one spot left if you’re interested in registering for the Studio Session! And there are just a few more days to apply for our Reclaim Scholarship, thedeadline is approaching this Sunday May 10th at midnight PST!

Ceramics is the original time-based medium. Geologic and studio processes exist on their own time scales. Clay particles are formed over millions of years as granite weathers. After we reform that material in our hands, clay requires time to dry, kilns take time to fire, and glazing always takes longer than you think. Cracks, glaze mishaps, and explosions are all evidence of mismatched calibration to clay’s time. The longer one works with clay, the easier it is to understand clay’s time-based language. Time shapes us and what we create, but what shape does time take? There’s still a chance to join @amandaleighevans June Studio Session and consider the shape of time with a group of global peers! Head to the link in our bio for more info on the session and how to register.

We are currently accepting applications for the June Reclaim Scholarship, which covers 100% of the tuition for the Studio Session with @amandaleighevans During the unsettling and rapidly changing times we are currently existing through, the Shape of Time gives us an opportunity to consider the form of this moment, and perhaps, to be still with one small moment. This scholarship is available to anyone who is looking to reclaim something for themselves through this Studio Session. What will ‘The Shape of Time’ allow you to reclaim for yourself this June? Applications are due Sunday, May 10 at midnight PST (that’s Los Angeles time) head to the link in our bio for more info on this upcoming Studio Session.

@amandaleighevans approaches making as something collective, evolving, and deeply connected to the world around us. Her practice opens up new ways of thinking about how we create: together, over time, and in response to the systems we’re part of, and she’ll be leading the June Studio Session with A-B Projects to delve deeper into this research. Amanda Leigh Evans is an artist, educator and cultivator investigating social and ecological interdependence. Her work manifests as research-driven ceramic objects, performance, print and digital media, public art, and long-term collaborative systems. Evans’ work oscillates between self-contained bodies of work for traditional art spaces and multi-year, site-specific collaborative projects created with dozens of community partners. Evans holds an MFA in Art and Social Practice from Portland State University and a post-bacc in ceramics from Cal State Long Beach. She is an Assistant Professor of Art at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. If you want to join the group collectively pondering what the shape of time might look like, head to our website using the link in our bio!

“Time shapes us and what we create, but what shape does time take?” Spend your Sundays this June pondering time through clay, the original time-based medium. Join us for The Shape of Time led by @amandaleighevans Sundays June 7, 14, 21, & 28 from 2-4pm PST Studio Sessions happen in real time, meeting with an intimate group of global studio mates online, to discuss specific ideas and to experiment with how those ideas can take form in clay. Head to our website using the link in our bio for more info!

Throughout history, humans have attempted to visualize time through a multitude of shapes–spiral, line, circle, horizon, grid, tunnel, hole, void, abyss, and more. Ancient timekeeping devices, measurements of deep time, and tracking seasons and cycles are further attempts to understand our place within time, while experiences like calendar synesthesia, a disorienting nap, or an overloaded schedule remind us of the impossibility of grasping time. Ceramics is the original time-based medium. Geologic and studio processes exist on their own time scales. Clay particles are formed over millions of years as granite weathers. After we reform that material in our hands, clay requires time to dry, kilns take time to fire, and glazing always takes longer than you think. Cracks, glaze mishaps, and explosions are all evidence of mismatched calibration to clay’s time. The longer one works with clay, the easier it is to understand clay’s time-based language. Time shapes us and what we create, but what shape does time take? If you want to learn more or sign up for the June session, follow the link in our bio!

Registration for the State of Ceramics conversation with @anthonysonnenberg closes soon, Friday April 3 at noon Los Angeles time!! Time is running out to join the conversation! Registration is free so what are you waiting for?! Decoration has changed the world in the past; it will change the world in the future. In this two-part State of Ceramics, we consider what decoration can do for us as individuals and as communities. How can we wield decoration within and beyond our practice? For part 1 this Saturday April 4, @anthonysonnenberg will lecture about decoration followed by a Q&A. Then, join us again the following Saturday April 11 for a brief presentation of case studies in decoration followed by open discussion centered around ✨decoration✨ Head to our website using the link in our bio to register!

We’re excited to share that @anthonysonnenberg will be leading a two-part State of Ceramics conversation with @a_bprojects — The Power of Decoration: Rethinking Hierarchies. What does it mean to consider decoration as essential, rather than secondary? Join the conversation Saturdays April 4 & 11, 11am–12:30pm PST, online. Born in Graham, TX, Sonnenberg earned a BA with an emphasis in Italian and Art History in 2009 and an MFA in Sculpture from the University of Washington, Seattle, in 2012. His work spans porcelain to performance and has been shown across the United States and internationally. He lives and works in Fayetteville, Arkansas. Notable residencies include: @windgatemuseumhendrix Windgate Museum of Art Inaugural Artist-in-Residence (2021); @csulbccc CSULB-CCC Summer Resident Artist, @csulbceramicartsstudies California State University, Long Beach, CA (2018); @yaddotoday Yaddo Artist Residency, Saratoga Springs, NY (2017); Resident at @crafthouston Houston Center for Contemporary Craft, Houston, TX (2016); and Emerging Artist-in-Residence at @pilchuckglassschool Pilchuck Glass School, Stanwood, WA (2012). Note that you must be present at the first session to attend the second. Head to the link in @a_bprojects bio to reserve your spot!

We are counting down the days until our upcoming State of Ceramics with @anthonysonnenberg ! Decoration is personal. Decoration is political. Decoration is powerful. Join our online global community this Saturday, April 4 from 11-12:30pm PST to hear from Anthony on his personal beliefs about decoration followed by a traditional Q&A. Then, next Saturday, April 11 from 11-12:30pm PST we’ll meet again for a glance at case studies on decoration, followed by open democratic conversation centered around questions from Anthony’s extensive research. Registration will close ahead of the event, Friday April 3rd at noon PST so be sure to register while you still can!! Additionally, you must be present at the April 4th discussion to participate in the part 2 happening April 11th. Head to our bio to snag your spot!!

Having post NCECA blues, or FOMO from not going? Well you’re in luck!! The discussion guide and all additional resources are now available on A-B Projects website for the State of Ceramics event happening the next two Saturdays! Registration for State of Ceramics is free but you must register ahead of time in order to attend!! Head to our website using the link in our bio for more information!

What does it mean to consider decoration as essential rather than secondary? Join us Saturdays April 4 and 11 from 11am - 12:30pm PST (that’s Los Angeles time) to be led through discussion by @anthonysonnenberg about decoration in relation to hierarchies. You must be at the lecture and Q&A April 4 in order to participate in the open discussion April 11! State of Ceramics have always been free, but we’ve shifted this year to encourage donations (of any amount) to help us sustain this programming for many years to come. We value this new two day programming at $50 but any amount is appreciated and felt by our two person team.

Sometimes we feel functional, sometimes not so much. @nicole_seisler made a limited number of these pocket functions for @ellerysarts to sell at NCECA. If we sell all of them ($20 each!) the proceeds will fully fund an upcoming Reclaim Scholarship for a Studio Session. Each stamped, porcelain ‘scrap’ is a little different and fired to vitrification. A gentle reminder poked into the side, perhaps with optimism, that we can indeed feel functional…if not emotionally then at least in tactility. Find Ellery at @nceca next week at the conference center, in a gallery, or at a pop up! Where to see past and future A-B Projects lead artists around Detroit will be posted soon!