Description

This study abroad course offers students the chance to experience living and working in Central Europe. Our home base for the trip is the International Ceramics Studio, a center that features comfortable lodgings and excellent studios - ample workspaces, numerous kilns and mold-making facility. A special translucent porcelain clay is available for use. The Studio Museum houses an extensive international collection of contemporary works in clay, providing an excellent on-site study resource.

Hungary has a long tradition of ceramics from folk art wares to the exquisite Art Nouveau luxury wares of Zsolnay and the fine porcelains of Herend. Extraordinary architectural ceramics are to be found on Hungarian buildings. Students see many fine examples of historic and architectural ceramics in Kecskémet, Budapest, Pecs and an extended visit to the Herend porcelain factory. A four-day adventure to Cesky Krumlov, a UNESCO destination in the Czech Republic, includes tremendous art, architecture, live theater and a "white-water" rafting excursion through the Czech Republic country side.

Academic Courses:

* Dreaming in Magyar: Hungarian Art and Architecture"
Instructor: Aaron Blumenhein
Credit: three credit hours

This course is a cross-sectional capsule of architectural education with an emphasis on historical Hungarian building traditions, forms and vocabulary. Through the basic study of architectural vocabulary, students will be able to dissect the constructed forms they will be observing and understand the origin of historical Hungarian buildings. Within contemporary contexts, students will be able to trace architectural styles in reverse. In contrast to beginning with the meaning of architecture and its formal origins, with which the students may not have any primary experience, this process affords them a connection to what they observe directly.

Students will continuously be employing creative acts that will enrich and inform their personal work to compliment their tactile work with materials in studio. Students will be required to maintain a visual notebook. A final paper is also required, which will fuse the technical knowledge learned in lectures and readings with the site visits of Hungarian art and architecture. The pre-programs readings in "Accessible Architectural Theory" are intended to give the student a basic lifetime of understanding of the meaning of architecture and its importance to our improved sense of existence.

* Ceramics Studio Work
Instructor: George Timock
Credit: three credit hours

The ceramics studio is a self-directed offering taught by George Timock and assisted by visiting and resident artists at the International Ceramic Studio (ICS). Students are encouraged to identify areas of visual interest and create works with the translucent porcelain clay used exclusively at the Herend porcelain factory in Hungary. The ICS is the only venue outside the Herend factory that is authorized to use this extremely high temperature, glass-like porcelain material.

Students will have the opportunity of working with this Herend porcelain clay to form with the potter's wheel, hand-building construction and the specialty of Eastern Europe -- plaster mold design and porcelain slip casting. Hands-on demonstrations are an integral part of the studio experience. The KCAI faculty member and ICS resident master artist assist students with both technical and aesthetic concerns.

The introduction of glazing the porcelain ware, loading and firing the two large high fire kilns (1380º C) with both wood and natural gas gives students a knowledge base and understanding of this final process. Developing and demonstrating critical thinking skills for examining and discussing their creative work and the work of their peers during this month-long adventure in Eastern Europe is a very important expected learning outcome for the ceramic elective course. A final presentation and critical evaluation with faculty is required.