SHARDS- An a-n Bursary Project

As well as creating the taxonomy, finding and writing about the shards and sharing my process with others, there was one more process I was interested in exploring- working with a jeweller to turn the shards into wearable pieces. I took a selection of 5 shards to a day-long workshop with Jessica Ayre, who makes jewellery from her home in Stoke-on-Trent under the name of Red Fox Blue Monkey. After looking at all of the pieces, we decided to work on two of them- S21150-C4011-ST3/B5 and S41111-U2011-ST6/W3.

Before the project, I imagined myself being able to set up a small silversmithing workshop to complete the journey of the shard, but I soon discovered just how much time, equipment, knowledge and skills go into making custom jewellery from scratch. “It’s very much like working with ceramics actually,” said Jess, “You can spend a lot of time on a piece only for something to go wrong and it’s ruined.”. As we worked our way through dozens of processes of cutting, soldering, pickling, stamping polishing and burnishing, the pieces began to take shape. Having spent time finding, recording and writing about the shards, I felt very protective of them. When they were finally housed in their silver mounts- one as a necklace, one as a ring- complete with stamped-on taxonomical code, it felt like their preservation was assured.

Although I had been longing to try it for many years, turning shards into jewellery was an aspect of the project that I had developed misgivings about. On the one hand, there are symbolic, aesthetic resonances inferred by turning a shard into an item of jewellery; it redefines the shard as an object in its own right, a beautiful and precious object, dug from the earth like a diamond and polished with the story that accompanies it. However, like the diamond industry, sinister connotations plagued my mind- thoughts of exploitation. Is it ethically right to valourise and productise representations of the many troubled and downtrodden locations in Stoke-on-Trent? In many ways, the short answer is no. There are lots of examples in the western world of how easy it is for relational practices (especially artistic ones) to be commodified through neoliberal processes of growth-oriented regeneration, dispossessing people of their own stories and cultures in the process. Although a piece of shard jewellery is a small offering, I do not wish to play a part in such unjust processes when my intention is quite the opposite.

Making shards into jewellery is, no doubt, a beautiful way to display and preserve them; But it can only be justified ethically, in my mind, if the resulting piece is given to, made by or worn by the person who found it- the person who wrote about it, thought about it and gave it its story. This is something that I will continue to think about as the practice develops.

At the end of this short project, I have been able to reframe my love of collecting shards as a way of discussing the topics I’m interested in as an artist. I have met many other people who share this passion with me who I hope will help me to continue growing the practice. I now plan on completing a larger collection that is coded and accompanied with writing to be exhibited locally, then I would like to further explore ways that I can open the process up to others with the development of an online database that anyone can contribute to.

I would like to thank a-n for funding this period of research, without which this newfound direction in my practice would still be just an untested idea bubbling away at the bottom of my list. I would also like to thank Danny Callaghan, Brett Shah and Phil Rowley from Ceramic City Stories for their advice, knowledge and hospitality during the open conversation, and to Charlotte Foster who covered it on the Cultural Quater of an Hour Podcast. I’d like to thank Jessica Ayre for accommodating the many specific requirements I had during our jewellery session. Lastly, I would like to thank those who contacted me online and who came to the open conversation, shared their collections and gave me tips about where to search.

The journey of a shard through the process can be viewed on my website. As the practice is refined I will be adding many more, so watch this space.

To continue exploring my love of ceramic shards for this a-n bursary project I proposed a day-long conversation and research session with Danny Callaghan and other members of Ceramic City Stories, a group of local ceramics enthusiasts that seek to uncover hidden histories behind the industry that made Stoke-on-Trent what it is. It was Danny who suggested that we open this conversation up to the public, inviting other people to join in and bring their own shard collections, questions and stories to the table. I agreed that this would be a great idea, and arranged the date for the 20th June, hosted at Clayhead Secret Museum, Ceramic City Stories’ base and part working tile factory in the heart of Stoke.

I had been collecting shards for a month previous and had written about the discovery of some of them, as I had proposed to do from the start. I expected the day to be quiet, a long and winding discussion with Danny about the joy of collecting, refining the taxonomy, reading the stories and researching the shards and their find locations. Perhaps with one or two people popping in to join throughout the day. How wrong I was!

Before we had officially opened, our first shard lover walked through the door. There began 5 solid hours of visits, collections and conversations- 11 of us in total, crammed onto a tiny deck between shipping containers that housed the museum’s exhibits.

Conversation first landed on the topic of ownership. As sharders, are we allowed to manipulate, adorn or embellish shards- i.e. turn it into jewellery etc.- and sell them if they are found on private or public land? Technically, we are on shaky ground. According to the law, just because someone throws something away does not mean they don’t own it. So if it can be proven that the shard had a rightful owner, it would be illegal to take it. However, we also discussed how a shard alone has no monetary value, it is the attention and craft applied to it by the sharder that gives it value. This quandary brought to light the issue of who our cultural heritage belongs to, and who has the right to disseminate its meaning and benefit from it. If these remnants of culture are owned physically by landowners and (possibly) conceptually by brands, what are we left with that we can call ours?

In the extreme, sharding on private wasteland or brownfield could be framed as an action against irresponsible and antisocial land ownership, drawing attention to the many long-term disused, unproductive fragments of land scattered across the city; as worthless as the shard itself- broken off from the functioning object of the city, ownership status only contested when others act to give profile, function and meaning to these spaces.

During the day many other conversations were had, about the origins of the shards, the potential age, what items they were once part of, where they were found and the reaction others had when they see you searching. Many stories were exchanged, as well as shards themselves, gifted from Margate beach to a sharder in Stoke.

The taxonomy was fully tested by the visitors on their own collections, which led to minor adjustments in the formula. I read one of my pieces of writing aloud to the assembled group, which people found both funny and moving.

At the end of the day, exhausted and hoarse from constant talking, I had barely touched my own shard collection. But I was content- bringing others together with this shared passion for shards, and having the opportunity to fully test the taxonomy was more than I ever expected, and I think it is something that could certainly be repeated in the future.

As my first visitor left after about 3 hours, we said our goodbyes at the door. “We should go out sharding together some time,” she said, “I’ll show you my sites if you show me yours.”

‘For the Love of Shards’ public conversation was recorded for the Cultural Quater of an Hour Podcast and should be available to listen to soon.