Creating a brighter future? Responses to the commercialisation of a new ceramic print technology
- Submitting institution
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Royal College of Art(The)
- Unit of assessment
- 32 - Art and Design: History, Practice and Theory
- Output identifier
- Oakley3
- Type
- E - Conference contribution
- DOI
-
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- Title of conference / published proceedings
- Making Futures
- First page
- 1
- Volume
- 5
- Issue
- 1
- ISSN
- 2042-1664
- Open access status
- Compliant
- Month of publication
- -
- Year of publication
- 2017
- URL
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https://makingfuturesarchive.pca.ac.uk/archive/mfjournal-2017/workshop-sessionsmf17
- Supplementary information
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- Request cross-referral to
- -
- Output has been delayed by COVID-19
- No
- COVID-19 affected output statement
- -
- Forensic science
- No
- Criminology
- No
- Interdisciplinary
- No
- Number of additional authors
-
-
- Research group(s)
-
-
- Proposed double-weighted
- No
- Reserve for an output with double weighting
- No
- Additional information
- This refereed conference paper explores the social and technological pressures around the adoption of new processes in commercial manufacturing through a case study of an attempt to introduce digital laser printers into the context of large-scale ceramic decoration. Opportunities to study and analyse how participants’ attitudes influence the acceptance or rejection of technical innovations are rare due to the fleeting nature and instability of the context, therefore the output makes a significant and original contribution to the academic study of work and the technological advancement of the creative industries.
The case study was researched as part of the AHRC-funded project Extending the Potential for the Digitally Printed Ceramic Surface (2015-2017). The research involved ethnographically focused fieldwork and site visits at the project’s industrial partners: Royal Crown Derby, a high-value ceramics manufacturer, and Digital Solutions, the digital printing equipment supplier. This was augmented by field visits to trade fairs in the UK and Germany where the prototype products were promoted to retailers. These activities were underpinned by library research on theoretical approaches to technological innovation and work studies.
The paper, delivered at the Crafting in Industry workshop convened by the author as part of Making Futures 5, built on a work-in-progress talk given at the 2017 ISSSM conference in Sapporo. The publication of the presentation led to further invitations to talk on ceramic processes, aesthetics and innovation, including co-presenting the talk ‘The Order of Colour’ as part of ChemFest 2019 in London, delivering the presentation ‘Combining Materials and Concepts: the case of ceramics in Western art’ at Shanghai University in May 2019 and the seminar ‘Digital Printing for Ceramics’ given at Thammasat University’s Lampang Campus in Thailand in December 2019. The output’s findings also informed the successful proposal for the AHRC-funded follow-on project: Improved Laser Printing Equipment for Ceramics (2017-2018).
- Author contribution statement
- -
- Non-English
- No
- English abstract
- -
