Course detail

Basics of Ceramics

FaVU-ZKTAcad. year: 2024/2025

A course on the basics of ceramics introduces the principles of ceramics making and basic techniques such as modelling, molding, casting and creation on a potter's wheel, as well as the issue of glazing and firing in the form of lectures and practical exercises. It acquaints students with the specific properties of ceramic materials according to the method of processing, firing temperature, plasticity, etc. The acquisition of basic techniques of ceramic creation and the acquisition of the necessary skills will be mediated by work on students’ own projects or exercises.

Language of instruction

Czech

Number of ECTS credits

Mode of study

Not applicable.

Guarantor

doc. Mgr. Tomáš Medek

Department

Department of 3D Technology (K3D)

Entry knowledge

Elementary manual dexterity, effort and desire to work.

Rules for evaluation and completion of the course

For credit to be awarded, it is necessary to complete at least 80% of the required classes (absences in one 4 hour block) and to submit the assigned assignments. Any further absences (up to a maximum of two 4 hour blocks) can be made up by completing the assignments in an alternative term.

Classes take place in the ceramics workshop of FFA BUT in the hours determined by the schedule. Attendance at classes is compulsory (1 unexcused absence is allowed). Higher number of absences (maximum 2 additional absences) can be compensated by submitting substitute assignments after agreement with the teacher.

Aims

The course objective is to acquaint students with the technologies and principles of ceramic creation, with the specifics of individual materials and ways of working with them. Students should, on the basis of practical exercises supplemented by lectures, acquire the necessary skills for independent work with ceramic clay. They should be able to correctly choose glazes corresponding to the type of used ceramic clay and estimate the appearance of their work after firing.
Students will gain a basic orientation in the field of ceramics. They will learn the basic techniques of ceramic creation and learn to choose a suitable procedure for creating specific objects from ceramic clay and their decoration.

Study aids

Not applicable.

Prerequisites and corequisites

Not applicable.

Basic literature

Techniky Keramiky, Praha: Universum, 2021.

Type of course unit

Lecture

6 hod., compulsory

Teacher / Lecturer

doc. Mgr. Tomáš Medek

Syllabus

1) Introduction to ceramic materials and basic principles of their processing.
2) Basic modelling techniques: freehand modelling, plating, gluing.
3) Advanced modelling techniques 1: Matrix and template as the oldest ways of programming.
4) Advanced Modelling Techniques 2: Potter's Wheel
5) Implementation of student proposals and practical exercises.
6) Glazing and decoration.
7) Firing.

Technological exercise

18 hod., compulsory

Teacher / Lecturer

MgA. Dušan Váňa, Ph.D.