“Tactile experience […] adheres to the surface of our body; we cannot unfold it before us, and it never quite becomes an object. Correspondingly, as the subject of touch, I cannot flatter myself that I am everywhere and nowhere; I cannot forget in this case that it is through my body that I go to the world, and tactile experience occurs ‘ahead’ of me, and is not centred in me.”
—Maurice Merleau-Ponty, Phenomenology of Perception, 1945
In an age where technology tends to form more physical detachments than connections, there is a cultural longing to experience something tangible and handmade. It is this reason that a medium such as clay continues to appeal today. Touch is absorbed into clay, leaving a record of the artist’s presence on its surface. In recognizing these imprints as the mark of its maker, the viewer becomes conscious of his or her own hands and body. In examining ceramics through a phenomenological lens, we are challenged to consider the role our bodies play in perceiving the world around us.
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Using his own body to measure the connection between body and material, Matt Merkel Hess’s installation consists of a shelving unit that displays a series of hand-built ceramic sculptures. The shelving unit reflects the exact measurement of Merkel Hess’s height and wingspan, with the height of each individual shelf corresponding to his body parts including his feet, legs, hand, arms, and mouth. The shelves function as a temporary archive, recording Merkel Hess’s bodily presence through clay. The works presented in this installation are a wry experimentation with simplistic modes of artistic production. For instance, “Knee Bowl,” “Shin Bowl,” and “Palm Bowl” (all 2011),are all made by simply pressing clay onto his body to create an indentation. “Right Hand Sculpted By My Left Hand” is a sculpted version of Merkel Hess’s right hand using only his left hand. The object’s awkward construction is the result of the artist’s attempt to sculpt solely with his non-dominant hand. In their archival display, the sculptures become memory objects of his artistic practice.
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