David Ray: Basil Sellers Art Prize 2010 finalist

Ian Potter Museum of Art student ambassador Tessa Livingston interviews David Ray at his home studio, June 2010.

Trophies have an unusual history, ranging from ancient military conquests through to today's mass-produced cups and statuettes. Trophies were originally collective rather than singular items: trophies were large, often jumbled collections of war booty, displayed in public to celebrate the might of a victorious general. Today, trophies are almost too familiar; the Yellow pages list nearly 1,000 trophy shops Australia-wide, purveying plaques, shields, cups and figurines made of plastic and cheap wood.

With this proliferation, the idea of the trophy has been cheapened and even rendered negative. Where once a trophy was a token honouring exemplary achievement (such as the laurel wreaths of the ancient Olympic Games), the word is now used in a sneering way. We call someone who collects valuables for ostentatious display a trophy-hunter, and mock the trophy wives of the rich and famous.

Ray's collection of small, roughly modelled trophies is a call for a return to first principles. They have the classic shapes of the traditional winner's cup, and none of the jarring geometry of today's modern, sculptural trophies. In this new work, 'Champion' (2010), Ray's trophies do more than declare a triumph; his anthropomorphic ceramics act out the process of becoming a champion. This narrative, loosely based on the mythical heroes' journeys analysed in Joseph Campbell's book 'The hero with a thousand faces' (1949), traces the passage from challenge, through endeavour and ordeal, towards triumph and self-realization. In popular culture, this is the story of Rocky, as enacted by Sylvester Stallone. In art and myth, it is the story of ethical development; the victory lies in realising the best in oneself.

As a ceramicist, David Ray has previously explored distinction between machine-made and hand-made objects. He made tableware items whose irregular, hand-moulded shapes were in marked contrast to the consistency and refinement of manufactured porcelain. Ray suggests that the means are as important as the end. With minimal decoration, the emphasis is on the artist's working process. His gestures—squeezing, pinching, moulding, shaping—can be read in the clay. Art and sport are linked as physical endeavours. Achievement itself is not always the same thing as perfection. Many a victory has rough edges to it. And, if it is not handled properly—with moral as well as physical strength—success itself may be as fragile as thin, fired clay.

Text by Chris McAuliffe from the Basil Sellers Art Prize 2010 catalogue.

http://www.sellersartprize.com.au/artists-and-exhibition/2010/shortlisted-art...

http://www.davidray.com.au/

http://www.nelliecastangallery.com/artist/10.69/david-ray.html

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• art
• visual art
• contemporary art
• artist interview
• sport and art
• art and sport
• Australian ceramics
• ceramic sculpture
• trophy
• Australian art
• David Ray
• ceramicist
• porcelain
• Basil Sellers Art Prize
• Sellers Prize
• Melbourne culture
• Melbourne art scene

[Jeleah1985]

Sorry terrible recording....