International Journal of Interdisciplinary and Intercultural Art

Abstract

As the 21st century approaches its first quarter, it may be considered too early to make readings
through the method of deconstruction with clay materials. Yet, being knowledgeable about the
method of deconstruction in the present century is important in that it can be a guiding principle,
especially for the younger generation of artists. The attitude of questioning that began with the AvantGarde movement in the postmodern period has moved art to different levels due to the artists'
breaking down traditional methods and rules.
The disruptions in the social, political and cultural structure also introduced new concepts, narratives
and interdisciplinary interactions in the field of art. Putting forward a critical thought with
postmodernism, the French scholar Jacques Derrida helped us gain an unbiased view on the concept
of deconstruction, which he developed as a method of text reading and analysis that emerged in the
1960s and started to become prominent in the fields of art during the 70s, by taking it beyond the
readings in the interdisciplinary areas of art that we are familiar with. Derrida establishes the process
of reinterpretation while breaking down the work by the method of deconstruction. The method of
deconstruction, which forms the basis of Derrida's idea that 'there is nothing outside the text', seeks
to reconstruct while deconstructing. Deconstruction is a system of thought that denies traditional
structures and structuralism. The questioning attitude also brings the concepts of variability and
conflict into the limelight as it seeks to reveal the original thought, overturning and reshaping the
underlying structure. In an artwork, the deconstruction that emerges in the idea manifests itself and
is perceived as an attitude on the work itself. In this context, while the act of disruption and
disintegration does not necessarily convey a negative meaning, it demonstrated an influence in
today's contemporary ceramic art practices. The physical and chemical changes of clay through
different methods also had an influence on ceramic art in terms of expression, thereby resulting in
the advent of novel forms of expression. The study does not aim to redefine the clay material and the
method of deconstruction, but rather to make readings of select artists and their works that give rise
to new forms of expression through the concept of deconstruction with clay material as we approach
the first quarter of our century.