Definitely Not A Cult

“Definitely Not A Cult” is a pottery experiment in letting go of control, allowing intervention, and embracing the unknown.

Ceramics education is traditionally framed as an individual journey, where finished pieces are expected to reflect a maker’s style and skill. In practice, however, the process is often shaped by a range of “invisible influences”, including instructor corrections, technical adjustments, material substitutions, kiln variables, and peer assistance, all of which quietly alter the outcome of a work.

This series of ceramic activities builds on these often-overlooked dynamics, exploring what happens when making is opened up to fluid, collaborative evolution. Across two workshops, participants engage through two distinct entry points: one involves the transformation of discarded bisque-fired objects with underglaze painting, and the other features a two-session making process involving hand-building, surface treatment, glazing, and possible intervention by others. By moving beyond the usual emphasis on individual control, these sessions encourage participants to experience ceramics as a shared and evolving practice. Through making, exchange, and reflection, the workshops open up space to think about collaboration, authorship, ownership, and the role of uncertainty in learning.

Fee: workshop 1- $100, workshop 2 - $220

Workshop 1: Glazing Ladder

Date / Time: 14/8 (Fri), 16:00–18:00

Duration: 2 hours

Participants select an abandoned but intact bisque-fired ceramic piece collected from local ceramics studios and transform it through underglaze painting. By separating the making of the form from the making of the surface, the workshop invites reflection on reuse, intervention, and whether a work can be considered one’s own when it begins from another person’s object.

Workshop 2: Pass the pot

Date / Time:

Session 1: 25/7 (Sat), 14:00–16:30

Session 2: 14/8 (Fri), 13:00–15:00

Duration: 2 sessions / 2 days, 4.5 hours in total

Participants create ceramic works over two sessions, beginning with hand-building and form development in the first session, followed by surface treatment and glazing in the second. Between or during these stages, works may be exchanged, altered, or added to by others. This structure allows participants to encounter shifts in their work over time and reflect on how collaboration, intervention, and loss of control affect their sense of authorship and ownership.

Together, the workshops position ceramics not only as an individual practice, but as a collective and evolving process.

Works produced in the workshops will be included in a later exhibition. Participants should note that completed works will be kept by the organiser until the exhibition has ended and must be collected afterwards. The exhibition date has not yet been confirmed but is tentatively scheduled for October. Participants are required to collect their works within one month after the exhibition. If they are unable to do so in person, delivery can be arranged by SF Express at the participant’s expense. The organiser will not be responsible for any loss or damage to the work during storage, collection, or delivery.

Participants should also be aware that the workshops involve processes of exchange and intervention. During the workshops, works may be swapped, altered, or added to by other participants as part of the artistic concept and activity design. By registering, participants acknowledge and accept this collaborative and experimental process.

*The workshops will be conducted in Cantonese only.