John Roloff | San Francisco Art Institute (original) (raw)

Papers by John Roloff

FractalTerror Press, 2024

The project and related concepts presented in Expanded Ceramics/Holocene Agriculture are an exten... more The project and related concepts presented in Expanded Ceramics/Holocene Agriculture are an extension of over 50 years of work in ceramics that view the materials and processes of ceramics in a geologic and environmental context. Originating from my studies under Robert Arneson and Eldridge Moores as a art/geology major at UC Davis in the late 1960’s, the materials of sculpture and ceramics are perceived from the viewpoint of natural origin, process and scale. Dolomite, kaolin, feldspar, and other pulverized rock housed in the glaze room were derived from rock formations and functions of processes studied as terrestrial/oceanic geologic structures, process and time. The environmental Land Kiln works, 1979-1992, employed the kiln as an alchemical instrument and mythic effigy in the landscape to explore earth materials in-situ, and the foundations of their origin in and of the earth. For Expanded Ceramics/Holocene Agriculture, the common agricultural plow as well as the practice of soil-based agriculture are considered in an interdisciplinary and ecological context of ceramics, earth sciences and soil sciences. The plow as an environmental ceramic tool along and furrow/planting dynamics/aesthetics engaged as instruments to explore the bio-nutrient potential of ceramic materials, their derivation and larger environmental, paleo-climatic, species migration and global metabolic implications.

Mendel Art Gallery eBooks, 1981

McCarroll summarizes the development of the Funk/Pop movement and attitudes towards clay sculptur... more McCarroll summarizes the development of the Funk/Pop movement and attitudes towards clay sculpture in the California west coast. Artist's statements. Biographical notes.

McCarroll summarizes the development of the Funk/Pop movement and attitudes towards clay sculptur... more McCarroll summarizes the development of the Funk/Pop movement and attitudes towards clay sculpture in the California west coast. Artist's statements. Biographical notes.

The origin, life cycle and existential nature of the planet earth may be thought of in terms comm... more The origin, life cycle and existential nature of the planet earth may be thought of in terms common to both ceramics and geology. Primal elements of fire and earth, intrinsic to any definition of ceramics are also fundamental to the geologic interpretation of the physical earth. This analogy of the geologic lens includes a full range of organic and inorganic materials and processes such as igneous, metamorphic and sedimentary rocks, geo-biotic assemblages and the morphologies of their denudative and generative processes, including parallel human constructs. From this concept, an extended definition of the materiality and processes of ceramics may be extrapolated and new associative structures proposed and examined. In this light, from nature throughout geologic time, ceramic-like structures could include: deposits of calcareous and siliceous ooze on oceanic basins, stratigraphic structures of terrestrial silt, mud and sandstone as well as intrusive/extrusive bodies of igneous and metamorphic rock. By similar association into the Anthropocene 1 Epoch, or current human era, ceramics may include: civic highway/hydrologic systems, skyscrapers, agricultural fields, earthworks, ceramic objects, among many others. By the addition of a broader scale of geologic terminology, context and concepts such as: intrusion, erosion, deposition, diagenesis, metasomatism, facies, geochrono-and allo-stratigraphy, etc., to the already partially geology-engaged language of ceramics, a discourse opens to new landscapes, timescapes and ecologies with cross-generative potential. This extended language can stimulate the creation of useful analogs of human activity and the human-built environment within natural systems and consciousness to vitalize forms of systemic practice for art, architecture, industry that both enriches our understanding of materiality and process as well as potentially creating a coequal relationship with our environment. Cities, architecture, roads and other civic constructions made by mankind of earth materials during the Anthropocene Epoch, may also be described as forms of anthroturbation 2 , which describes the disturbance, dislocation and restructuring of geologic formations and materials by human agencies into new forms. In addition to the anthroturbational analogies of: mining as erosion, transport as flow and construction as sedimentation, the built topography of a city can be understood in geomorphic terms: streets as canyons, buildings as plateaus, sewers as caves and plazas as playas.

The origin, life cycle and existential nature of the planet earth may be thought of in terms comm... more The origin, life cycle and existential nature of the planet earth may be thought of in terms common to both ceramics and geology. Primal elements of fire and earth, intrinsic to any definition of ceramics are also fundamental to the geologic interpretation of the physical earth. This analogy of the geologic lens includes a full range of organic and inorganic materials and processes such as igneous, metamorphic and sedimentary rocks, geo-biotic assemblages and the morphologies of their denudative and generative processes, including parallel human constructs. From this concept, an extended definition of the materiality and processes of ceramics may be extrapolated and new associative structures proposed and examined. In this light, from nature throughout geologic time, ceramic-like structures could include: deposits of calcareous and siliceous ooze on oceanic basins, stratigraphic structures of terrestrial silt, mud and sandstone as well as intrusive/extrusive bodies of igneous and metamorphic rock. By similar association into the Anthropocene 1 Epoch, or current human era, ceramics may include: civic highway/hydrologic systems, skyscrapers, agricultural fields, earthworks, ceramic objects, among many others. By the addition of a broader scale of geologic terminology, context and concepts such as: intrusion, erosion, deposition, diagenesis, metasomatism, facies, geochrono-and allo-stratigraphy, etc., to the already partially geology-engaged language of ceramics, a discourse opens to new landscapes, timescapes and ecologies with cross-generative potential. This extended language can stimulate the creation of useful analogs of human activity and the human-built environment within natural systems and consciousness to vitalize forms of systemic practice for art, architecture, industry that both enriches our understanding of materiality and process as well as potentially creating a coequal relationship with our environment. Cities, architecture, roads and other civic constructions made by mankind of earth materials during the Anthropocene Epoch, may also be described as forms of anthroturbation 2 , which describes the disturbance, dislocation and restructuring of geologic formations and materials by human agencies into new forms. In addition to the anthroturbational analogies of: mining as erosion, transport as flow and construction as sedimentation, the built topography of a city can be understood in geomorphic terms: streets as canyons, buildings as plateaus, sewers as caves and plazas as playas.

International Ceramic Symposium - Ceramics & Ecology Catalog,, 2009

The origin, life cycle and existential nature of the planet earth may be thought of in terms comm... more The origin, life cycle and existential nature of the planet earth may be thought of in terms common to both ceramics and geology. Primal elements of fire and earth, intrinsic to any definition of ceramics are also fundamental to the geologic interpretation of the physical earth. This analogy of the geologic lens includes a full range of organic and inorganic materials and processes such as igneous, metamorphic and sedimentary rocks, geo-biotic assemblages and the morphologies of their denudative and generative processes, including parallel human constructs. From this concept, an extended definition of the materiality and processes of ceramics may be extrapolated and new associative structures proposed and examined. In this light, from nature throughout geologic time, ceramic-like structures could include: deposits of calcareous and siliceous ooze on oceanic basins, stratigraphic structures of terrestrial silt, mud and sandstone as well as intrusive/extrusive bodies of igneous and metamorphic rock. By similar association into the Anthropocene1 Epoch, or current human era, ceramics may include: civic highway/hydrologic systems, skyscrapers, agricultural fields, earthworks, ceramic objects, among many others.

Drafts by John Roloff

The interwoven environmental art works of Lahontan Group (I-III), were initiated in 1985 by an in... more The interwoven environmental art works of Lahontan Group (I-III), were initiated in 1985 by an invita-tion to create a temporary, site-specific kiln project on the University of Nevada, Reno campus by Walter McNamara, UNR Art Museum Director. The Land Kiln: Ancient Shoreline (Island for Lake Lahontan) / La-hontan Group I, was completed in that year resulting in the fired earthwork, Black Coral Starfish. Talking Tree/Glacial Epoch / Lahontan Group II, was commissioned in 1987, again by Walter McNamara, as a permanent sited work on the UNR campus to extend and enhance the themes and research of Nevada's natural history begun with Ancient Shoreline (Island for Lake Lahontan). Vanishing Ship (Greenhouse for Lake Lahontan) / Lahontan Group III, was commissioned by the UC Berkeley Art Museum in 1987 for their MATRIX exhibition series, initiated by Constance Lewallan, then MATRIX curator. Vanishing Ship (Greenhouse for Lake Lahontan), extended the site-base concerns and imagery of Lahontan Group I & II to a new context and environment.

FractalTerror Press, 2024

The project and related concepts presented in Expanded Ceramics/Holocene Agriculture are an exten... more The project and related concepts presented in Expanded Ceramics/Holocene Agriculture are an extension of over 50 years of work in ceramics that view the materials and processes of ceramics in a geologic and environmental context. Originating from my studies under Robert Arneson and Eldridge Moores as a art/geology major at UC Davis in the late 1960’s, the materials of sculpture and ceramics are perceived from the viewpoint of natural origin, process and scale. Dolomite, kaolin, feldspar, and other pulverized rock housed in the glaze room were derived from rock formations and functions of processes studied as terrestrial/oceanic geologic structures, process and time. The environmental Land Kiln works, 1979-1992, employed the kiln as an alchemical instrument and mythic effigy in the landscape to explore earth materials in-situ, and the foundations of their origin in and of the earth. For Expanded Ceramics/Holocene Agriculture, the common agricultural plow as well as the practice of soil-based agriculture are considered in an interdisciplinary and ecological context of ceramics, earth sciences and soil sciences. The plow as an environmental ceramic tool along and furrow/planting dynamics/aesthetics engaged as instruments to explore the bio-nutrient potential of ceramic materials, their derivation and larger environmental, paleo-climatic, species migration and global metabolic implications.

Mendel Art Gallery eBooks, 1981

McCarroll summarizes the development of the Funk/Pop movement and attitudes towards clay sculptur... more McCarroll summarizes the development of the Funk/Pop movement and attitudes towards clay sculpture in the California west coast. Artist's statements. Biographical notes.

McCarroll summarizes the development of the Funk/Pop movement and attitudes towards clay sculptur... more McCarroll summarizes the development of the Funk/Pop movement and attitudes towards clay sculpture in the California west coast. Artist's statements. Biographical notes.

The origin, life cycle and existential nature of the planet earth may be thought of in terms comm... more The origin, life cycle and existential nature of the planet earth may be thought of in terms common to both ceramics and geology. Primal elements of fire and earth, intrinsic to any definition of ceramics are also fundamental to the geologic interpretation of the physical earth. This analogy of the geologic lens includes a full range of organic and inorganic materials and processes such as igneous, metamorphic and sedimentary rocks, geo-biotic assemblages and the morphologies of their denudative and generative processes, including parallel human constructs. From this concept, an extended definition of the materiality and processes of ceramics may be extrapolated and new associative structures proposed and examined. In this light, from nature throughout geologic time, ceramic-like structures could include: deposits of calcareous and siliceous ooze on oceanic basins, stratigraphic structures of terrestrial silt, mud and sandstone as well as intrusive/extrusive bodies of igneous and metamorphic rock. By similar association into the Anthropocene 1 Epoch, or current human era, ceramics may include: civic highway/hydrologic systems, skyscrapers, agricultural fields, earthworks, ceramic objects, among many others. By the addition of a broader scale of geologic terminology, context and concepts such as: intrusion, erosion, deposition, diagenesis, metasomatism, facies, geochrono-and allo-stratigraphy, etc., to the already partially geology-engaged language of ceramics, a discourse opens to new landscapes, timescapes and ecologies with cross-generative potential. This extended language can stimulate the creation of useful analogs of human activity and the human-built environment within natural systems and consciousness to vitalize forms of systemic practice for art, architecture, industry that both enriches our understanding of materiality and process as well as potentially creating a coequal relationship with our environment. Cities, architecture, roads and other civic constructions made by mankind of earth materials during the Anthropocene Epoch, may also be described as forms of anthroturbation 2 , which describes the disturbance, dislocation and restructuring of geologic formations and materials by human agencies into new forms. In addition to the anthroturbational analogies of: mining as erosion, transport as flow and construction as sedimentation, the built topography of a city can be understood in geomorphic terms: streets as canyons, buildings as plateaus, sewers as caves and plazas as playas.

The origin, life cycle and existential nature of the planet earth may be thought of in terms comm... more The origin, life cycle and existential nature of the planet earth may be thought of in terms common to both ceramics and geology. Primal elements of fire and earth, intrinsic to any definition of ceramics are also fundamental to the geologic interpretation of the physical earth. This analogy of the geologic lens includes a full range of organic and inorganic materials and processes such as igneous, metamorphic and sedimentary rocks, geo-biotic assemblages and the morphologies of their denudative and generative processes, including parallel human constructs. From this concept, an extended definition of the materiality and processes of ceramics may be extrapolated and new associative structures proposed and examined. In this light, from nature throughout geologic time, ceramic-like structures could include: deposits of calcareous and siliceous ooze on oceanic basins, stratigraphic structures of terrestrial silt, mud and sandstone as well as intrusive/extrusive bodies of igneous and metamorphic rock. By similar association into the Anthropocene 1 Epoch, or current human era, ceramics may include: civic highway/hydrologic systems, skyscrapers, agricultural fields, earthworks, ceramic objects, among many others. By the addition of a broader scale of geologic terminology, context and concepts such as: intrusion, erosion, deposition, diagenesis, metasomatism, facies, geochrono-and allo-stratigraphy, etc., to the already partially geology-engaged language of ceramics, a discourse opens to new landscapes, timescapes and ecologies with cross-generative potential. This extended language can stimulate the creation of useful analogs of human activity and the human-built environment within natural systems and consciousness to vitalize forms of systemic practice for art, architecture, industry that both enriches our understanding of materiality and process as well as potentially creating a coequal relationship with our environment. Cities, architecture, roads and other civic constructions made by mankind of earth materials during the Anthropocene Epoch, may also be described as forms of anthroturbation 2 , which describes the disturbance, dislocation and restructuring of geologic formations and materials by human agencies into new forms. In addition to the anthroturbational analogies of: mining as erosion, transport as flow and construction as sedimentation, the built topography of a city can be understood in geomorphic terms: streets as canyons, buildings as plateaus, sewers as caves and plazas as playas.

International Ceramic Symposium - Ceramics & Ecology Catalog,, 2009

The origin, life cycle and existential nature of the planet earth may be thought of in terms comm... more The origin, life cycle and existential nature of the planet earth may be thought of in terms common to both ceramics and geology. Primal elements of fire and earth, intrinsic to any definition of ceramics are also fundamental to the geologic interpretation of the physical earth. This analogy of the geologic lens includes a full range of organic and inorganic materials and processes such as igneous, metamorphic and sedimentary rocks, geo-biotic assemblages and the morphologies of their denudative and generative processes, including parallel human constructs. From this concept, an extended definition of the materiality and processes of ceramics may be extrapolated and new associative structures proposed and examined. In this light, from nature throughout geologic time, ceramic-like structures could include: deposits of calcareous and siliceous ooze on oceanic basins, stratigraphic structures of terrestrial silt, mud and sandstone as well as intrusive/extrusive bodies of igneous and metamorphic rock. By similar association into the Anthropocene1 Epoch, or current human era, ceramics may include: civic highway/hydrologic systems, skyscrapers, agricultural fields, earthworks, ceramic objects, among many others.

The interwoven environmental art works of Lahontan Group (I-III), were initiated in 1985 by an in... more The interwoven environmental art works of Lahontan Group (I-III), were initiated in 1985 by an invita-tion to create a temporary, site-specific kiln project on the University of Nevada, Reno campus by Walter McNamara, UNR Art Museum Director. The Land Kiln: Ancient Shoreline (Island for Lake Lahontan) / La-hontan Group I, was completed in that year resulting in the fired earthwork, Black Coral Starfish. Talking Tree/Glacial Epoch / Lahontan Group II, was commissioned in 1987, again by Walter McNamara, as a permanent sited work on the UNR campus to extend and enhance the themes and research of Nevada's natural history begun with Ancient Shoreline (Island for Lake Lahontan). Vanishing Ship (Greenhouse for Lake Lahontan) / Lahontan Group III, was commissioned by the UC Berkeley Art Museum in 1987 for their MATRIX exhibition series, initiated by Constance Lewallan, then MATRIX curator. Vanishing Ship (Greenhouse for Lake Lahontan), extended the site-base concerns and imagery of Lahontan Group I & II to a new context and environment.