Materials: 

 

CERAMICS CRAZE SWEEPS SINGAPORE

The number of Singapore ceramicists has gone up sharply, and it has a lot to do with the
Covid-19 pandemic. "During the lockdown, many people wanted to learn to be good bakers
or painters or even athletes. Some took up clay-making for the first time, or spent time
honing their existing skills," says Wendy Cheong, organiser of the Clay Makers' Market,
which runs from 10 Nov 2022 to 13 Nov 2022.

Lynn Teo, a potter and pottery teacher, concurs: "When the pandemic halted travel, I got as
many as 60 to 65 students a week coming to my classes. Many found it creative and calming.
Now that people can travel again, those numbers have halved, but the enthusiasm is still
there." The consequence of these activities is that there are now more passionate ceramicists
in Singapore than ever before. Observers estimate there are about 300 active potters making
and selling wares, alongside thousands of hobbyists learning the craft and taking part in
exhibition sales.

In November 2021, the inaugural Singapore Clay Festival was a runaway success. Over 100
potters sold more than half their wares at the Clay Makers' Market (which formed a section
of the festival); a handful of them sold out their entire tables. The organisers of the market
hope to repeat their success this year. But they expect that with global travel picking up
pace, last year's buyers may choose to set their money aside for overseas spending. On the
flip side, they also think that ceramics are something you buy within your own town or city,
to avoid the costs and impracticalities of transporting fragile objects over long distances.

Chris Chong, a potter showing at Taking Roots // To Rise, expects a good turnout at the
upcoming show: "Singaporeans are becoming ever more selective about the things they
display in their homes. They don't want the vase or crockery or decorative ware that other
people have. They don't want to shop for these in the usual furniture shops. "So they're going
to these ceramics exhibitions, where every individual piece is handmade and unique. You
also get to meet the clay makers and ask questions about their artisanal creations."

Observers say ceramic items are attractive because they are pegged at prices lower than for
other decorative ornaments. A large pot by a well-known potter typically fetches between
S$1,500 and S$3,000; a large painting by a well-known painter tends to cost upwards of
S$5,000. A small, well-made teapot by a young potter can go for as cheaply as S$100, but
a small painting by an emerging artist typically commands more than S$500.

Ceramics are seen as "less intimidating" than contemporary art. Teo says: "A lot of ceramic
pieces you find at these exhibitions have utilitarian functions. They're not merely beautiful
objects to be admired -- you can use them in daily life. Thus, people naturally gravitate
towards ceramics and don't mind splurging a little bit on them."

Teo says social media has a lot of do with its boom, not just in Singapore, but around the
world. The rise of "clay influencers" on Instagram and TikTok has helped popularise the art
form. These influencers include Florian Gadsby and Eric Landon who have more than a
million followers on their various social media platforms combined. Celebrities Brad Pitt,
Leonardo DiCaprio and Seth Rogen are also self-professed enthusiasts. Teo says: "When
Landon started out, he would post pictures or videos of himself making pots while skimpily
dressed. He does make pottery sexy -- though it should be noted that he's actually a skilled
potter." (Landon won the Danish Design Award for Craftsman of the Year in 2015.) "After
his posts went viral, I noticed a spike in the number of people enrolling in pottery classes.
And when I asked them, they admitted they signed up after watching Landon's videos."

Social media has also garnered Singapore potters international attention. For instance, civil
servant Sean Lim was invited to exhibit his works in London after his Instagram account
caught the eye of Maud & Mabel art gallery. His unusual snow-inspired pots are now on
display at the Ceramix exhibition. The surge of ceramics' popularity among Singaporeans
has led many young, inexperienced potters to start selling their creations even though they
haven't mastered the craft. Master potter Chua Soo Kim, who organised Ceramix, says: "I
sometimes think that some of these young potters who've started selling their works are not
quite ready for the market. Unlike the older potters who spent years perfecting their craft
before they even thought of exhibiting and selling, the young potters of today are much more
gung-ho about monetising what they make..."But, of course, we would still encourage them,
because we think they might learn something from the experience."

During the pandemic, slow and meditative activities such as pottery, knitting and
woodworking became catnip for the wellness and self-care movement. In the case of pottery,
it forces you to put away your phone for an hour or more while you get your hands dirty in
wet clay. You have to focus on the clay on the wheel, because a small mistake could mean
having to start all over again. Clay-making can thus be a hypnotic activity, coupled with the
sensuous and tactile experience of applying your hands on earthy and malleable material.
At the affordable price ranging from $40 for children and $55-$80 for adults, a local pottery
workshop is a perfect place for parents to spend a fun afternoon with their children or for a
couple to spend time together on a weekend creating fun pottery pieces together.

Cheong of Clay Makers' Market says: "It's therapeutic because it encourages you to zone
out when you're working on the clay on the wheel. And then when you're done shaping it,
the process of firing it in the kiln can throw up plenty of surprises: The glaze, for instance,
might look different from what you imagined. In short, you can't completely control the
creative process -- unlike in more digital art forms, where what you see is what you get."
Chong of Potters by the Hill says: "There's also the pleasure you get out of being able to use
something you create. Now that you have self-made crockery, you can use that to serve your
self-cooked food."

Adapted from Business Times article titled: "Ceramics craze sweeps Singapore" dated 11 November 2022. 

Question

Describe how the following environmental forces have affected the market for ceramic products and services:

(i) Sociocultural Environment.

(ii) Economic Environment.

(iii) Technological Environment.