Virtual Clay

Tom Sachs: Avoiding the Wheel

An OnDemand Online Lecture

May 06, 2015

Ceramicists can erase any evidence of the human hand by using the wheel. But by shunning it, they show their fingerprints in the work.

Renowned sculptor Tom Sachs—whose work can be found in major museums worldwide, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Guggenheim, the Whitney and the Pompidou Center—employs this practice in all his art, including ceramics fired at 92Y. His work shows the scars of his labor. The dents, cracks and errors are evident and are what make the product the result of an individual.

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