"Ran out" is a ceramic design project that raises a discussion concerning the extinction of natural resources, of conception or objects that are running out. The project brings together local clay - a ceramic material (and natural resource) that ran out in Israel and abroad (called S5), and porcelain - the fashionable and noblest ceramic material. This project makes use of historical molds and materials from closed Israeli ceramic factories.

The different characteristics of these materials in cultural, technological and formal terms result in contrast, cracking and distortion of objects. This creates a tension between the desire for likeness and connection, and the exposure of the differences and the distorted. These works deal with the loaded field of the extinction of natural, cultural and personal resources.

The use of deferent materials (S5, porcelain) and methods (pottery, industrial slip casting, digital modeling and 3D printing) is charging the objects as carrying body of knowledge that present relations between tradition, industry, and new technologies as part of contemporary culture. The process of work on this project is a combination between a laboratory experiment approach and personal and cultural associations.

About Shlomit Bauman:

Shlomit Bauman is an Israeli ceramic designer and artist that relates to the ceramic design field as a “cultural research lab” by dealing with cultural, technological and traditional aspects. Along her work she explores the methods and strategies of action in the wide context of material culture. Her creative activity covers many fields that include design, art, education and curation as a way of life.

Bauman was the chairperson of the ceramic artists association of Israel (1998-2005). She is a lecturer of ceramic design at the Industrial Design Department, HIT-Holon Institute of technology.