Jørgen Hansen started as a ceramic artist in 1965. For many years he was doing handmade, mostly thrown pottery and at a certain point he felt the need for a more extensive expression and in 1994 he made his first Firingsculpture for a museum in Denmark.
The Firingsculptures are built in 1-3 weeks in a continuous process. They are made out of concentric terracotta lattice walls, one behind the other and with openings of different kinds. Inside there’s space left for combustible that will set the core on fire.
The climax takes place when the sculpture, wrapped in insulation, becomes its own kiln and fires to 1000-1200 centigrades. At this stage the insulation is taken away and for short intense moments the sculpture glows from the inside with the most luminous light and unusual visual phenomenons happen.
“My Firingsculpture can resonate the site where it is built. When the sculpture is glowing you feel both the instant and the entire period of the project from the first step on the bare ground until its complete erosion. It is about time and everything’s perpetual change”.
