The Tourist Experience

摘要

It might appear that the diverse fields of ceramics and tourism do not have much in common. However, printed pictorial ceramic objects have been widely available since the 1860s, commemorating events or places, and providing a nostalgic reminder of a holiday. Souvenirs such as these, along with the photograph, act as 'representations' of tourism, a physical medium through which tourism can be embodied. The souvenir serves to '.. .authenticate the tourist's experience, internalising experiences and memories and transforming events and memories into tangible objects of longing and desire'1. Photography, since its invention in 1839, has evolved a close relationship with tourism and has become an inseparable part of contemporary mass tourism. While tourism as a theme has been explored by several fine artists and photographers, few ceramic artists have focused on this topic. Within contemporary ceramics, print processes have become increasingly popular as a way to explore narrative, particularly in conjunction with vessel forms.