Generations : interpreting Iron Age ceramics
digital ceramics, 2025 - ongoing
This project is a work-in-progress with ceramicist Anna Andersen. Building on our experiments in A pot, we continue exploring generative AI as a creative tool in ceramic practice, this time in dialogue with Iron Age vessels from the collection at Horsens Museum, in Jylland, DK. These ancient pots have been excavated from different sites across Horsens Kommune; from the well-known burial site at Hedegård to unexpected finds unearthed during the recent construction work along the E45 highway. Working with these archaeological fragments, we explore how our hybrid process of digital generation, machine work, and hand work might create a conversation between present and past ways of making.
We use generative AI in two ways: “reconstructing” 3D digital interpretations of the artifacts from photographs, and using text prompts to describe Iron Age forms to 3D-model-generating tools. These AI outputs become digital sketches that are the starting points in our design process. We combine machine and human expression by building our designs using a combination of clay 3D printing and hand sculpting. With this work, we test whether contemporary technology can help us engage more deeply with histories of making, creating vessels that honor both the tactile expressions of Iron Age potters and our own digital-physical ceramics practice.
We use generative AI in two ways: “reconstructing” 3D digital interpretations of the artifacts from photographs, and using text prompts to describe Iron Age forms to 3D-model-generating tools. These AI outputs become digital sketches that are the starting points in our design process. We combine machine and human expression by building our designs using a combination of clay 3D printing and hand sculpting. With this work, we test whether contemporary technology can help us engage more deeply with histories of making, creating vessels that honor both the tactile expressions of Iron Age potters and our own digital-physical ceramics practice.
Iron Age pot ca. 100 BC, excavated in Horsens, DK.
AI-generated 3D model of an Iron Age pot.
Fracture pot, 3D-printed and hand-sculpted mixed clay (greenware).
Iron Age pot ca. 100 BC, excavated from Hedegård, Horsens, DK.
AI-generated 3D model of a “Danish Iron Age pot excavated in Horsens, Denmark.”
Pebble jar, 3D-printed and hand-sculpted mixed clay 20 x 20 x 22 cm (greenware).
Iron Age pot ca. 100 BC, excavated in Horsens, DK.
Looping pot, 3D-printed and hand-sculpted mixed clay, 20 x 19 x 25 cm (greenware).
Iron Age pot fragments ca. 100 BC, with incised surface decoration.
Iron Age jar fragment ca. 100 BC, excavated in Horsens, DK.
AI-generated 3D model of an Iron Age jar fragment.
Jar prototype being 3D printed in mixed earthenware clay, 20 x 18 x 38 cm.