Art.Ceramics - both determine the life and work of master potter Ludwig Laser (born 1960).

Like many of his fellow craftsmen, he is a bon vivant. A life marked by targeted detours to become a master potter, on the way to his own workshop, in the development of his own style. But actually they are not detours, because every step leaves an impression, creates the basis for later, enables knowledge to be gained, and allows new connections to be made.

And so the different stages of the journey can also be seen in the ceramics produced by Laser. At the beginning, the traditional stoneware from the open-fire kiln. On the one hand, this reflects the training in Crinitz in Brandenburg, which, like Bürgel, developed into a pottery center due to good clay deposits suitable for stoneware firing. On the other hand, it testifies to the lived connection with the history of the craft. But the economic circumstances of the workshop construction in the GDR also led to the engagement with wood and coal-fired firing, which also experienced an international renaissance in the 1980s.

The new opportunities after the fall of the Wall brought new challenges: the secure sale of pottery, which was rare and in demand in the GDR, gave way to all-encompassing competition from Western goods. But craftsmanship and the art of living are the way out. A four-sided farm in Obergeißendorf in Thuringia became the center of life and life's work, a workshop and cultural meeting place. Here, new things were created. Already practiced graphic work had a stronger influence on ceramics. The engagement with traditional Japanese pottery led to intensive work with Raku firing. A coincidence made Ludwig Laser a specialist in crystal glazes.

The joy of experimentation, creativity, humor - the art of living: for anyone who wants to find out how this can be fired in clay and porcelain, the exhibition on Ludwig Laser's work in the Bürgel Ceramics Museum is a must-see!

The accompanying catalogue to the exhibition is available for 5 euros.