Seramik Formlarda Vanitas

Abstract

This thesis, which explores the theme of vanitas in ceramic forms, examines how the concept of death, beyond being merely a biological reality, is transformed into an artistic structure through the intellectual and symbolic meanings people ascribe to it in order to manage the unknown, thanks to their beliefs. In the study, vanitas narrates the flow of time, the disappearance of social class differences, and the eventual equality of all in death, thus teaching the lesson of living a virtuous life. The study examines the symbolic elements of vanitas, criticising excessive attachment to the material world with the idea that these symbols, in ceramic forms, take on a didactic attitude towards death, emphasising the concepts of death and nothingness within an existential framework. This study consists of two main sections. The first section evaluates the historical context of the origins of the vanitas theme and attempts to explain the messages conveyed by the closely related concept of memento mori. It examines how this intellectual background has been transformed into a means of expression in contemporary art. The second section features original personal applications displayed on wall surfaces and composed of forms, which directly reveal the awareness of the transient nature of existence, like a silent whisper in ceramic forms, and the confrontation with this transience while still alive, through the skull and other symbolic elements that form the centre of the vanitas theme. Works on vanitas and human relationships can always be a subject for ceramic art.