Monday, February 16, 2009

...some of you may know that I've been musing over designing a sustainable pottery village where knowledge of old life styles can take advantage of the newest in sustainable technologies. I'm researching the many ways to take advantage of firing of an anagama kiln. Not only the amazing ceramics that come from this wood firing but ways of using the residual heat, the ash,and most resently CHARCOAL!!!!
After seeing the amazing charcoal created for the Japanese tea ceremony I've always been intrigue as to how they make it. So today I did a bit of research and found that charcoal has a miriade of uses and comes in a wide variety of styles each designed for certain applications. Some of they are madicinal some are just great to have around the house because they regulate humidity, deoderize and produce negative ions. The smoke that is created when making the charcoal is also being condenced and used as an anti bacterial and in health care products. They are calling it wood vinegar. There many many more uses for charcoal and all have to do with health and ecology.
This is very exciting to me because it opens up a whole new branch of possibilities for reducing waste and creating another cottage industry. Both are big pluses as I move closer to the realization of this dream.
Another thing I will be doing over the next few weeks is finishing up the application process to a new masters of fine arts program here in Portland offered through the cooperative efforts OCAC and PNCA. It's a brand new program that centers around art, design, and sustainability and how this will influence and change cultural constructs.
Wish me luck!!
Thanks!
There is much more on the following charcoal websites.
Any body else know of more charcoal information???
http://web-japan.org/nipponia/nipponia19/en/topic/index.html
http://homepage2.nifty.com/sumiyaki/eindex.htm
http://terrapreta.bioenergylists.org/japancharcoal2000
http://www.tanagokoro.com/english/index.html