Animated Ceramics By Gldnmnky

Caravan Moon Pot

By Gldnmnky

A spherical ceramic vessel spins at the center of a record turntable, its animated design reveals a flower that blooms and returns to seed, a procession of creatures spit shooting stars that cycle into the phases of the moon, transforming into an eye and then the sun, looping in continuous motion with no beginning or end.

The animated ceramic vessel, titled Caravan Moon Pot, draws on the form of Korean moon jars and the decorative traditions of Delftware and Joseon-era ceramics. Its surface design incorporates the mechanics of early animation devices like the zoetrope and phenakistoscope, using spinning motion to produce a looping animated sequence across the vessel.

Daniel Young Kim, the creator of the Caravan Moon Pot, is a Korean-American artist whose practice bridges new technologies with traditional craftsmanship, grounded in the physical language of pottery.

With a background in film and television, he began exploring how ceramics could carry narrative motion—leading him to create a proprietary method for applying animated designs to ceramic surfaces.

“As I got deeper into ceramics, a lot of my technical thinking in the digital space carried over. I started testing ways to decorate ceramics with my designs, but most of the existing techniques didn’t work for what I needed. Underglaze transfers, iron-based toner decals, lamination methods and cover coats that use noxious solvents all felt too limiting or unsafe. After a lot of trial and error, I found a process for making decals of my own designs that are pliable, safe to work with indoors and compatible with custom overglazes.”

The vessel is slip cast from a digitally sculpted and 3D-printed model, which is cast in silicone to produce a plaster mold. Each cast is trimmed, glazed, and fired before overglaze decals are applied and fully fused in a third firing.

The sequence of animation is wrapped so that it reads on a spherical body, with each frame landing in a specific registration. On the turntable, persistence of vision creates the illusion of movement.

The Caravan Moon Pot sits at a point where new technologies merge with traditional craft. A culmination of centuries of accumulated knowledge applying fire to earth and the ever-evolving tools that continue to explore the infinite potential of ceramics.