The Dumb Actor Reads His Lines
One for the
money, two for the show. I made a slip cast vazzzzzzze too thin and it slumped.
Nothing is an accident for those that see possibility in what others would
discard. I thought I would dissect it
and use its parts on another piece. Turns out I can get pieces for two by
making one that fails. Now I intend to fail on purpose. This fits in perfectly
with the Power Point I presented at the Shadbolt Center in Burnaby, BC entitled
“Fail it ain’t so bad- look at me.”
One piece
of advice I got from Mick Casson in the UK was to “narrow your selection”. He
laughed at North American potters that made 40 or 50 items. This vase form
comes out of the mould exactly the same each time. Talk about a narrowed
selection. What I do to change that is
up to my creative mind. The dumb actor that reads his lines would leave it as
it is. I prefer improv.
We potters
of the 21st century are very privileged. Most of us are over
educated, pretty darn lucky to be able to make art into a living. What I don’t
understand is why those that don’t need to make money from their craft insist
on making the same thing over and over like dumb actors reading their
lines. One of my women blues heroes is
Bonnie Raitt. She spoke of her father who made a living in musical theatre
playing the same role night after night on Broadway. She said he tried to make
it different and fresh every night. Now
that is” Something to talk about”. That’s what I am trying to do with these
vases.
I am
covering my arse with some production ware to get out to stores for Christmas.
The vases I am hoping are destined for “Bon Feu” a show with the wood fire
family in November at Shane Norrie Contemporary. For gallery quality pieces you
need to make one for the money and two for the show. Often times it is 2
multiplied by many.
The dumb
actors read their lines
Knowing
they would be happier on the farm. – Hawksley Workman (one of my favourite life
performers.)
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