“...failure with clay is more complete and more spectacular than with other forms of art. You are subject to the elements... Any one of the old four - earth, air, fire, water - can betray you and melt, or burst, or shatter - months of work into dust and ashes and spitting steam. You need to be a precise scientist, and you need to know how to play with what chance will do to your lovingly constructed surfaces in the heat of the kiln.” ― A.S. Byatt, The Children's Book A.S. Byatt is internationally acclaimed as a novelist, short-story writer and critic. Her books include Possession and the quartet of The Virgin in the Garden, Still Life, Babel Towerand A Whistling Woman. She was appointed Dame of the British Empire in 1999. While this is not a quote from a famous potter or ceramist, she hits the nail on the head with her quite straight-forward "crash with reality" when it comes to creating forms out of clay, and then relinquishing them to the kiln, which we have no control over. Respond to this: How do you relate what she says to your own art-making, the process of creating, and the need to be your own "scientist" in order to have success as a clay artisan? Due by Friday midnight, 3/4.
22 Comments
Madison Childress
2/25/2016 06:19:22 pm
I relate to what she is saying because last semester when I made my wolf totem piece I made a careless mistake, by not hollowing my snout out. Then when it was fired it exploded and even though i successfully pieced it and glued it back together it still wasn't exactly the same. i was devastated but I can definitely say I learned from my mistakes. Working hard and putting your precious time into something and then for it to be destroyed really sucks. It's a lot easier to fix other elements of art because you can erase it, or paint over it, ect. But when it comes to pottery it's a whole other story.
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Ms D
3/2/2016 10:13:06 am
Madison-
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Sidney
4/3/2016 07:50:39 am
I think that sometimes messing up projects can actually make something that is better that what you were trying to make in the first place. Even when they do mess up and don't look bad most of the time you can fix it and still make it look good but I believe that all artists make mistakes and that's what make their art so magnificent.
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Issac Eifrid
2/26/2016 05:16:34 am
I believe the only way to be a successful potter is to do something different. Everyone has seen the same old stuff over and over so go out of the comfort zone and do something crazy. Everyone likes to see something different. Also it's always good to experiment don't be afraid to try something new because you never know it might turn out better than you thought.
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EBO
2/26/2016 05:25:21 am
I believe to be a great potter you half to try different things. The only way to get to what you want you have to try something new. I had a piece a year ago that I tried new glazes together to see what would happen when you mixed them. It came out really great and no one ever tried it in my class.
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2/28/2016 06:42:52 am
What she says is true. Each day we work with the earth's elements in order to create something extraordinary; we form it and mold it, bending it our will, but we have no control over it once it's put into that kiln. Some would say it's where pottery goes to die. I had a bad experience once. I had made a big pinch pot bowl that I loved but it blew up in the kiln because it was thick. I was sad but thankful that it didn't ruin anyone's art. So I would say that pottery is a science.
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Ms. D
3/2/2016 10:15:12 am
Yes, and for some clay artisans, they experiment and fail and also have success for most of their art careers! In order to learn, we have to be willing to take artistic risks. The rewards are great in the long run, but not without frustration, tears, and hard work.
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Skyla Garcia
2/28/2016 06:18:48 pm
We need to pay attention to everything we do before it goes into the kiln so nothing bad will happen to it. We have to make sure all the air bubbles are out and that there aren't cracks and everything is attatched perfectly so it doesn't explode or get messed up. We have to be precise and careful with our pieces just like scientists do with chemicals.
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Ms D
3/2/2016 10:17:41 am
Skyla-
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Claire Parker
2/29/2016 05:20:33 am
To be a successful artist, you must not conform to standardized ways of creating work. Going outside the box and experimentation can transform good work to great! It also adds to the originality, allowing others artists to be inspired.
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Yosselyn Camacho
3/2/2016 05:23:59 am
Being a great artist means not being satisfied with your work, thinking you can do better. But to other people your work of art can be a masterpiece. Always have to think about something that other people might not have an idea to do.
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Ms D
3/2/2016 10:20:21 am
Yosselyn, that is a good perspective-not settling or being willing to settle until you are happy with what you are creating. Isn't creating pieces a sort of journey in itself? It shows us where we have improved and where we can go if we choose to take risks.
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Calista Vivian
3/2/2016 07:48:48 pm
I relate to this, because I know I don't take my time on my projects... and they backfire. My first class in Pottery, I remember the slab projects. I did a nicely made piece that looked like anemones, and I wanted it to be perfect. But it just ended up like a huge orange mess, I have it in a box right now and I don't even bother to destroy it. To me it honestly looks like melted cheese sticks.
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Stephen Parson, Jr.
3/3/2016 02:54:06 pm
I relate to this in the sense that there have been many times when my pottery had been destroyed by mistakes related to moisture, the amount of clay used, and air bubbles. I had to both become a "scientist" through tinkering with my ideas to prevent destruction in the kiln, as well as an artist by still allowing my pieces to appear as creative as possible while doing so.
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Caitlin Cary
3/3/2016 05:22:40 pm
A.S. Byatt says that “you need to know how to play with what chance will do to your lovingly constructed surfaces in the heat of the kiln.” What she is saying is true because in the class, you showed us a cup where the glazes ran together, separated, and created odd textures. The kiln is something we have no control over and it will create things that we aren’t expecting. For example, this semester when we fired my glazed chess pieces, the kiln shut off before reaching the highest temperature. The color of the glaze was not as vibrant as I had hoped, but I didn’t have control over this because it was caused by the kiln. However, you can always fix it by re-glazing it and firing it again. Pottery is a science because the way you glaze, sculpt, and create clay has to be very precise in order to be successful.
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averil seamster
3/4/2016 10:25:27 am
I believe the key to becoming a great potter is by making many mistakes. Nobody is perfect or will create perfect works of art and to me, that frustrates me. When I am creating something I try so hard to make it as perfect as I can and I take my time making things. What A.S. Byatt said is true in my opinion, all potters need to be scientists and need to experiment with clay and different glazes to see what works and what doesn't. One time I made this beautiful bowl in pottery 1 and i worked hard on it and it came out of the bisque firing perfectly fine. But the problem I had was that I glazed it a little to much or I didn't clean the bottom well enough. So it stuck onto the kiln shelf and completely broke the bottom of my bowl because it was the only way to get it off. I was very upset but I learned from it, which I count as my experiment now as being a growing potter.
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Kate Guerra
3/4/2016 03:45:41 pm
It is impirtant when you're making a piece to make something special to you and something uniquely yours. Many time as potters, we experience failures with the clay. These are very common and it's very important that as we get more and anted that we take precaution to prevent a piece from messing up.
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Alejandra Ayala
3/4/2016 06:04:27 pm
In order to become a great potter you have to step out of your comfort zone. You need to be able to try new things and experiment. You can't be afraid, and you can't think too much about it. By doing this, you get to know the clay better and the process of making projects, in order to make yourself aware of the clay better.
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Trevor Koon
3/4/2016 06:25:31 pm
To be a artist of any kind it's good to have your own style, or do things you wouldn't normally do. You may make mistakes when working but you don't give up what your doing. You may do others styles to see what suits you but you may come up with a a style of your own.
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Cat
3/6/2016 06:56:34 pm
Pottery is a lot up to chance when it comes to the mercy of the kiln. I've learned that glazes do not always work the way we want them to. So you have to experiment with different types to save the piece. Even then it just might not work out. You learn this a lot when it comes to the wheel and learning how to do things your own way. Art is meant to be a way to express and invent. I see it as a way to try new things.
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Kamryne ellis
3/6/2016 08:42:30 pm
I believe that "being your own scientist" is a great comparison in the since of pottery because in making a piece it's all one big experiment because you never know how something is going to turn out once being put into the kiln, not everything always comes out as planned and you learn from your mistakes and know what to differently next time.
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Britney mancuso
3/7/2016 05:02:53 am
I relate to what she has displayed. Last year our class had to make bowls. Unfortunately I wasn't very good at glazing so I had used a purple glaze and I tried to use orange to make it look like it dripped in there. The orange had pulled back revealing the clay. Also you should experiment like scientist on glazes and how you form you clay pieces.
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