Susan Setley on wed 7 apr 04
=?ISO-8859-1?Q?Less=20Paul?=
In a message dated 4/7/04 7:13:45 AM, claystevslat@YAHOO.COM writes:
> Her 'happening' at NCECA was a huge success, I gather, at getting people=20
> talking about her (self-promotion, a la Warhol or Jeff Coons).=A0 And it m=
ade=20
> people think, whether there was actually something there to think about or=
not.
>=20
If this is her definition of success (and I have no reason to think it is) -=
-=20
then it doesn't matter how "clever" she is with her fingers -- it won't do=20
her a lot of good.
Having lived through a lot of "happenings" being "of that era" -- I think=20
happenings are incredibly Narcissistic -- Everyone stare at me while I exami=
ne --=20
and rapturize over -- my personal belly button lint.
The people who know more than me (that is many) and will throw a pot, TELLIN=
G=20
ME WHAT THEY'RE DOING AND WHY -- are my heroes. That makes the great majorit=
y=20
of good potters heroes.
I will never forget the woman who used to throw at our studio (she has her=20
own now) when I was first starting. I was making hockey pucks -- and sick of=
=20
them -- and she was throwing tall (as in 2' tall or more), graceful vases. I=
=20
commented that I would give anything to be able to do what she was doing.
She called me over, took her wire, and SLICED HER POT IN HALF to show me=20
EXACTLY what she was doing that I was not. She could have said "Go look in t=
he=20
books on the other side for a picture of a pot sliced in half," but she didn=
't.
The woman hardly knew me. I was just one of many beginners who came through=20
the studio.
So of course I followed her example, did the best I could on my hockey puck=20
and then sliced it in half. Talk about a valuable lesson...
I can understand not being a good public speaker, or over-relying on=20
PowerPoint because you're so nervous your brains are fried. But at one extre=
me I see a=20
total stranger who sliced in half what I thought was a very good pot (she=20
said it was nothing special) just to help out another total stranger ... and=
on=20
the other hand we have someone who thinks I should divine something importan=
t=20
from watching her crochet.=20
I know which kind of teacher I prefer. :)
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