I went to the Great Northern Contemporary Craft Fair yesterday, at Victoria Baths Manchester, this visit reminded me of a discussion we had in the early part of the course about how we might describe ourselves.
At the time I was not really ready to answer this question because I felt like a student, calling myself by any of the suggested titles seemed a bit presumptuous. Attending this event yesterday made me think about this discussion for two reasons. Firstly I realised that I now have a much clearer picture of the possible pathways open to me after the course, and I have role models in Rob, Micaela, Cath and past students. Secondly, I understand more about these titles, and recognise that it is important to choose a title that accurately reflects my work and clarifies what I do. At the craft fair I had two conversations with exhibitors that brought this discussion to mind.
Firstly, I was looking at a black and white functional vessel on the stand of a young potter who had just left university in 2020. He said that I could pick it up to look at it closely, it was very light. Whilst I was looking, he told me that he had thrown the pot, mixing two coloured clays as he went. The pot I was holding had a flowing marbled surface, and there was a shelf full of similar pots in different colours. The marbling was flowing as if it was liquid clay. I checked with him, that he had thrown the pot I was holding, and he said that he had. I had picked up the pot believing it to be slipcast, it had very clean lines and I liked the colours. Perhaps I misunderstood and he meant that the original pot had been thrown and turned, and he had used that to make a mould, or perhaps I was mistaken and the same shape had been thrown repeatedly and turned to very exacting standards. In either case he had made a series of functional pots.
The second conversation was with a new graduate who had a display in one of the student 'changing rooms'. His stand contained large clear glass spheres, each with a number of indentations going deep within the glass. He told my fellow students and I how the indentations in the spheres represented a mindful breath.Our discussion was interrupted when he was approached by someone who had returned to buy a sphere. I was interested in the idea of capturing a breath or moment, so later that day I looked followed a link on the craft fair website to read more about his process. There was a youtube film showing how the spheres were made. They were made by a firm of established glassworkers. He may well have explained this to us had the conversation not been interrupted. He was responsible for the concept, and the design.
These encounters raised a few questions for me. I am not interested or capable of making the exact same form, so I think that rules out the term potter, as I associate that with skills of repetition and accuracy. I like the process of designing, but like the challenge of realising the 3D form, and handling the material. I do not want to design, without making, so that eliminates the product designer role. It is easy to eliminate options, but more difficult to choose from what is left. I think perhaps I need to go onto Practice 3, to see what sort of form emerges before I make a final decision. I guess I am still unclear, or am I just postponing the decision again?
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