Tagged: messy

The question isn’t to be or not to be

The question is HOW to be.

I’ve been a bit slow on the uptake this week with my readings and lecture posts, but they are coming I swear! This subject has caused me to stew endlessly about topics I didn’t realise I was interested in but then ultimately just re-post interesting things I find online as my thoughts are stars I cannot fathom into constellations. (Ie, I spend too much time on Tumblr.)

I’ve been looking back over the first couple of weeks of this course, and I’m struck at how simple but profound it is to make the content relevant. In one of my typical mid-semester uni meltdowns about the future and whyyyyy is life so hard, I was brought some kind of solace in Adrian’s words from week three (possibly not verbatim, please forgive my note-taking skills): We are invited to dance. We don’t know how the dance goes; we don’t even know the first steps. But this is not a reason not to dance.

So with these words and a constructivist perspective in mind, really all that is left to do, is do. We learn by doing, we learn by making. In making we show our thinking, and fwock all I do is think/overthink. The only way to learn to ride a bike is by riding a bike. <Insert more cliches that are actually insightful and helping me with my life here>

How am I supposed to know what I want to do or at least in what direction I want to take my life and career without experimenting and trying out different things? We considered in the first week why we are at university, and I think that might be a big factor: the opportunities for experimenting and playing with different fields are almost endless. RMIT definitely know what they are doing in that regard.

The last few weeks have also seen me ask myself ‘What if’ more times than I care to admit, and outside of a design framework this question is easily applied to life. What if I joined this club, or wrote this article, or posted this clip I’ve been sitting on for months, too embarrassed about what might come of it. Embarrassment is overrated. There’s no time like now to be brave, and what is the worst that could happen? Yes, publishing online is permanent and media professionals success and failure is largely based on reputation, but who is going to fault someone for trying something new, taking a risk. There’s nobody I admire more than those willing to put themselves out there, take the fall, laugh at themselves when it all goes wrong.

I’ve had a few projects on the back-burner for a while and I’ve been inspired to bring them out. I hope you don’t judge me too harshly. What if we all just took the leap? Why shouldn’t we just do it?

Life is a mess. But I don’t think that’s necessarily, or even at all, a negative thing.

Here is a thing I did – from my current scrapbook/ideas/notebook: my original ‘blog’

Naming the boat

Here she is, the ‘CLAY KNOWLEDGE‘. (All capital letters, thank you very much. As Gaga would say, it’s about the details.)

I hope Adrian doesn’t mind as I’ve taken this concept directly from his own post about the knowledge of clay, and I think it’s a pretty accurate representation of what this blog will be: thickly messy.

Spin it, pound it, fire it, paint it. Use tools, fingers, hands, palms, fire, water, colour. It is thickly messy. That is knowledge. Information? That’s the clay, as a lump and not anything yet. The potter, well, there’s knowledge there, and in the hands, and in the clay.

Using a Wheel

  1. Smack your clay. Throw it firmly from hand to hand, smacking it into a ball shape.
  2. Dry your wheel. This will help the ball of clay adhere to the wheel once it starts spinning. The last thing you want is a ball of wet clay flying across the room.
  3. Have some water. Place a bucket of water where you can easily reach it to wet your hands while you work.
  4. Throw the clay. Throw down the ball of clay as close to the center of the wheel as you can, then press it down into a conical shape.
  5. Start spinning. As you build up speed, wet the clay, and with one hand on the side of the clay lump, and the other side on top of it, ease the clump towards the middle. Use the upper hand to keep the clay from flying out of control.
    • You can tell the clay is centered when it no longer looks like it’s wobbling, but sitting stationary in the center of the spinning wheel. Don’t stop spinning.
  6. Wet your hands. Then work the clay into a cone, then press it down into a thick disk. Repeat this step a couple times.
  7. Push a thumb into the middle of the spinning mass.
  8. Push 4 fingers into the hole, and work them around until the hole is as big as you would like. Continue working the hole, using a hand on the outside of the clay to shape your pot.
  9. Work slowly. Gradually pull the clay up with even pressure, until it’s the desired height.
  10. Spread the top. If you want it a bit wider at the neck, just pull back with your inside fingers. Don’t do it too hard.
  11. Remove the finished pot from the wheel. Wet the wheel (not the pot) and using a stiff wire or fishing line, and holding it with both hands, pull it from the back the pot towards you until the pot is separate from the wheel.
  12. Follow the manufacturer’s instructions for finishing and firing your clay pot.

But will it ever be finished and fired?

Don’t stop spinning.