Wednesday, October 21, 2009

The more efficient a force is, the more silent and the more subtle it is. Love is the subtlest force in the world.
- Mahatma Gandhi

Somehow this goes with what I was just writing, which is for a blog post at design-realized.com (http://www.design-realized.com/wordpress to be exact). It's about the grinding stones I saw in Phoenix this spring, and my work with the form:

Physical. The form. Holding a space but not enclosing it.
Material. The ability of the form to be a material test; a large surface area. Since I've been experimenting with amending clay bodies and how they behave in atmospheric firings... this is a nice thing.
Texture. Whereas most of my work has been smooth or finely-textured, these have both a roughness and tenderness to them. I have a tactile and visual attraction to them.
Conceptual. The form is made by grinding corn. The wide groove is worn in through many, many repetitions. I think of markmaking, of myself, how repetition makes things tangible. I think of the power of words, of actions, often wielded without care or respect for the ability to .
As a form it has the potential to be a platform for some kind of social commentary, but I still want them to stand on their own.