Reflections: Multi-Spout Slab piece

 

photographed by David J. Gilder

This was a piece I made in high school, maybe junior or senior year (2001 or 2002). The ceramics teacher gave the assignment of making a multi-spout slab bottle with the height requirement of 12 inches or something. All I can remember before making this piece was to go all out. I wasn't going to be bound by these rules and do the minimum requirement. So instead of 3 spouts, I ended up doing 9 as the piece evolved during the process. It stands taller than 12 inches, although I can't remember the exact height anymore, maybe about 15. I also did a slab foot (which is the part below the body of the piece) that provided an extra lift instead of just sitting there. 

After putting the bits and pieces together, the body turned out to be quite boring. A flat surface was not appealing. And as you can see, I began carving into the body. The design was simple: a diamond with a dimple in the middle and the repetition of course makes the pattern. In earnest, I don't recall thinking much about this piece. I didn't have a particular idea that I wanted to explore or any specific effect I wanted to achieve. I just kinda ran with the assignment. I threw a couple spouts on the wheel and figured I'ld make it somewhat symmetrical. Making the bigger spout in the middle and placing the smaller ones next to it reminded me of the nuclear plant in the Simpsons. The spouts on the sides were really just for fun but it was also done with the mind of balance, symmetry. Just having the spouts on the top didn't make it very appealing. 

I guess what comes out of playing around with the slabs, the spouts, and color scheme - if I were to force some kind of metaphorical story or meaning - is perhaps some kind of commentary on industrialization and its effect on the ocean, rivers, and streams. The pollution could be represented by the brown and the spouts give the impression of smoke stacks. The carvings give the body a ripple effect. I remember the top glaze was sprayed on and gradually blended into the blue glaze. I forget the names of the two glazes. At any rate, I suppose some kind of meaning or narrative or symbolism could be constructed in retrospect. But there wasn't much to it at the time. One of the beauties of something like this, and much of art really, is the ambiguity of conceptual space and translation. The viewer is entirely free to make whatever meaning he/she wishes. In this piece, it would be entirely legitimate and any attempts to discover the artist's intentions behind the piece would be an exercise of imagination. There was no initial intention behind the piece other than fulfilling an assignment and make it look good to my taste. No meaning, no deliberate symbolism, no nothing when the piece was done.