Dimensions: 2” h x 2’w x 2’d glass, 11” h x 7” w x 10” D teapot
Unfired clay, green tea, glass
Seeking Beauty In the Motion Of Things
In 2010 I was invited to create a teapot for the exhibition Teapots: Object to Subject. I had made functional teapots before, but for this exhibit I took particular interest in creating a contemporary one that would make commentary about the cliché of the teapot and their makers but defy the very notion of what it could be. I would make reference to both Eastern and Western Cultures, the rich traditions of the tea ceremony and Western cultures adoption of it. Over the duration of the 3-month long exhibit I would conduct a “Tea Ceremony” in the beginning of the week. I would place three unfired slip cast mid-western teapots in the ceremony area and pour 12 quartz of hot tea in them. The tea would heat up, crack, and begin the process of sludging them down again into a thick slurry of clay and tea. The teapots would slowly erode, wavering back and forth throughout the week until all remains of the teapots were gone. At the beginning of the next week I would begin the performance again. I would ritually remove and clean the area, set the teapots in the exact place, and pour hot tea in each of them again. This ritual lasted 3 months and included over 30 slip cast teapots and over 100 quarts of hot tea.