The Thousands

If Rob Pattison had a potting wheel hobby in Twilight would everyone in the world have their eyes on pottery? Its process and its product? Would the value of pottery change in our society? Jacob Ogden Smith thinks visual mediums have an incredible power to charge the cultural value of things and he is probably quite right.

Pottery Practice Project is Smith’s commentary on ceramics represented through the telly – and for this he will be displaying a historical pottery timeline alongside Pottery Stills, “a collection of images taken from film and television, which depict popularised examples of pottery and pottery practice.” While pottery is usually relegated to the shelf, dismissed either for its blatant functionality or ‘hands-off’ breakability, it’s interesting to explore the traditional craft as translated through such a diametrically opposed medium. Think Patrick Swayze versus ancient greek amphorae, Coca Cola versus the Han dynasty…

Known for previously expressing himself through ceramic depictions of orificies and excretement – to explore the “curious nature of the art object” – Smith also wantonly throws his hair at potting wheels. Drinking my tea from this apparently boring old coffee cup, I look forward to a new appreciation post-checking out this quite hard-to-explain molding of mediums.