Today I finally got my wonky bowls from the kiln, meaning they are fully fired and glazed now.
Continuing from my last post, I took the wonky bowls to The Warehouse and took photos of them next to mass-produced products that represent perfection.
I tried to take various shots and experimented with putting multiple ‘wonky bowls’ on the shelf and putting only one at a time on the shelf amidst the other products. I think the most successful shots are the ones in which I only placed one wonky bowl on the shelf, as it emphasizes the comparison I’m making between mass-produced ‘perfect’ items and my imperfect ‘failed’ items. I also noticed that the glazed items on the shelf featured in the photos all had stickers on them warning customers of their perfect imperfections, specifically because the exterior look of the products may vary slightly. I find it interesting that in this sense, uniqueness/singularity = imperfection. While perfection is not the only thing that gives items value, it’s no secret that a lot of people strive for perfection due to the way we associate it with success. So where’s the line between what is enhanced by its uniqueness and imperfections and what is deemed to have no value due to those same things? Which imperfections are ‘perfect imperfections’ and which aren’t?
I think while working on the last portion of the brief I’m going to aim to present my wonky bowls in a way that reflects the ideas I discussed above but in the studio rather than out in a store. The nature of photographing the wonky bowls in The Warehouse meant the work was temporary, so I want to be able to present the work in a way that encourages similar discussions that has more permanence.