“Why make?”
This simple question is the focus of British ceramicist Clare Twomey’s latest project – making 1,000 bowls instead of buying them. She, along with a handful of University students, has been making clay bowls for the last two weeks.
This isn’t Twomey’s first project like this. Her “Forever” project consisted of reproducing 1,345 two-handled, salt-glazed stoneware cups for The Nelson Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas. Members of the public could take home one of these cups, but only if they signed a deed from the museum stating they would keep it forever.
In this project, Twomey encouraged students to consider why they are making these bowls.
“I ask the students what difference does it make that we’re making rather than buying,” Twomey said.
Twomey also runs a blog students can join. There, she poses the same question.
“The blog is the place where we’re having the discussion,” she said. “If I ask them, ‘Why did we bother making these bowls?’ it makes a big discussion.”
Ceramics professor Andy Shaw said the responses to the forum were great.
“A two-word question may seem easy to respond to, but it’s hard,” Shaw said.
Twomey added the feedback was “heartfelt.”
The bowls are made by pouring liquid clay into a mold, then using a heat gun to speed the drying process as well as shrink the bowls so they come out of the mold. Instead of the specific bowl-maker’s name, a number between 1 and 1,000 is carved into the bottom of the bowl. This is an important aspect in Twomey’s project.
Workers that mass produce items don’t sign each one with their name, Twomey explained. But someone that hand-makes something has their name on everything they make.
“Authorship and ownership is an intense topic on the blog,” she said. “We talk about reasons to not mass produce, like individualism of a specific project.”
Shaw added there was a personal interest for those working on the project.
“There’s a great deal of pride in everyone who works on it,” he said.
The students involved said they greatly enjoyed themselves. Art freshman Tanner Simoneaux said the project was an eye-opener, and he was amazed at “the quantity and how fast this is being produced.”
“You don’t think about how a bowl is made until you’ve made one yourself,” Simoneaux said. “It’s a lot of work.”
He also praised the openness of the project, saying anyone can walk in, volunteer and they’re immediately part of it.
Twomey agreed and said the levels of experience of the students varied.
“We have students who have worked with clay before and students with no clay experience,” she said.
Fine arts freshman Rachael Noto saw the process and results of this project for the first time that day.
“It’s amazing, what [Twomey] is doing,” Noto said.
 
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Contact Taylor Balkom at [email protected].