Feat of Clay

I performed Feat of Clay on Friday, November 19th at 2:30pm. The performance lasted around an hour and fifteen minutes. Since we are in an educational setting I want to document here some changes in the composition and some improvisation that happened during the performance. If I ever do another performance I don’t think I will document them in this way - with insights/explanations about what was happening internally.

First, lets discuss changes in the elements or props.

changes in elements

I made changes in all elements – the clay, the trays that I walked in, and the fabric that I walked on. For the performance I chose to work with the Appalachian red clay rather than the grey clay – I thought that perhaps there would be more of a transition between the two clays on the fabric. In the end this didn’t happen; I think the fabric would need to be much, much longer. It did however conserve the clay that I throw with. This clay is much harder to dig and seems more precious. When I initially composed the piece I used the top of my Rubbermaid containers as trays and had given little thought to that part of the piece. I researched the indexical mark references that Andrew gave me – especially Anna Mendietta’s Silhouetta Series. This research revealed the importance of bringing the trays into the gallery.

Because of the expanse of the floor piece and the narrowness of the Side Gallery I had to build much narrower trays. Even so, they were too deep to hang horizontally and so I built custom bracket mounts to angle them at forty-five degrees on either side of the fabric. I had planned to make the trays out of plywood and then at the last moment both my woodworker husband and Jonathan expressed concern because I was using water on unfinished plywood. The schedule at that point didn’t leave room for finishing and they were suggesting alternative materials to me. (Why do the experts only notice unsound plans at the last moment, lol?) In the end I wound up coating the trays in wax which dried fast and repelled the water and wet clay. It looks to have worked because the wood is not warped and there is no delamination.

Appalachian Red Clay on the left and Suburban Cone 6 clay on the right. You can see the wax coating on the plywood. Some parts were soft and melted because they had been drying in the sun.

I also decided that I wanted to walk on fabric rather than paper, and further I didn’t want to walk on plain woven fabric. In this body of work I have thought a lot about substrates and have realized that the substrates for this particular body of work are conceptually important. I chose a cotton fabric referencing the cotton mills and decided that I would piece the fabric referencing unfinished quilt tops as I have done in other parts of my work. I chose one block, a star block, to represent home and then sketched out rectangles that would be simple to cut and sew quickly.

I was working in the Fiber studio next to Malik who was on campus working on a paper project. I had helped him clarify a process for creating some really large sheets of clay paper that he was struggling with and asked him to come and take a look at my sketch - there was one one corner that I was struggling to balance. He said, “No, no, no you can do better than that.” We have had several conversations about the history and meanings of certain quilt blocks over the past year and a half. He was encouraging me to put more of that history than the star block into the piece. So, if you look closely at the piecing there is a long section of Flying Geese symbolizing traveling or moving and another large simple triangle to symbolize mountains. Here is a documentation shot of the piece before the performance:

changes and improvisation in the composition

There were two simple changes that I made based on the critique of Tom and Chengou from Portfolio One. To preserve the indexical mark I took Chengou’s advice to wander - we don’t always travel the same way. I paired that with Tom’s advice to create little rules for myself. So, so every time I was on the number 11 I strayed from the normal back and forth line. The result was some nice indexical marks on the edges of the piece. Other things that I had discussed with Tom were helpful - would I speak during the performance? Would I count in my head or should I use a click counter like I use in my knitting? I chose not to speak and I chose to use a counter.

The beginning of the piece was kept the same. I had everything set up with the help of my son, Jesse, who handled the documentation. On the spot, less than 10 minutes before I was to begin it didn’t feel right to stand there waiting so I made arrangements with him to retreat to my studio and come out at exactly 2:30. I had left my Christmas Town USA sweatshirt in the studio earlier that week and decided it was the perfect thing to wear and made it a part of the performance by hanging it on the chair and putting it on before I began. I also had this heightened awareness of everything I had in my pockets. I realized that the things that I was carrying with me would be significant. So I left my phone and ID with Jesse and when I was in my studio preparing myself I emptied my pockets of everything but the pocket knife my Dad gave me and one of my small ceramic pebbles glazed with my suburban clay that I have been carrying in my pocket.

When I left the studio and headed to the chair I was aware that there was a small group of people watching but I chose to block out everything. I was very much aware of the silence. I’ll briefly list a few thoughts about the improvisations that happened below:

1) Orientation - I chose to orient the Appalachian clay toward the Big Oak Tree. During my first arrival at UNCC in 1994 I often retreated under that large tree in the quad. There were a few emotional moments during those first years away from home and for the most part I processed those sitting under that tree. It wasn’t planned it just felt right and I didn’t even specifically remember those events - the memories were triggered by the performance itself.

2) Stepping Out of the Tray - the first part of the performance was awkward. The awkwardness came from my struggle to find a rhythm for all of this walking, a pattern for how to step in and out of the clay, a pattern to turn, etc. At one point the idea occurred to me that I could step one foot in the tray and then have a natural pace with the other foot over the edge into the grass. I realized that it felt like ‘crossing over’ or crossing through. It felt decisive. I decided that I would do this but only on the Appalachian side. (I think this decision was made before I crossed, or maybe the realization happened after doing it on the other side and realizing the significance – I’ll have to watch the documentation to know for sure, but I decided I would do it only on the one side.) The moment I did it I realized that leaves were sticking to my feet and they got mixed into the clay and tracked onto the quilt. I realized that the significance was that this place (UNCC) became a part of the piece. It seemed fitting.

3) Responding to the Present – I decided to give myself fully to what was happening. I let my emotional guard down and let the feelings and memories come and those very much influenced the pacing and different sections of the performance. The orientation of the piece was such that when I was ‘traveling home’ the wind was blowing directly at me. I met those breezes and the warm sun with pauses and just enjoyed those moments like a caress of time.

There have been times when I have gone home and really not wanted to come back. I allowed myself to sit on the Appalachian side when I reached 100. This was a milestone that I set in the first part of the performance but not beforehand.

For much of the performance I kept one foot only in the Piedmont and planted both feet firmly in Appalachia. That was a conscious improv - just a way to illustrate the strength of my perceived connections. There have also been times when I have felt more connected here and I let myself remember and enjoy those connections and friendships as well. And so sometimes I planted both feet in the Piedmont clay and enjoyed that connection.

Another improv section was my interaction with the clicker. Sometimes I clicked it slowly, sometimes with frustration, etc. depending on which part of the performance I was in. None of this was planned - it flowed naturally from my emotional state during that part of the performance.

4) I had planned to get a bit of video with the 360 camera over my shoulder - it would show my feet from above and behind almost like I was being followed by a drone – cool, but it felt disruptive so I didn’t do that either. I did ask for my phone at one point to get direct down footage as I walked. I bungled that footage because I wasn’t aware that Jesse had already hit record for me so when I hit the button it stopped recording, lol.

5) When I made the quilt top there was just enough fabric left over to cover up the quilt. I decided that after I was finished I would cover it with a clean cloth (like a burial cloth) and fold it up and place a rock from home on top and carry it like that into the gallery. I had originally thought I would choose someone from the audience to participate but the piece felt very much like a solo while I was performing so I didn’t do that. I didn’t even want to stop and put on my shoes - I carried the quilt top into the gallery in my bare feet. It feels like an odd connection but I let everyone talk me out of getting married barefoot so this felt like a very fitting thing to do, lol.

6) There were several small things that happened during the performance that were triggered by memory and totally unplanned. One happened after I performed the foot washing. Suddenly I found myself with this bucket of left over water and I wasn’t sure what to do with it. I quickly asked myself if I should just leave it left over, pour it out? At that moment I saw my grandmother emptying her washing pans. She would swirl the water to get all the settled debris to leave the bottom of the pan and then ‘pitch it out’ of her pan. Instinctively I swirled and pitched - something that I don’t think I’ve ever consciously done before.

documentation

I am just now beginning to take a look at the photos and footage that Jesse captured. I will be building a page on my website to document the entire project and any unpublished media will be archived on Vimeo (I just signed up for a paid account). For now I have easy access to this short video that he captured on my phone:

plans for deinstallation

When I take down my installation I don’t plan to keep the piece. Using a bucket of water from the creek at home I plan to was all of the clay from the fabric in the side gallery. I will not use detergent so hopefully the clay will stain the fabric in some interesting way. I will be documenting this process as well. I hope that this piece of fabric will get used again for another project.