COUNTER
PRODUCTIVE
Gracia Haby & Louise Jennison, Natalie Lleonart, Katherine Myers,
Tiffany Parbs, Lyndal Peake, Stuart Williams
Gallery 1, Craft Victoria, Melbourne
I shop therefore I am
Take a cup, put it on a pedestal, write about it, honour it, and admire
the shape and form. Take that same cup and make fifty of them. Put them
in a shop, put them on sale. Have a party, lose a few, maybe leave one
or two on the front porch to be found in the haze of the following morning.
It's ok, I can always buy more.
I am the buyer so I can only speak from my side of the bed. A cup is
a cup and at the end of the day I want it to hold water. I want it to
be beautiful. I want it to be well made, I want to know who made it
and sometimes just like in Art — I want to know how many
of them there are, just in case I don't want to put hot water in it,
just in case it belongs on the shelf under perspex with archival information
beneath it. I am the buyer, I will decide how much reverence the object
deserves because the customer is always right... right?
Buyer doesn't really get to know Maker, only the made. Where that object
is positioned for both parties may be wildly different. But my hands
are going where their hands have been. I can sense the Maker just out
of reach. My experience of the cup I have to wash and watch in my day
to day life is vastly different to the cup under the glass. This is
an intimate relationship, a private one, a quiet one. One that is not
often celebrated.
Like many long term relationships that initial buzz of falling in love
is often replaced by a kind of gentle familiarity that can sometimes
render the object almost invisible. Its usefulness and loyalty is often
taken for granted until a chip appears. Then decisions need to be made.
Do I discard the cup, replace it with another? Do I push it to the back
of the cupboard never to be used again? Or do I ignore the flaw and
continue using it? What would the Maker think of all this? Appalled
by the flaw or pleased at the objects continued life?
What if we all got together, the three of us and had a party. We could
talk about this long time love we've had for one another. A party where
we can finally celebrate our friendship. Where Maker would be chuffed
that Buyer put tea in cup, toast on plate, scarf on neck, ring on the
finger, brooch on the coat, flowers in the vase, notes
in the book.
Maker, Buyer, Made all aware of each other, equal partners delighting
in each others contribution to the process that gives the object a life
beyond the studio, beyond the gallery and beyond the Counter.
Ramona Barry, Writer, buyer, maker and Craft Victoria Administrative
Officer.
Ramona
Barry, Words and Pictures
Louise
Jennison
An Egyptian artifact
2009
watercolour and pencil
