Tall Pots at Duke Studios
I’ve had a gorgeous afternoon playing with clay! We were doing so well until we had a leaning tower situation! So much fun!
On 25th March, 2018 we welcomed 63 people to our Hey Clay! workshop at The Event Space at Duke Studios. It’s the biggest clay event Sunken Studio have done. We hope there will be plenty of opportunities for more!
Absolutely loved it!
As part of the Craft Council’s Hey Clay! weekend Sunken Studio hosted a rumbustious day of clay – a free happening for adults at The Event Space at Duke Studios. We explored divergent approaches to using clay: building big, taking risks and playing! We ignored the rules: working intuitively and quickly. There were lots of issues to deal with – there always are with clay. Things slumped, leaned and toppled. We wrestled with our whole body, sured-up with anything that was nearby (improvising with sticks, tubes and chairs), the hairdryer held-up to continuous use and pots sunbathed in the Yarden.
Was a lot of fun!! Once we stopped questioning ourselves we did quite well! (Though it did look very sorry for itself at the end!)
The workshop focused on material exploration on a large scale but with limitations – the plan was to discover how to maximise your options by minimising choices. We think constraints are great – they encourage material and technical experimentation, idea generation and help exercise lateral thinking and problem-solving skills.
Playing with clay for the sake of playing. Always a pleasure to work with Sunken Studio.
The task was to build the tallest structures with as little clay as possible. Some people worked alone but most worked in pairs to become a formidable cohort of makers, architects, builders… cut, configure, construct…
Finesse was important – how it was made, stability and craftsmanship mattered just as much as height!
Timing is important when working with clay. It needs to be just right and it’s a material knowledge that comes with loads of practice, patience and ongoing frustrations. You can’t make it do what it doesn’t want to. You have to wait. We didn’t have time to wait in our workshop at Duke Studios. We wanted the session to be an assault course of sorts. The results? Well, they spoke of clay – plastic, elemental & absolutely not as forgiving as you might expect. Good fun though. Many people commented on how things didn’t got to plan. They did! The plan was always to wrestle with it, feel it, know it & laugh!
When the session was over works were dismantled and, where possible, the clay reused. We wanted to celebrate clay and hand-building techniques so ignored many of the rules associated with firing.
Who are Hey Clay! events for?
Hey Clay! is for everyone who fancies having a go at pottery. Some venues run sessions exclusively for adults, young people or children, but many venues run sessions that families can attend together.
What is Hey Clay?
The Craft Council’s Hey Clay! weekend is a national celebration of clay that gives everyone the opportunity to get creative with clay at free pottery workshops. Hey Clay! is part of the Get Creative festival which has been extended this year to run from 17 – 26 March 2018. Get Creative is a national campaign to support everyday creativity which is run by BBC, Crafts Council, Voluntary Arts, Family Arts Campaign, Fun Palaces, What Next?, Arts Council England, Arts Council Wales, Creative Scotland, Arts Council of Northern Ireland, 64 Million Artists and Creative People and Places.
Who was involved?
This project was made possible with funding from Leeds Inspired and Sunken Studio. Leeds Inspired is part of the city’s cultural programme that celebrates arts events and projects throughout the year, supporting high quality, accessible cultural experiences for Leeds’ residents and visitors. Founded in 2012, Leeds Inspired supports culture in the city through grants schemes, commissions and a ‘What’s On’ events website. Leeds Inspired is part of Leeds City Council.
In addition to support from Leeds Inspired, the event couldn’t have happened without our volunteers. Thank you for helping, it was much appreciated and most welcome!
Jo Crawford photographed the morning event and Zoe East (Opal Video) filmed the afternoon: both summed up the Sunday vibe, and what we try to achieve through our workshops, wonderfully.
About Duke Studios:
Duke Studios is an open collaborative space in the City Centre of Leeds. With a company motto of people first, business second, Duke is not your usual work space provider. Based around a Coworking model, Duke Studios provides a range of workspaces, creative services and facilities.
If you are interested in booking an event a Duke Studios. Do. It’s more than just a space.