We finished stacking the kiln today and bricked up the door. It was getting late but the long warm June day made it easier to have find the patience to correct mistakes.Now is a day of pause before we light the flame. I had various helpers and friends stopped by as we chose the pieces and decided on orientation. The question is always how much is this guess work and how much is known quantity. I reply that we make educated guesses. We rely on our photos as a piece of our memory. What did we do last time around. What shape had what placement. We learn and vary from the last attempt. This process is a collaboration between our hands, the clay, the flame and eventually how they are used.
"The camera relieves us of the burden of memory. It surveys us like God, and it surveys for us. Yet no other god has been so cynical, for the camera records in order to forget."
--John Berger
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