Young Arts August - Message in a Bottle - Part Two

<< Part One 13 August 2009

Firing Day Programmme 20 August 2009

A West Street Potters Farnham Summer Project with Tom Barnett,
an incendiary ceramicist, funded by the Young Arts Group of FDFAS.

Firing day started at 7am. using sawn recycled pallets. Panic set in as heavy, but mercifully brief, rain threatened the entire project. A hasty improvisation with a rather singed tarpaulin and umbrella did the trick. The kiln was still very damp and the temperature rise needed to be very gradual until no condensed steam could be detected when holding a mirror over the chimney. After this speed was the essence of the day, strong breezes fanning the very dry wood.

Twilight showed the kiln at its best belching fire and smoke, smelling like a steam train, so alive that if wheels had appeared and the whole taken off into the woods, it would not have surprised us. We expected a magical moment approaching and were not disappointed.

The glowing red hot blanket was peeled away and the raw, visceral, dramatic effect that greeted the excited viewers was truly spectacular and had everyone dumbstruck. The shimmering bottle had every mark showing, a negative photographic image that crackled and ticked as it rapidly cooled. Pinpricks of light changed the structure into a passing cruise ship or a city at night. Tom threw some sawdust onto the bottle and this gave us a bonus firework display with plumes of sparks rising over the dark tree line.

The completed structure was intended for relocation near Lodge Pond as part of a new Forest Trail. Tragically the bottle fell apart as it was being moved. Apart from sadness at the loss of so much effort it was a fitting conclusion to a project that was about making and taking part.

Therein lay the object of this fascinating project. As Julia Quigley, a Director of West Street Potters said “We can do it all again” and we thank the West Street Potters for their inspired venture. It certainly ‘spread a little happiness’ over two days of the soggy Summer of 2009.

<< Part One 13 August 2009

FDFAS organiser: Beth MacCulloch
Copy by Julia Quigley
Photos by West Street Potters and Beth MacCulloch