Great story, Kathy! I love the sense of the drama of that age, you know you're sort of discovering the scale at which you want to live, and at that age the desired scale is pretty big, and one's abilities are really not up to it. You discover how much courage you have-- a lot, I think, in your case!
I have smashed work, stuffed it in dumpsters, abandoned it (once discovered that the closet it was stuffed in on my departure from san francisco had leaked for a few years (I was gone a long time) because the building had been abandoned. The work was largely ruined but a few drawings had grown beautiful molds. So I took them back. Do medical students frame the cadavers on which they practice? I think it's good to dispose of things when they're no longer alive. On 4/22/06 11:35 AM, "Kathy Forer" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > On Apr 22, 2006, at 8:02 AM, Melissa McCarthy wrote: > >> Has anyone on the list ever done anything wildly destructive and/or >> cathartic with old work, then used the remains to create something >> new? (I'm thinking of an art bonfire in a metal trashcan in my own >> case, an idea I've toyed with for a while, and this may be the >> year....) > > When I was of a certain age, too young to mention, I had my first boy- > girl party (that young) and when no one was paying enough attention > to me I irrationally went over to fireplace and oh so casually lent > elbow against mantel and swept away my younger precious work. At > least two lions modeled after the Public Library lions -- my poor > memory doesn't clue me in to what else -- were lost. > > The scary thing is I think it was pre-meditated. I recall practicing > sweeping my elbow against the mantel. It was some kind of hail mary > commitment to my own private world. > > Instant regret and it obviously did nothing but embarrass me. I spent > the night contemplating sitting on our thirteenth floor ledge but was > scared. I thought if I could sit there, legs hanging down, I'd show > myself how brave I was. So I sat on the radiator inside with legs out > the open window, inching out until it seemed ridiculous. > > I've ruined work by working on it too much, taking it where it in > contradictory nullifying directions. I've also neglected the stuff, > which is tantamount to destroying it slowly. I've also been > preemptive and recycled some long-worked clay too soon. I keep every > scrap now and someone will have to cope with it when I'm gone. > Luckily there's a creek nearby, for now, and it would make good > landfill. > > My teacher spoke of how he once threw his early work out over a > bridge. It was inspirational, perhaps I'll start with a few known duds. > > Some ceramic artists recycle work into mosaic. Taking a hammer to > work is a badge of honor, of cool-headed appraisal and judgment, good > choices and priorities. Not very fluxus. > >
