This is an exhibition I organized for my advanced students in the Ceramics Program at IU Southeast. Myself and Chanda Zea, the current IUS Ceramics Resident Artist, also exhibited our work alongside them in the exhibition. The exhibition was titled CONNECT, and took place in the Blackburn Gallery at the Mary Anderson Art Center in Floyds Knobs, Indiana in April 2016.
 

Hi all –

An update from sabbatical land ..

It’s been a productive sabbatical so far –  4 new works made for the “Sweet home …” show at Zephyr Gallery, much work on the Standardized Test for Congress, then a new 3D printed and digital projection work for the IUS faculty show (also showing my Standardized Test there), now starting a new work for a show that Ben Ahlvers curated me into at the Lawrence Arts Center in Lawrence, KS.

When I began my sabbatical, one of my (many) goals was to establish a daily or weekly routine that could allow me to maintain more contact with my research and creative activity as I moved back into teaching and my regular school activities.  As those that have been in a tenure track teaching position can attest to, it’s not easy balancing all of the commitments one has at school with your research and other life commitments.  To be honest, I’ve really struggled with that during the last few years and have consequently been a little out of touch with some of the ideas in my work lately.

Enter sabbatical.  One of the really amazing things about sabbatical is that right now I can have the mind-space to establish that routine and figure out how to make new work in my new life.  Things are different now.  I have way more things on my plate, more responsibilities and commitments, and I think I may not have put enough emphasis on establishing a new routine for a new life.  It’s as if I thought that the same routine would work for a much different way of living.  Grad school days are WAY over (thankfully), but I can’t expect a routine that worked then, to work now.  Or even a routine that worked when I taught at Baylor (when I had way less on my plate) to work now.  So, new goal: find a new routine that works in my life as it is right now.  Must be productive and proactive, but also balanced and reflective.

In my new bullet journal, I started a list called “Find routine”.  One of the things on that list is doing a daily 20 minutes of distraction free (relatively for me) writing about some topic.  This is the first day of that.  I wanted to start doing this at the beginning of my sabbatical, but better to do it now than never, so here we go.  That was 18 minutes .. now 2 minutes for proofreading.  🙂

Things are on the up.

Brian

My advanced students keep a weekly blog about their progress in the studio throughout the semester. At the end of this semester, I asked them to reflect on the semester, prompting them with a few questions. One of the questions I asked them was .. What gets you up in the morning? What gets you to the studio?

Their answers are inspiring and remind me of some of the reasons I am engaged in my own studio practice …

“My son, my family, my art, my housework and my alarm gets me up in the morning. I come to the studio to center myself and some clay and remind myself that no matter how crazy and off center the world (or my clay) gets, it can be shaped into something beautiful or at the very least useful with a little time, practice, and work”.

“I come to the studio each day because it’s fun. I love the experience of starting from nothing, making the clay, wedging it, wedging it, wedging it, then throwing on the wheel to create something that I can take home and use and know that I had a hand in every creative process that it took for that work to exist. It satisfies me, and knowing that that piece could survive and be discovered thousands of years from now makes me feel a little invincible.”

“I look forward to going to the studio because it acts as my escape from the real world. I love being creative and seeing what I can make each day.”

“I want to bring a happiness to people. People’s lives are hectic and hard, and I want to give people a little haven from all that. This is what gets me in the studio and up in the morning.”

“Originally I made pots simply because I wanted to. But now it is immensely more personal than that; even beyond my comprehension. So everyday I can make pots is a day I spend on the forefront of my self, and that’s what makes me get out of bed in the morning. I belong to it.”

“I like to work; I enjoy what I do. I like the studio, every single studio, studios in general; I’m fortunate to be at a local school, with good studios and teachers and students I get along with and like. It’s amazing, and I’m grateful for the opportunities I have.”

So, what gets you up in the morning? What gets you to the studio?

I recently submitted a grant application where I had to write a short statement of my goals and aspirations.  I had a lot of fun writing it, so I just thought I’d share it.  Here it is …

I am deeply committed to a life of learning.  I believe in the quest for knowledge in a broad sense, understanding that knowledge comes from a range of pursuits: experience, mentorship, self-discovery, and searching for (and into) the things that offer wonderment and excitement.

I am an artist, an educator, and someone who feels an innate responsibility to contribute.  With this in mind, I pursue my interests not as novelty, but as motivation to become better at what I do.  As experience is gained, so too is the responsibility to give back to others – through the reach and breadth of my artwork, the example and mentorship I give my students, and by my efforts to broaden the opportunities available to others in my field.

Ultimately, I pursue these interests in search of new experience, working to synthesize these efforts in search of a better whole. 

Finally sent out my first newsletter.

Here's to sending out at least one more in the next 51 weeks.

here's the link ..

This is a new work about the evaporation of the 4th Amendment.  It's a single-pass webpage, meaning it only plays once (until you refresh your browser window).  It's also written in HTML5, so make sure your browser is HTML5 compliant.  You should hear the reading of the 4th Amendement and the slow fading of the text.  

It's posted at https://www.brianharperstudio.com/bill-of-rights/fourth-amendment.html

I'm excited to have been included in the selection process for the Boehm Gallery Ceramics Biennial – Dark Matter. Opens in a couple of week in San Marcos, California. If you're in the area, head on out!

We spent a big portion of the Fall 2013 building and firing a new wood kiln at IUS.  We built the new kiln on the new kiln pad, a project that finally came to fruition after years of meetings, emails, and more meetings.  The wood kiln is the first kiln we built in the new facility, but I hope to build a couple of more kilns as space and time allows.  In any event, here are some pictures of the build and first firing …

Hi all.  I've been really into this 1 Second Everyday project started by Cesar Kuriyama.  The basic premise of this project is, "What if you could remember something from every day of your life?".  It doesn't seem like 1 second is enough to remember much, but you'd be surprised what 1 second of visual and audio information can bring back to your memory.  

I was also a funder on his Kickstarter campaign, so I've been fortunate to receive updates and new releases – also was able to get the app before January first, so I'll be able to compile my 2013 year starting from Jan. 1st.  

In any event, I've been shooting my 1 second snippets all year and at the end of each month, I "mash my seconds" in the 1 Second Everyday app and post it to my YouTube channel.  To keep track of each month (and keep them in succession), I added a new page to this site to post them on.  I can't decide where exactly to link it in my site navigation, so for now, here's the link. https://www.brianharperstudio.com/1-second-everyday/

If you're interested, check out the app – it's available for iOS and Android.  It's really a cool project.

Enjoy!

Brian

Hi everyone –

I just posted a new work to the "Oscillations" page on this website.  It's actually a work I completed a couple of months ago, but I've been so busy with everything, I'm just now getting around to posting it.  It's in the show at Appalachian Center for Craft right now, so if you're in that area, please consider checking it out in person.  

Obviously, its similar to the some of the others in that series, however this work is much smaller and more tightly compacted than many of the other forms as I've been challenging myself to build those forms smaller and smaller.

In any event, that's it for now.  I still more new work to post, so stay tuned for more updates.

Brian