Page 18 - Contrast1971Fall

AND THE REST IS HISTORY

Allright so they give you a chunk of clay and say, Make something, but
what the hell are you supposed to make?

Since it doesn't really mean that much to you, you figure you'll make an
ashtray since they are easy to make and would present no problems. If you had
trouble in making it, either in getting the coils even or in smoothing them
together, you could just watch almost ten other people in the class who were
making ashtrays too. Besides, that way you could work half of the class and
dick off the other half and still get it done by the deadline. So an ashtray. B~t
hell, you don't even smoke and neither does anyone else in your family, so It
would end up sitting in your room collecting dust, and that bothers you when
you stop to think about it. Why should it be tucked away? Why not out where
people can see what you've done even if they're never gonna put it to use. And
besides, anybody can make a stupid looking ashtray, why even Elsie with her
buck teeth can make one. It's a wonder she doesn't slobber on it while she's
making it, she can't get her lip down over her front teeth. Maybe she does: It
keeps the clay from drying out too fast while she's working it. Yea, Elsie's buck-
teeth actually make it easier for her to do an ashtray than it would be for you.
Maybe if you had teeth like that you wouldn't worry about it either. But then
again, maybe Elsie needs an ashtray, but you'd rather have straight teeth and
make nothing than look like her and make the world's best ashtrays. She'll
probably put pink and blue stripes of glaze on it. She's like that.

Well if you're gonna sit here thinking and playing with your clay, you'd
better add a couple drops of water before it dries out any more and she gives
you a bunch of shit about your clay must be pliable and plastic at all times
during the creative stages; uniformly moist and even in thickness throughout,
otherwise it will break apart during the drying stages ... Christ, why doesn't
Kim just shove that hunk of clay down the old bag's throat. Her raspy heaving
speech is bad enough, but hell, Kim is the best artist in the class, and she never
gives her credit for anything. She is always on her back about it has no continu-
ity ... watch those darks and lights ... don't outline so much ... cough, cough,
cough. She never gives you as much shit as she gives Kim and yours is nothing
by comparison. You guess maybe she's just given upon you, but its easier that
way after all. Kim's making a cup or vase of some kind now with a fluted edge,
and it's perfect, ... just perfect.

But Sidney is doing a coiled snake. That's nice. She didn't execute as well
as Kim but she had much more in tne way of creative imagination and you