Pots! Photo Credit: Me!
Another of my bait-and-switch posts – not that kind of pot. 😀
Nor am I referring to our modern cooking pots. The pots I truly love are those that were made over the centuries by people now long gone; who sat at their potters’ wheels molding clay with patience and artistry. When their pots dried, they decorated and glazed them, and then kiln-fired them to permanently set their shapes and colors.
Even in today’s world of molded, mass-produced pots, the art of pottery making remains true to the traditions passed down from antiquity. Whether ancient pots were made for necessity, trade or art; today we revere the bits, pieces and unspoiled examples of their work by enshrining them in glass so that we can oooh, ahhh, and wonder whose hands gave them form.
What will survive of the work we create in these times? Assuredly many of the arts we’ve inherited from the ancients: paintings, sculptures, books, and of course, pots. They have already proved their longevity.
Will our computers, phones, and other electronic devices be enshrined? If so, they will only work if batteries and electrical adapters are also preserved. But it doesn’t have to be that way. Imagine the thrill of someone from a far future generation finding a piece of our technology, turning it on, and marveling that it still works. Tell me – can we wean ourselves from transient energy sources and transform our technology into functional art?
