Two potent words. 
I was thinking about my plans for a vessel (a skep, actually) made of coiled scotch broom while I was out on my run this morning. And I was thinking about what to use for binding the coils. Sharon Kallis had suggested ivy, or blackberry, probably because the focus of the Urban Weavers Project is on using the extent of the local materials.  But I was planning to use waxed linen... and why? because I like things to be easier than annoyingly short strands of ivy that are difficult to poke through and pull tight; and because I want it to be strong and... practical.

But what is this 'practical' concept I keep dredging up? 

I realized that it's important to me that I take these objects seriously. Baskets are so mortal, so flesh-and-bone; handmade of simple, natural materials, with a human lifespan and  their connection to sustenance, ceremony, necessity. I want them to be 'practical' in the sense that I could use them in real life. And since my life tends to be a bit rough and careless, these baskets need to be vigorous and strong. I think it's appropriate for me to make a concession to the purity of the materials, in order to fulfill the purpose of the object.

Ultimately, the purpose of almost all the objects that I make is to challenge my fear of living without modern materials, such as plastics, nylon, rare earths for wireless technology, the soap that washes my hair and the dams that produce the electricity to heat the hot water for my precious showers. To me, these materials make it possible for me to live in denial of my mortality; and I am as attached to them as I am

hi Rebecca,
You know, I've just been thinking about this work "practical" a bit. Maybe you're familiar with the idea that we don't simply use language to articulate our thoughts or beliefs, but that the language we have to use informs our thoughts and beliefs. To take an obvious example, it's so hard for people to wrap their heads around the idea of a person who feels they are nearly a man or a woman, because we only have two possible, binary, pronouns for gender. The idea doesn't really exist in our language ("trans" is the word of the day, but still feels inadequate for many), so it doesn't make sense.

This is a little different, but maybe you need to strike "practical" from your vocabulary. Why is this even a question? Why is this a description for any object? What is so "practical" about a wolf carved and painted on the handle of a bowl? What is so 'practical' about a mass produced bowl from China, say, that has little or no value beyond the initial cost, that has no meaning or significance to its owner, which, as a mass produced bowl, only reinforces a devaluation of all objects and the consequent mass consumption and wastefulness of these same objects? Wouldn't a more expensive, hand made, emotionally significant, carved bowl be cared for better, for longer, passed down to one's children, connecting them to their past, and the stories the bowl holds in its carvings, and in the people who used it? 

The bowl is the thing needed to hold food, but people in every culture around the world through out time have needed to make objects their own - not simply beautiful, I don't think - but personal. Things that reflect their beliefs, values, curiosities, their cultures, memorialise people, mark significant days, honour animals, the moon, a particular tree. We're myth-makers, don't you think? and maybe it's just an industrial, consumer-culture thing to focus solely on the end result, to simply look at the object and assess it. What has developed my appreciation for basketry and the work that you do is what I've learned about the practice of doing it, that hands have made this laundry basket in my room even though it probably came from a chain store such as Home Sense. I think you are on the right track with doing workshops and making these beautiful objects, simply and not so simple. At Easter, a time when people just buy more crap, you offer a course on handwork, an opportunity to engage people in this basket-making - a new way to mark a transition, whether one is thinking about Jesus or just that spring is finally here. it's an occasion. 

Okay, I'm rambling. Now I'm thinking about narrative, story-making, and how irrelevant the word 'practical' is to story-making. "Valuable": that is the word. I'm going to go away now and think about how making objects is motivated by similar impulses as the making of stories. Myth makers, trying to see ourselves, trying to know ourselves, trying to be grateful, trying to be critical, trying to make symbols out of objects, meaning out of the banal.

later,
andrea

Andrea Routley is a writer, singer/songwriter and musician living in Victoria, BC.