I bought a hand-thrown mug last weekend.
It’s sturdy and well made, but it bears the irregularity of a handmade object.
It’s glazed with a beautiful purpley-blue glaze.
I find that I love it so much.
I didn’t buy this mug because I needed a mug…I bought it because I loved seeing an artist doing their thing.
I bought it because I wanted to send a little hope her way. A little bit of affirmation.
I bought it because it tickled me that she and I both loved this color of purple.
I bought it because I wanted a little memento from my friend’s pottery studio so I could remember the day.
I held it and thought about how many hours it must have taken to complete each step. And how she had so, so many things that represented so, so many hours.
I thought about how she was standing outside on a hot sunny day selling her wares.
I thought about how my ancestors must have ONLY had the option to use hand-made clay vessels at some point.
Can I tell you a secret?
I still wonder from time to time what the point is. What is the point of being a good illustrator when you can ask Midjourney to make something in any style imaginable in under a minute? What is the point of writing the great American novel when you can get ChatGPT to do it? What’s the point of doing anything yourself when a factory will do a more consistent job at a larger scale, and more profitably, than you can?
It makes sense to wonder about these things.
We’re so driven to see the value of our investments. We are so focused on the dollars making it “worth our time”, that we miss something fundamental. Something we might not even realize.
That all of the value in the world actually comes from US.
When I talk about “designers” and “creatives”…I’m addressing pretty much the entire human race. It’s our innate nature to create.
And when we see software creating something new, we have to realize that we’re just looking at a reflection of ourselves. (Sometimes a muddled one, but a reflection nonetheless.)
So what’s the point?
Well, it’s the wrong question.
I think the right question would be: In a world of infinite collective human creativity that has a stupefying level of power and ingenuity, why do we fight against having our own contributions be visible?
I’m going to end it there. Hope you are enjoying your Spring :)
-Cathy