Touch grass? More like touch clay.
Practicing failure at MIT Arts Studio's pottery classes
First discovered as an undergraduate student
The first time I heard about the MIT Arts Studio was when I was an undergraduate student at MIT and saw an email sent out by a recent alumna to her former dorm Next House (which is right next to Tang): “Hey guys, sign ups for the fall classes came out today! It’s a lot of fun and you get to make cute bowls and cups! Definitely something I’m very thankful I did at MIT.”
I signed up to a beginner’s pottery class, dreams erupting from my imagination. I recently got into tea to deal with the cold Massachusetts winters. What if I made my own teapot and mugs? Wouldn’t it be cool to make bowls similar to the blue and white porcelain that I grew up eating out of? I had been insecure my whole life about not being good enough in a lot of creative pursuits – drawing, dancing, singing. This was my chance!
At the end of the semester, I had one small mug with an awkwardly large handle and one red bowl with a very thick bottom. They were the results of over 12 classes where the teacher would demonstrate with the other students crowded around. I struggled to get my clay to cooperate on the wheel, whether it was getting centered, pulling even walls, or trimming a nice foot. I was ready to shelve pottery with all of my other creative pursuit dreams.
As it turns out, my experience is not unique. While I grew up watching Blue’s Clues and Sesame Street, it is now Peppa Pig who is teaching current toddlers that pottery is not easy. If only I had the catchphrase, “Oh no, it all went wrong!” to refer to when I failed at the wheel.
When my teacher asked me if I would sign up next semester, he said, “You know, most people don’t even make a complete pottery piece by themselves after their first semester. You made 2! You should take this class again.” I then learned that everyone else in my class was not learning pottery for the first time, but in fact were repeat students. One was even taking it for the fifth time. I clicked the next semester’s sign up link, determined again to make a teapot.
As a graduate student
Now that I have taken many pottery classes and come back to MIT for a Master’s at the Technology and Policy Program (TPP), I have found myself reflecting more on how pottery has prepared me for the graduate student experience. In some ways they are similar, and other times they balance each other out. How learning pottery compares to the graduate student experience of MIT:
- It takes time and repetition to build the muscle memory to serve as your foundation to make any ceramic piece. Similarly, I find that concepts stick better in my knowledge as when I learned them previously and then apply to following classes or my research. If you worry about forgetting or messing up, the truth is that if you learned it once, you remember much faster than the first time you learned it.
- Destroying your work is how you learn. I learned to cut up my projects when I realize I don’t love it or when it starts to fall apart, to figure out why it didn’t work. Wisdom comes in the form of knowing when to start over and try a different approach instead of trying to brute force fixes or changes. Similarly, I have had to ditch many paths in my research when it became clear it wasn’t working out, and having to brainstorm new ways. Instead of focusing on the end product, I have learned to find joy in the process of learning and trying new things in both pottery and research.
- You decide what your “curriculum” is. Naturally the teacher has demonstrations of steps that everyone goes through to make something, but you get to decide if it becomes a mug or a bowl. The only external deadlines you have are the last day of wet clay, when you can’t start any new projects. Practicing initiative in my progress and learning helped me transition from my mindset of taking required classes as an undergraduate to deciding which classes to take with TPP’s flexible curriculum and progressing on my research as a graduate student.
- Finally, you’re left with a physical object that anyone can appreciate. As a MIT graduate student, I sometimes struggle with people’s high expectations when they learn of what school I go to, or that my work may not mean anything to people outside of my field. In contrast, people use pottery and ceramics in their everyday lives. Not many people want to be gifted a mathematics proof, but everyone appreciates a mug. When I feel isolated by the MIT label, pottery helps me connect back to the common human experience.
As an alum, reflections on the benefits after MIT
As a student, I loved pottery because I had to clear my mind and pay attention to how things felt physically, the antithesis of what I was doing in my mathematics and computer science courses, where the lessons were theoretical and intangible. The wheel forced me to confront and honor my feelings (which happens to be a common experience). However, this hobby continued to give me a community and ground me after I graduated MIT from undergraduate. When I lost my job in a new city, going to pottery classes gave me community and a routine. After sleepless nights in front of my computer in my claustrophobic apartment, going outside to let clay spin between my hands on the wheel while chatting with my classmates was therapeutic. Touching clay was my “touching grass”, both when I was at MIT and when I moved on to being an alumni.
In addition to pottery classes, The MIT Arts Studio also offers drawing, painting, and photography classes. You can join the mailing list to learn about signing up for classes during the fall, IAP, spring, and summer. Fair warning, these classes are very popular, and often have no space a few minutes after signups go live at noon! Outside of the MIT Arts Studio, MIT is a place full of artistic and maker endeavors, such as the makerspaces, glassblowing lab, and blacksmithing. There are workshops that you can show up to once to learn a skill, like print-making and glass etching. While you may be considering MIT for the academic rigor or professional opportunities, I invite you to explore what it has to offer activity-wise. You may just find a new hobby and community that will serve you at MIT and for life.
Oh, and at the time of writing, I am proud to say that I have made 4 teapots.
- First teapot I made!
- Second teapot that I tried to make with a bigger body and more prominent spout
- Tried a different glaze technique and add a flare around the lid.
- Teapot inspired by traditional Korean Celadon pumpkin/squash teapots
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