If you could perform alongside any artist (actor, dancer, musician, etc.), who would it be, and what would you perform?
Submitted by Kristin.
I heard stories from all around that Professor Zakin was tough. I heard people say they'd never want to take anothe class with him. I don't know what these peoples problems were really. I think part of it is that artists often ask "what do you think of my work" and I don't think they were expecting his honest answer. Quite frankly, I admired him for his honesty. If what I was doing didn't interest him or challenge us in one way or another, I didn't feel like I was doing what I do right. He didn't expect one particular process or style from everyone, but he expected effort and really wanted people to work outside of their own comfort zones. Can you imagine art if no one expressed themselves outside of a comfort zone? Would we have the treasures we cherish today? Would we find anything provocative? Probably not. When I took independent studies with Zakin, I felt 'free' to take chances. People who considered themselves more advanced that myself would often tell me "that's not going to work!" and I'd just shrug and passively dismiss it. If you feel free to take chances, you know that with it comes the freedom to make mistakes. If you don't feel that freedom and you prohibit mistakes, what is there to learn from? No two batches of clay are exactly the same and they all have characteristics that someone working with the medium has to learn in order to learn how to bend it to their will -- sometimes even defying the physics of the medium itself; the only way to learn how to "push it" is to welcome the possibility of failure. I also learned that you can still make are from failure. The proof is in my fish tank!
I'd like to work with Zakin again. I'd like to make something, put it through it's first firing process and allow him to show me how he'd finish it before the final firing. Not a suggestion of what glaze, but how he would complete it, where he'd take it from there. I always thought he had a lot to teach. I just wish I had the extra time to learn it.