Karen Sullivan on wed 1 aug 01
I try to talk to my students about the difference in the way
we learn.
Conceptual tasks are about the synapses firing and grasping the
idea or concept. Pathways of the brain....neurons...
Throwing is about the wisdom the body acquires to conduct a task.
So the only path to get there is repetition. Talk to anyone who
engages in a sports activity....
I experience joy in repeating forms, and at some point my body understands
the task and I am no longer mentally focused on the requirements to
accomplish the task. Cognitive psychology talks about this as well...
mentally you hand the job over and other aspects of the mental processes are
able to participate. Kinda like smoking a cigarette and chewing gum at the
same time....try adding, rubbing your stomach...any combination of
physical activities.
With a repetition of a series, if I am relaxed enough, something usually
creeps through, from behind my back and through my hands, that stops me
cold in amazed wonder of a new form/surprising product that has leapt from
my hands...That is what I hope for...the surprises.
It's about allowing variations to happen, relaxing within the framework of
experience and practice. That is the place where stuff happens that keeps me
interested and entranced with the processes of the wheel.
bamboo karen
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