Eva Funderburgh

I had some very odd news this week.

One of my pieces, Cuckoos #3: Unexpected Twist, just finished being displayed in the 3rd Biennial Concordia Continental Ceramics Competition in St. Paul, MN.  I’d been stressing about the piece being shipped back, since it’s both large and delicate.  When I got a call on Monday from the organizer, I immediately started worrying, only to be utterly surprised.  The piece had been stolen.

While the gallery was open for local artists to pick up their work, someone had walked in and left with four piece that did not belong to them.  The university didn’t realize the problem until they were preparing to pack up the out-of-town pieces. A vase by Leopold Foulem, a wonderful teapot-ish sculpture by Gerald Ferrari, and a piece by Kevin Snipes were also taken.  (Gerald has a very insightful blog post about the theft.) The total listed value for the work was over $12,000, most of that was due to Foulem’s vase. All the same, a life of crime stealing ceramics sculptures is hardly a way to get rich quick. Heck, if there’s a way to get rich in ceramics, there’s lots of ceramics artists who’d love to know about it.

Overall, my response has mostly been confusion.  I am a bit worried about my piece, as to whether or not its safe.  My biggest fear if that some scofflaws just grabbed it on a whim, and it’s been trashed somewhere.  That would break my heart.  The university has said that they’ll deal with the insurance, so at least I’m not worrying about that.  They could have handled the show taken down better, but no sense in being angry about that – they didn’t want this to happen either. I guess it’s a bit flattering that someone likes the piece so much, but really, it would have been better to for them to just buy it.  It’s been so weird seeing pictures of it on the local news, and having my relatives emailing each other about it. Add to all that, it’s not a small piece! It’s large enough it needs to be carried in both arms, and the surface is delicate enough that it could be scratched by snaps or zippers. While I guess do feel strangely honored to be on a list that includes everyone from Miro and Van Gogh to the other 3 artists from this show, I would really rather people just didn’t do stuff like this. It’s so disrespectful to the artists, the work, and the institution that it’s hard for me to wrap my mind around it.

Not cool, random thief, not cool.

I just finished up the timelapse video I made of the creation of one of my saggar fired pieces.  I recorded the creation of “Cuckoos #2: Nest”.  It tracks the piece from the start to the bisque firing.  I particularity enjoy being able to see the process of burnishing the nest.  The video is on vimeo since it was just a hair too long for Youtube.

Sculpture Timelapse: Nest from Eva Funderburgh on Vimeo.

As folks who have been following my twitter might have guessed, I’m about to head out for a woodfiring! I’ve just finished packing up several months worth of critters, who will loaded into the kiln this Saturday and Sunday. They’ll be unloaded in two weeks on Saturday, November 28th.
Most of these guys will then be going directly to the Island Gallery on Bainbridge Island, for their December show, “Beauty and the Beasts”. I’ll be featured along side their annual fashion show. Some will be coming to my studio’s annual holiday sale and party. Stay tuned to my twitter for updates on the firing!

I’ve been back from Japan for a week or two now, working on sorting through the 1200 photos I took over there, and starting to get back to work in the studio.  Now that the the whole crazy japan trip has finally sunk in, and I’m no longer jet lagged, I figured I should try and compile my thoughts on Design Festa into a blog post.

Design Festa was great, but really, unlike anything I could ever imagine.  I think for the most part, nothing in my experiences could have given me an idea of what I’d gotten myself into.  (Think one part art fair, one part Japanese school festival, one part burning man.)  It really boiled down into 16 hours of interacting and talking with people, across a culture and language barrier, about art.  And when it comes down to it, that’s pretty cool.

Design Festa is made up of a maze of tiny little art cubicals.  There’s about 1500 booths, many with different artists each day, so it’s practically impossible to see everything.  It’s loosely divided by type, ranging from 2-D art to clothing to a darkened zone for lit sculptures and installations.  Artists get a chunk of floor – either one or two tatami mat’s worth  – and do anything that they might want with it.  I get the feeling the more people get their both to show off their work then to make a profit from the show.  Installation, performance art, and just hanging out were quite common. In fact, the booth walls (which you had to rent) were designed for you to attack with ink, acrylic, and almost anything you wanted.

There were also several stage areas where you could sign up for a time slot.  There was a constant stream of really cool and different performances going on at all time, from 20 pieces bands to very happy girls playing taiko.  There were a surprising number of different ninja gymnastics dance groups.  (They did backflips to music while holding swords, in ninja garb)

While I’d seen photos of all the individual parts of the show online, there was nothing out there that could give me a feeling of what it would be like to actually have a booth there. In the end, while there were a number of things I might have changed, I would go back again in a second. It was just so cool to be able to interact and talk with artists and art fans from all over the world.  (I speak a little Japanese, and folks generally spoke English).  I got to talk about using a traditional Japanese kiln in America, about ceramics, and about Seattle. I got to watch the crowds streaming by, in everything from pink frilly dresses to Godzilla suits, to a troop of knights in armor (Europeain, not samurai). In short, it was an amazing chance to spend a weekend dedicated to art, in all of it’s strange, strange forms.

I recommend spending some time exploring the design festa flickr pool – there was so much more stuff out there than I could photograph.

I’ve been running around for the past few weeks, trying to get everything together for Design Festa vol. 29, one of Asia’s biggest art events.  Design Festa is a twice yearly free for all of art, with 15,000 booths of art, 70,000 visitors, live music, and all sorts of art related things.  Tomorrow, we leave to fly across the world and to set up our little booth in Tokyo Big Sight, the largest (and possibly strangest looking) expo site in Japan.

The fair will open at 11am on Saturday the 16th and should be a crazy non-stop art experience.  We’ll be in booth D-001, the very first booth in the main Atrium.  We’ll be pretty easy to spot.  I’m bringing 15 critters, 1000 postcards, and 200 business cards (assuming the business cards get here in time).  Should be an awesome weekend.

I’m not sure what the wireless internet set up will be like in the convention center.  I’m going to be taking photos non-stop and will be trying to upload them as I go.  I should also be posting to twitter when I can, so feel free to follow me.  In addition to our time in Tokyo, we’ll also be spending a while in Kyushu and Shikoku.  We’ll also be stopping by the studio of Mike Martino, an American working as a traditional potter in Karatsu, Japan. All in all, this should be an incredible trip!

All of my newest work is now up on flickr. Enjoy!

Despite the late hours I’ve been spending in the studio, I’ve also been playing around with a twitter account. You can follow my twitter account here! It’s mostly photos of in progress critters, along with random observations and so forth. Now then, back to the studio.

I have a woodfiring coming up in less than three weeks. Since I only fire three times a year, this is a pretty big deal. I’ve been stressing a bit about getting enough done. I’ll be putting in extra studio time on nights and weekends.

However, I’m pretty excited about some of the work that I have coming up.  I’ve already taken start to finish timelapse of about 4 pieces, though I’ll have to wait until after the firing to compile the videos.  Here’s a sneak peek at some of the piece I’ve been working on.

Since I’d pretty much sold out of work, I went to retrieve some pieces from a few of my galleries.  I now have more pieces avaliable for sale online!  Check them out here!

This last Saturday, I got posted on Notcot.org, a really cool design blog.  I’d been enjoying it for a while, and their recent posts about ceramics inspired me to send in a link to my site. They were kind enough to post it, and for the past few days, people from across the entire globe have been stumbling onto my site! I decided it would be fun to collect some of blogs from around the world that have been posting my work.

Russia – http://www.lookatme.ru/flow/eva-funderburgh-zabavnyie-keramicheskie-monstryi

I had a whole lot of fun looking over this site with a Russian speaking friend of mine.  Their commentary is really interesting. Also, the phrase “Keramicheskie Monstryi” totally made my day.

France – http://marieaunet.blogspot.com/2008/11/eva-funderburgh.html

I really like their mouse icon. Also, they have a post of creepy if cool dolls.

China – http://handcraft.blogbus.com/logs/31692079.html

Great site design.  Also, I’m totally blown away by this post. If I ever break my arm, I’ll need to get one of those.

China- http://designwonderland.blog.sohu.com/105087744.html

The design of their site is amazing, and has already changed once while I’ve been watching.  This is where I got the title of the post.

Taiwan – http://www.nisan.tw/design-blog/design.asp?ano=31

This site is run by a very nice guy named Nick.  I like the tag line of “Design will save the world right after Rock ‘n Roll will”

Brazil -  http://www.bemlegaus.com/2008/11/bichos-estranhos.html

Google Translate appears to have a bit of trouble with this one.  However, I’m posted in between a post about an igloo cake tray and a Simpsons action figure set.  I’m in good company.