Clay Times Back Issues Vol. 2 Issue 3 • Mar/Apr 1996 | Page 16

continued from page 12

They found a world in which they
could operate, that they could
express themselves in. And at that
time in Madison, you could do
what you wanted to do. I didn’t
care if they made paper mache
kites...but they always had a thirst
for knowledge...they wanted to
explore. They loved the magic of
things. They loved the excitement
of art. They loved the dialogue that
went on between them. There was
an energy, and they did not
approach art in a totally intellectual sense, as I find many schools are
doing now. But they approached it
through the physicality of the
thing and through the nuts and
bolts of what art is...They were
individual people and they loved
their identities and they loved their
uniqueness...They are still working
and now I have the third generation students coming up, which
tells you how old I’m getting!

16
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DON REITZ

Don Reitz

Salt-glazed; 14”.

Berman: How do you know when
you’re looking at the best pot?
Reitz: How do you know
what’s the best pot? Aah...well, by
what’s the worst pot. Let’s look at
it that way. If you know what the

worst is, you gotta know what the
best is. No, actually, you just know.
The act of knowing...the act of
knowing implies no knowledge
whatsoever. You simply know.
And that’s how it relates to you. To
me, it’s not an analytical choice.
It’s a matter of knowing. It’s a state
of knowing. It’s a state of feeling.
It’s a state of being. It’s a state of,
you just know. And that knowing is
from years and years and years of
living, sometimes. Sometimes it’s
just when you are brand-new in
this world, you know what toy
you like the best. You just know...I
don’t try to explain it because it is
not a judgement made on the elements and principles of design. It’s
not that kind of problem when you
are looking at a pot. Especially a
pot. You just know. How do you
fall in love? You can’t explain that,
can you? It’s the same thing. You
just know. ■