Nathan Algren (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
shiroi_tiger) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
fandomhigh2017-06-23 06:56 am
shiroi_tiger) wrote in fandomhigh2017-06-23 06:56 am
Entry tags:
Japanese Art, Friday, Period Two
"Good morning, class," Nathan said, giving a little nod to his students and then gesturing to a selection of porcelain and ceramic dishes and vases on the table in front of them. "Today we're going to be breaking things. And then putting them back together again."
Which was a little against the spirit of the whole thing, but he'd get to that shortly.
"We're doing kintsugi today, literally golden joinery. Traditionally, it's meant to take a broken cherished item and to repair it, embellishing the cracks with gold as a means of showing its history and embracing the beauty of it. So it's somewhat counter to the point when I do something like this..."
Yes. Yes, that was Nathan picking up a vase and smashing it on the floor.
It was a nice catharsis, though. He continued talking as he picked up the pieces and arranged them back into some rough semblance of the vase they once were.
"The traditional method also takes about a week to dry completely before we can even move on to the next step, and anybody who has a broken item they'd like to repair the proper way is welcome to come and ask me about the process any time. But, as this is our final class, and it's significantly shorter than twelve days long, we're going to cheat some more."
This actually kind of pained him. But for a high school art class, he figured that so long as he was being straightforward about this stuff, he'd at least done due diligence. He held up a tube of epoxy glue and a small container of gold dust. The process itself wasn't so different, really. It was the materials that were somewhat improvised.
"We start by mixing some of the gold dust into the adhesive until it's evenly distributed throughout. Then we paint it onto either side of our break, press together, and hold until dry." A pause. "We'd be finding some other way to hold the pieces together if we were using the more traditional adhesives, like tonoko powder or rice flour. We already know that Japanese art often values patience, but a line has to be drawn for holding the pieces together for an entire week. Today, a couple of minutes should suffice. While the glue is still sticky, but not quite wet, we'll brush some more gold dust over it to add a bit more shine. Again, traditionally, we'd be adding another thin layer of our adhesive before adding more dust, but since our method today is significantly less time-consuming and we can catch it before it's completely dry, there's not much need. Today, most of the time we'll be taking will be in holding each piece together while it dries before moving on to the next, depending on how thoroughly broken your dish or vase is."
So, they were missing both a sentimental connection to their items and the traditional adhesives for this process. But in the end, at least what they'd have would be pretty. So they had that going for them.
Which was a little against the spirit of the whole thing, but he'd get to that shortly.
"We're doing kintsugi today, literally golden joinery. Traditionally, it's meant to take a broken cherished item and to repair it, embellishing the cracks with gold as a means of showing its history and embracing the beauty of it. So it's somewhat counter to the point when I do something like this..."
Yes. Yes, that was Nathan picking up a vase and smashing it on the floor.
It was a nice catharsis, though. He continued talking as he picked up the pieces and arranged them back into some rough semblance of the vase they once were.
"The traditional method also takes about a week to dry completely before we can even move on to the next step, and anybody who has a broken item they'd like to repair the proper way is welcome to come and ask me about the process any time. But, as this is our final class, and it's significantly shorter than twelve days long, we're going to cheat some more."
This actually kind of pained him. But for a high school art class, he figured that so long as he was being straightforward about this stuff, he'd at least done due diligence. He held up a tube of epoxy glue and a small container of gold dust. The process itself wasn't so different, really. It was the materials that were somewhat improvised.
"We start by mixing some of the gold dust into the adhesive until it's evenly distributed throughout. Then we paint it onto either side of our break, press together, and hold until dry." A pause. "We'd be finding some other way to hold the pieces together if we were using the more traditional adhesives, like tonoko powder or rice flour. We already know that Japanese art often values patience, but a line has to be drawn for holding the pieces together for an entire week. Today, a couple of minutes should suffice. While the glue is still sticky, but not quite wet, we'll brush some more gold dust over it to add a bit more shine. Again, traditionally, we'd be adding another thin layer of our adhesive before adding more dust, but since our method today is significantly less time-consuming and we can catch it before it's completely dry, there's not much need. Today, most of the time we'll be taking will be in holding each piece together while it dries before moving on to the next, depending on how thoroughly broken your dish or vase is."
So, they were missing both a sentimental connection to their items and the traditional adhesives for this process. But in the end, at least what they'd have would be pretty. So they had that going for them.
Re: Talk to Algren
...Steve had fairly violent friends, now that he thought about it.
Re: Talk to Algren
... That said, Nathan's friends had their fair share of violent tendencies, too.
"We'd like to still have some of it left when you're finished, ideally," he agreed, smirking. "I have faith in you, Steve. Last week you learned patience. This week, let's give moderation a try."
Re: Talk to Algren
He grinned. "Let's try the moderation. I can always go back to the other thing, right?"
Re: Talk to Algren
Being even further out of touch with the present day than Steve was tended to have that effect on a guy.
"Go on, let's see what you've got. If there are too many pieces to put it back together, we'll just keep going until you get it right."
Nathan had picked up plenty of pottery.
Re: Talk to Algren
Steve picked out a vase and gave it a little shake. "Maybe if I just drop it instead of throw it?"
Re: Talk to Algren
Re: Talk to Algren
...that was a lot of pieces, Steve.
Re: Talk to Algren
"I think we have enough glue for that," Nathan said, after a few seconds of staring at the damage.
Re: Talk to Algren
Re: Talk to Algren
Really, learning how to not break everything was a fairly important life skill, too.