Editor's Note: Studio Potter gave free access to the online journal to 387 educational institutions to support their unexpected transition to remote learning this spring. We invited educators, writing, "...give your students a writing assignment – Create an article for Studio Potter. You screen the submissions and send your top three to Jill Foote-Hutton at . . . for consideration. Selected student authors will be published on STUDIOPOTTER.ORG and will receive a one year membership to Studio Potter." Visiting Assistant Professor KATHRYN BACZESKI at Stetson University in DeLand, Florida, shared an essay by Angelina Dimagro, who writes from a stoic's perspective.
Touch. Contact. Hold. Push. Feel. Nudge. Join. Connect.
The word touch has many synonyms, many meanings, and it plays a huge part in our daily lives. Every moment of every day, we touch something or someone in one way or another. What happens when this is stripped away from us? When we can no longer touch – we become ghosts, aimlessly floating by, making no contact with the world around us. We can’t touch one another, can’t examine vegetables in the grocery store, or hand someone money when they drop it. What lasting effect does this have on us and our lives?
From hand-building to wheel-throwing, touch is a key aspect in making ceramic objects. With the state of the world at the moment, and COVID-19 affecting everything that we do, touching things has become highly advised against. According to the Centers for Disease Control, though surfaces are not thought to be the main way this disease spreads, they still advise to clean any shared surfaces to avoid spreading it.
