My students and I went to The Met Museum on a “field trip,” wandering their galleries in search of exquisitely baked vessels and sherds. Profoundly so, different pieces exercised different gravitational forces on each of us: some were drawn to the humblest of teapots from centuries ago, while others were grabbed by torqued abstractions made in more contemporary times. But as one pottery student said last night in the Korean gallery of The Met, “I need to play more [with clay], I just need to play more!”
Today’s sherd is inspired by the celadon ceramic flute from that Korean gallery. While its function was primarily decorative, clay has been put into the service of vibrating air to musical or ritualistic means: as drums, whistles, or otherwise. Here, from Peru, a few whistling water vessels: h
As you can imagine, the engineering and physics involved in these instruments, not to mention aesthetic and craftsmanship values, are outstanding.
If you’ve ever attempted to make a wind-instrument, you know that they can be particularly complex, even the simplest of designs.
I hope you enjoy this video.