Find the Witch!
About the pot
Find the Witch! is based on my many experiences of having pots either removed from exhibition or hidden, and having invitations to speak or perform revoked. This is sometimes referred to as being 'cancelled.' It is one of what will be a new series of pots called, 'The Exploits of Everygender,' taken from the Medieval Morality play, 'Everyman.' Hounding, harassment, ostracisation, closing ranks, and secrecy are also significant features of this process. It is from this that I decided to make a pot depicting a satirical version of a contemporary witch hunt.
This one is probably the third pot in the series but it's the first I've made. It was the one I most needed to make, partly because I was very clear in my mind how I wanted it to look, and partly as an act of revenge. The series may well be subtitled, 'The Revenge Pots.'
The story
The first, when I make it, will be 'Everygender's Vision,' and will feature Everygender's visitation from the Gender Genie who tells him of a mighty disturbance that may cause the village pottery fair, 'Ceramic Art London,' (CAL,) '...to be disrupted, leading to possible delay or even closure.'
The second will be, 'The Plot,' in which Everygender, having selected his target, will find a way to expel the cause of the mighty disturbance. This will be based on a Plantaganet court scene with men in doublet and hose conspiring in corners.
The third is, 'Find the Witch' and is the hunt for the evil witch that she might be burnt at the stake in the village square and thus fulfil Everygender's duty to make an appropriate public sacrifice to the Gender Genie.
The imagery
The imagery for 'Find the Witch' is partly derived from Paulo Ucello's painting, 'The Hunt in the Forrest,' in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford. My hunt is made up of people who make it their business to remove women from public spaces and destroy our livelihoods. It is a version of 'Pride,' formerly Gay Pride - in the days when it was a protest - but now a parade of cartoon characters, at best. This one, being set in Medieval times, is peopled with extras from the London Village Carnival.
Dramatis Personae
The central figures are Everygender, in hat and cloak, with a sword and quiver, leading the pantomime horse, with CPA - co-incidentally the logo of the Craft Potter's Association - printed on its flank. Everygender has the UAL logo on his cloak pocket and hat that looks a little like the one the organiser of the CAL lectures, Duncan Hooson, likes to wear. The panto horse is being 'rear-ended' by the Gender Genie, (taking advantage outrageously, imo,) and accompanied to one side by The Gender Jester, with a passing resemblance to Prof Jeremy Till, now ex-head of Central St. Martin's and a key figure getting me removed. That bear may also have something to do with Prof Till.
That's enough for now. You get the picture, I think and you've certainly got a good idea of the tone of this particular form of 'revenge.'
