Of the thesis entitled: A Seat at My Table
Abstract:
At dinner, our interactions with the food, the table settings, and other diners show how we engage with the material world. Table manners and etiquette are a window into a convivial life.
As a beginner potter and woodworker, I made a table setting, with furniture, dishes, and utensils, to contemplate a meaningful sense of place in the everyday. Participating in what Hannah Arendt calls the vita activa, I explore how the objects I make become tangible manifestations of the hands that touch them.
The table setting forms the backdrop for dinner, framing the space, the routine, and the ritual we inhabit every day. They invite us to attend to the food and to the people we share a meal with. In doing so, we bring the forces that gather the meal to light. There are palpable traces of humidity, mineral content, and the gentle touch of the hand in the ceramics. Weather movements, disease, and growth patterns are embodied in the grain of the wood.
Each object translates a microcosm to the table, welcoming diners to touch, smell, and taste the meal we share together.
The examining committee is as follows:
Supervisor:
Donald McKay, University of Waterloo
Committee Member:
Dereck
Revington,
University
of
Waterloo
John
McMinn,
University
of
Waterloo
External Reader:
Douglas Oliver
The
committee
has
been
approved
as
authorized
by
the
Graduate
Studies
Committee.
The
Defence
Examination
will
take
place:
Friday September
6,
2019
2:00
PM
Bridge
A
copy
of
the
thesis
is
available
for
perusal
in
ARC
2106A.