18 We will Never Be Perfect and That’s Okay by Celeste Smith
18 We will Never Be Perfect and That’s Okay by Celeste Smith
An example student research essay
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We Will Never Be Perfect and That’s Okay
Celeste Smith
College of Liberal Arts, the University of Texas at Arlington
ART 1317: Art of Africa, Asia, Oceania, and the Indigenous Americas
This essay follows Prompt 1 and APA citation style. I am a native English speaker and writer, so I am comfortable writing in this language. This is my second research paper. Constructive criticism is welcomed and always appreciated.
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We Will Never Be Perfect and That’s Okay
Expectations often rule our lives, such as the expectations that come with stereotypes about people we meet. We even ascribe expectations to objects, especially those objects that we make or use to create. As a classical musician, I often place unwarranted expectations on my instrument. Some artists challenge expectations to ask their audience to think before assuming. In this paper, I analyze one artwork from the series Translated Vase (Figure 1) by Yeesookyung to consider how she tackles the myth of a masterpiece and helps us reflect on how stereotypes affect our lives.
Translated Vase began in 2002 as Yeesookyung transformed destroyed pots into assemblages of the unexpected (Kim, 2022). It is not uncommon for Korean master potters attempting to reproduce historical styles to smash vessels because of the smallest of flaws (ibid). This practice ensures the rarity and value of those that survive the reproduction process (Yeesookyung, n.d.). Yeesookyung steps in at the point of destruction to collect raw material for her work. She assembles 3-D puzzles of vessels, sealing the cracks and joins with gold to hold everything together (Yeesookyung, n.d.). The artist states “From the moment of destruction, I obtain a chance to intervene and fabricate new narratives with my own translation” (ibid).
In Figure 1, the gold joinery creates a maze across the light green and white fragments pieced together. The light green ceramics in the top half of the piece are reproductions of Goryeo period (918-1392 CE) celadons while the bottom half is dominated by reproductions of white Joseon period (1392-1897 CE) porcelains (Yeesookyung, n.d.). While the artwork has a cohesive feeling of form, handles, spouts, and bulbous curves stick out to catch our eye and make us consider the source of this material.
Perfectionism determines which will remain intact and which will be broken and discarded (Kim, 2022). We can see the same thing in each of us as individuals today. We carry the weight of what society, school, or family expects of us. Rejection can feel like one is being discarded, just as a master potter discards what is flawed. That is more than enough to break a person and for them to question their utility and place in the world. Yee