Philosophy
Very personal thoughts and reflections guiding this project.
Virmary was conceived from a persistent desire to slow down. To pause, to reflect, to quit the destructive race of modern capitalism. Below are some of the main ideas gently driving my work process.
- Slow craftsmanship as an artistic rebellion against the cult of productivity, efficiency and infinite growth.
What does it mean and why is it important to me? Because I feel tired. Tired of measuring my worth and being measured by how much I am capable to do. By how busy I am, how efficiently I manage my time, how fast I grow. Both personally and professionally. When I start feeling like a hamster on a wheel, I remember a phrase I once heard in a silly movie. It goes like this: "It takes one woman nine months to give birth. If you have nine women it won't cut the time to one month."
It sounds crude. But the thing is that not all processes should be optimized. Some things take long and there's beauty in it. In the slowness itself, not only the result. Good affectionate work for its own sake. Work that gives pleasure because its laborious, brings satisfaction for the effort it took.
- Making by hand in small editions contrary to exploitative labor.
I know it seems grand. I have no pretense of magically solving the injustices of capitalism. It's more that I want to know that there can be a viable alternative to the amazons and inditexes of the world. I want to know that even when you cannot confront the exploitative powers of global capitalism (because, let's face it, who can, really?), at least there is a possibility to recuse ourselves from participating. And search for a less damaging perspective. I recognize it's a privilege that I have. Being able to do manual work because I consciously chose to; pace myself according to my personal rhythms and strengths; producing the quantity that I deem necessary and sustainable; and finally being able to price the results of my work taking into account how I value my own time. The responsibility that comes with the privilege, however, only adds to my eagerness for the endeavor to succeed.
- Communicating the value of introversion and patience as opposed to expressivity and artistic talent.
Why patience? It is often praised as an obvious virtue. However, what I often notice in the creative sphere is that this praise can be somewhat disingenuous. It may very well be my own flawed perception, although I think that I'm not alone in it. I am often being complimented as having a lot of patience and I could never properly enjoy it. For some reason, I feel that patient and meticulous work is perceived as boring and even lacking in talent. Like if anyone can do it, if only they had enough time and no desire to express themselves. The illusion that the true creativity goes hand in hand with spontaneous decisions, inspiration and the sheer force of talent. Whatever that is.. Ok, I'm sure real talent - the one we see in films - exists. But to be honest, I don't think I ever encountered it, nor do I think that it guarantees good work. What I know is that patience and consistency are the only drivers of improvement. The same is true about introversion. I feel like one needs to be constantly making noise in order to be acknowledged. Talking, connecting, communicating, sharing and expressing. It sounds like a fun time for many people, I know. To me, it gives me chills. And I am my own harshest judge here. I know that I feel my best on my own. But then I will always start doubting myself. Am I being reclusive? Will I lose all my social ties? Is it "normal" if I don't want to talk when I work or do people think I'm a weirdo? And the doubts are the downside, not the solitude itself. I wish to have more confidence in our right to be introversive without putting extra pressure.
- Long processes that do not allow for rush or cutting corners. Attention to detail and intentionality versus over‑ and mass‑production.
When you lay your hands on an object where every smallest detail is considered and elaborated with attention, thought and effort; the object itself keeps opening up. With time one starts noticing all the little textures, material differences, details of design and making, every seam and every joint. Finding subtle pleasure in noticing new facets that earlier escaped a quick glance. There is a deeper level of satisfaction to this process - recognizing the way the makers mind was working and the hand moving. This attentiveness comes at a cost though. The processes that could be shortened or eliminated all together take longer. Defects that could pass just fine for an untrained eye become a reason to start over. Meaning that with the rise of quality quantity and speed inevitably go down. This is why our releases are limited to very small editions of signed and numbered pieces, to allow for necessary attention to each and every one of them.
- Intentionally making space for rituals of pause and observation.
This one is one of the most personally important to me and the hardest one to put into concrete words and follow. I'm kind of an anxious person. Often rushing myself and feeling like I don't have enough time, space and true solitude to reflect, observe and make sense of things around. I can feel at times like the life itself happens to me, with little conscious direction or intention. I know that a pause is essential for inner peace. And I want to make a habit of it, a ritual if you like. When I've come up with the motto for the brand: "Good things take time", in truth I try to convince myself more than anyone that it's ok for some things to take longer than you'd like. Or longer than is expected by the ever-rushing world outside. There is good in having to stop, reflect and reconsider, there is beauty in moving slowly and consciously. So, how the abstraction translates into ceramics? When conceiving an object, I think of a ritual that it can prompt. How can it make you stop, if just for a second. Maybe it's a contrasting texture, shape or functionality of the object. Maybe it's a story behind it. It's a work in progress. And that's ok.
