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What is sculpture?
Is it a lump of stuff?
A fine object, like an apple strudel?
A language, like poetry?
I once heard art was not an object but a vessel for experience, and that's what I'm trying to make.
A few years ago, I started making my own line of pottery that I call Special Vessels.
I see them as the kind of ceremonial wares that I might like to use if I were hosting visitors from another world.
Even if we shared no common language, I would try to welcome these guests with objects that were purposeful, full of meaning and care.
Sometimes I have a sense of where these shapes are coming from, but often I need to have it pointed out to me. People tell me they feel completely foreign, yet full of familiar motifs. That they seem both ancient and futuristic, difficult to date. And while they are functional, their use is not always clear.
The truth is that they confuse me too — but if they can hold all these different languages, while at the same time holding your coffee or flowers, then I would love for you to have one.
Ben Wadler
b. 1982, New York City
The Royal College of Art, London
MA Sculpture
Kunstakademie Düsseldorf
Student exchange
Bard College, New York
BA Studio Art
