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I create functional artwork made from discarded pots at a community ceramic studio in Brooklyn, NY. 

The challenge is to make something new out of half-finished pottery.

I was never great at drawing from life, but I know how to put eyes and noses together to make some funny faces. The first ceramic studio I worked at had a big pile of unwanted pottery in the back yard that they let people glaze for free to test out different glaze combinations. I quickly became obsessed with drawing faces and writing notes on the discarded dishes. I loved that quick throw-away jokes could be applied to a material that, if not dropped on the floor, could last for thousands of years.

More info: Instagram | davezackin.com

I’ve since moved to a bigger community studio — Gasworks NYC in Brooklyn — and have put up signs everywhere asking others to leave unfinished projects on my shelf for me to glaze or sculpt on top of. Working with an almost endless supply of unwanted pottery keeps me from taking anything too seriously. Badly misshapen, lumpy, and poorly thrown pots are some of the most fun to transform. 

When I start working on a piece, I try to paint myself into a corner and then find a messy path out. That means starting to write a sentence on the outside of a vase without knowing how I am going to finish it. I like when the mistakes show up. Mutations are important to evolution. I take a lot of inspiration from hand written signs on deli doors or advertising yard sales — they get the message across, but aren't concerned with too many best-practices and rules of design. Convincing myself to ignore a few rules is the best way to get over my insecurities and start something new.

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#2

Dear cat, your food is disgusting and you cannot read and I love you.

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#3

Let's eat cookies an after that...

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Most of the pots I work on don't have space for me to write more than a sentence, so I try to cut out any unnecessary words and let the reader fill in some blanks. My favorite messages — ones like “I’m sorry your new baby is illiterate,” “these flowers are from the fancy deli, not the regular deli,” “I didn’t know what to get you, so I got you this dish. It was $700” use a few words to move from something conventional to something very slightly stranger. I aim for messages that are grounded in real situations — giving a gift, labeling a container, making a meal — but wind up somewhere unexpected.

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By making a lot of pieces every day and not spending too long on each one, I am able to avoid overthinking things and get some strange results. I have 100,000 bad ideas in me. I need to get all of them out into the world so I can start getting into the good ideas that come next.

I think it is okay to do things the easy way as long the easy way is my own unique easy way. The easy way for me is to take a dish and just start painting or sculpting without too much of a plan. A lot of ceramic work is about the beauty of the craft and working toward an ideal form. I tend to move in the opposite direction — I love to make something that looks all wrong, doesn’t cost much to buy, and is somehow too memorable to throw away.

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#7

This text makes the bowl harder to clean.

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I live in a small apartment in New York City and make things until I run out of storage space. Once my apartment is full I have a big sale on my website, mail everything off, and start working on new stuff. I’ve seen my work grow and change over the years, but it is still centered on making funny faces and writing down whatever I can to make myself laugh.

#8

The partially-melted spatula is my favorite spatula.

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#11

If you can read this, I am sorry to inform you that the little candies have all been eaten.

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#14

When I find fruits that resemble human buttocks I display them in here. Look!

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#16

I didn't know what to get you, so I got you this fancy bowl. It was 700 dollars.

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#21

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Selina DA Ostrich
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

See? Even the bowl wants food, GO SHARE, DON'T BE GREEDY, sharing is caring :)

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#22

Your hands are a little gross. Please use a fork to eat the rest of the M&Ms.

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#23

Today is a good day to quit your job ans start illegal tilapia farm in the basement. Live your dream!

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#24

Measured in bananas, the circumference of this bowl is one.

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ConstantlyJon
Community Member
12 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

wellllll straight to the top of the list with this one, please!

#25

My problems are bigger than your problems.

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#27

For your collection of very small rocks that look a little like human teeth.

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Kraneia The Dancing Dryad
Community Member
12 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I don't have tooth rocks....but I have several heart shaped ones, would those do?

#28

Wow! This is just like eating off of my bathroom floor!

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#31

It's a shame that this thing only goes in one direction.

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#32

My pen is regular size.

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#33

I am looking forward to eating your corpse.

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#34

Let's see if we can eat pancakes all day every day for a few months and survive.

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#37

Beep beep bip I am not programmed to wash dishes. Beep booop I am only programmed to dance.

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Silvermidnight
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

robot.exe. not doing dishes . . . loading . . . loading . . . robot.exe not doing dishes . . .

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#39

I took a shower and I no longe smell bad and I think we should make out.

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#40

I'll eat it.

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Note: this post originally had 70 images. It’s been shortened to the top 40 images based on user votes.