Doom Is Not The End But a Means To An End
There is a process at TPS to keep work moving through and out of the studio to make room for more work that is constantly being created each and every day. The process is called “Doom.” To some the word alone evokes a negative connotation and the fear that if they do not act with alacrity their hard work will be forever lost. If that is your understanding of Doom please keep reading because that is not the purpose of Doom nor how it is meant to be used. Even if you think you know how Doom works, please keep reading because there are many misconceptions and there is a different rule for each phase of your work depending on whether it is greenware, bisqueware or finished glazed pieces. This article will explain the process for each phase and what you need to do to keep your work from being doomed and if doomed how to rescue your work.
GREENWARE
Greenware in the Studio is located in several places, either on the various Open Storage shelves throughout the Studio on both the first floor and the second floor and also in the Damp Room. When you leave a work in process (WIP) on an Open Storage shelf or in the Damp Room be sure it is accompanied by the appropriate color tag. The color tags can be found in the cylinder attached to the white board on the first floor and in front of the Damp Room. In the cup you will find the tag for the month. Please place the tag on your WIP with the color side up. You can also put your name on the opposite side but that is not necessary. Staff will not remind members that their piece may be doomed or has been doomed, so labeling the tag with your name is not nearly as important as making sure your pieces are properly tagged. Staff also recommend that you check and make sure your tag is still in place from time to time because I have seen many tags on the floor victims of the gusts of wind that occasionally travel through the Studio. If your WIP is not properly labeled, it may be doomed.
OPEN STORAGE
Greenware on the Open Storage shelves that have been properly labeled can remain for up to 60 days. On the first of every month, even if it falls on a weekend, Staff goes through every storage shelf and will remove any WIP that does not have a tag or that does not have an appropriate tag and place it on the Doom Shelves on each floor. For example, if you have created a WIP during the month of July and placed it on an Open Storage shelf with a “red” tag because July’s tag is red, on August 1st staff will go through and do nothing to your WIP but if it is still on the shelf on September 1st with a “red” tag your WIP will be moved to the Doom shelf where it will reside until October 1st. You can retrieve your WIP from the Doom shelf at any time before October 1st. You do not need to ask for permission. You do not need to tell anyone. However, you can only retrieve your own work. Just because a WIP is on the Doom shelf does not mean it is an abandoned WIP or that it is available to anyone for the taking. The work belongs to the artist/creator and no one else. If the doomed greenware WIP is not claimed by October 1st or sixty (60) days after it was tagged, the Greenware will be recycled into the yellow bin.
DAMP ROOM
The Damp Room is just that, a Damp Room for your WIP that needs to remain in a state of dampness. It is not the place where you store your WIP to dry. When you place your WIP in the Damp Room it also must be tagged with the appropriate color tag for the month. The space in the Damp Room is very limited therefore Staff goes through the Damp Room twice a month to confirm that all the WIP are properly tagged and there is nothing in the Damp Room that is bone dry. Anything that is bone dry in the Damp Room will be removed and placed on an Open Storage shelf. Staff will not contact you to let you know that they have relocated your WIP from the Damp Room to Doom Shelf, it is your responsibility to check on your WIP and make sure that it is not being stored in the wrong place. If you know you are not going to be out of town or that you cannot make it to the Studio to relocate your WIP make sure you look on Open Storage before becoming alarmed that your WIP previously placed in the Damp Room no longer exists. Unless you have been gone for more than 90 days your WIP will still be in the Studio.
BISQUE WARE
As you know Staff date stamps every single piece that is bisque fired. A few days before the first of each month Staff goes through the bisqued pieces and “pre-dooms” all bisqued pieces that bear a date stamp of 30 days or more. On the first of the month, the pieces that were segregated during the pre-doom process are placed on the Doom Shelf in the same area where lost and found items are stored and they will remain there for thirty (30) days. During that period if your bisqued piece is placed on the Doom Shelf you can retrieve it and take it home or glaze it. You do not need to tell anyone or ask anyone if you can claim your bisque fired piece from the Doom Shelf. If you do not retrieve your bisque fired piece from the Doom Shelf at the end of the thirty (30) day period, the bisque fired pieces will be thrown in the trash. The bisque fired piece belongs to the artist and you cannot “rescue” someone else’s work and glaze it even if you only intend to use it as a test tile.
GLAZED OR FINISHED PIECES
On the first of every month all glazed pieces that are on the glazed shelf will be marked with a piece of colored tape even if the item came out on the kiln on 30th of the month or on the first day of the month. Whatever is on the shelf on the first of the month will receive the colored tape. The item will remain on the glaze shelf for a period of 30 days. During that 30-day period, you can claim your finished and glazed piece from the glazed shelves and take it home, put it in your car or give it to a friend. What you do with the finished piece is completely up to you but it has to leave the Studio so that there is space for other pieces to make their way through the creation process. Any piece that is still on the glazed shelf at the beginning of the subsequent month will be destroyed. The piece will not be given to Goodwill, sold at a Parking Lot Sale or otherwise made available to someone other than the artist, unless it is a bowl, in which case it is donated to the empty bowls campaign.
The Doom process is a longstanding Studio tradition that has been applied to all WIP in the Studio regardless of who may have created the WIP. Doom is a neutral process that the Studios followed to ensure there is enough available space for students and members to safely store their WIP for up to ninety (90) days. It is a process that has been in place for at least ten years and is the best way to encourage everyone to look at and work on their pieces within 60 days of creating their WIP. Space is at a premium and if everyone makes sure they complete their work within 90 days and relocate their pieces to their homes or away from the Studio after 90 days than we are confident there will be enough space in the Studio for everyone to leave their WIP for a reasonable period of time and definitely no longer than 90 days.
Finally, if you have questions about the Doom process or if you think we should rename the process, send your suggestions for a name change to: sante@berkeleypottersstudio.org.
