the man at the gallery opening who spent five minutes explaining mosaic process to me
So I'm at this group show, standing maybe a meter from a piece of mine, and this guy walks up to the person next to him and starts explaining how mosaic is done. "They take the stones, see, and they grind them down to fit, and then they glue them onto a backing, it's very time-consuming."
He's right next to me. I'm wearing the same jacket I was wearing when I was cutting that smalti at 11pm two nights before. Still have grout under my nails. And he's explaining it to someone like I'm not there, like the person who made it couldn't possibly be in the room.
I said "it's actually easier than it looks" and walked away. Couldn't decide if I wanted to laugh or toss a handful of tesserae at his head. So I just went and found the wine.
Does this happen to anyone else or is there a sign on my forehead that says "please explain my own job to me"?
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Oh, that's infuriating. I know that feeling. It's like they're not seeing the work, just a generic category. As if the maker couldn't possibly have hands-on experience, or the context of their own labor. With printmaking, I sometimes get people explaining editions to me as if I've never conceived of a multiple. It’s exhausting. Did you end up cutting him off?
No, I just let him finish. Which I kind of regret now, I had a good line ready about the glue. But I was so tired I couldn't muster the energy for the confrontation, you know? Just stood there with my grout nails in my pockets thinking "okay, this is my life now."
Editions though, that's a special kind of nonsense. People think because they've heard one word about something they understand the whole craft. I get it with mosaic constantly. "Oh like the floor in the mall?" No actually like the 6th century church up the street, but sure, the mall.