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 This Question of the Week is all about curiosity. About whether you are the: “of course, come on, let’s open this box and look what’s insideâ€, or rather the “well, hmmmm, let’s wait a bit and reflect what the consequences would be†type? Are you curious enough to just try everything before thinking what could/would happen? Or are you cautious, treading carefully in life and in your profession? Personally I am the first type. The curious type. I almost never think of the consequences before trying something new (and I paid high prices for it, I can tell you, not only financially). So come on, tell us: would you open Pandora’s box?

 

 

(Today the phrase "to open Pandora's box" means to perform an action that may seem small or innocent, but that turns out to have far-reaching consequences). (Source: Wikipedia)

 

(In classical Greek mythology, Pandora was the first woman on Earth. Zeus ordered Hephaestus to create her. So he did, using water and earth). (Source: Wikipedia).

 

Ha! Pandora was a clay woman!! (Source: Evelyne)

 

Evelyne

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When Pandora opened "the box" (more likely a clay vessel) she first released all of the evils of the world before closing the box and leaving nothing but hope (or expectations) in the bottom...not sure that I'm willing to release trouble onto the world, but the metaphor of trying something that sounds a little crazy with the hope/expectation that something great may transpire does fit.

 

I think there is a little Pandora in every glaze experiment we do, every twist in the formulation of a clay recipe, and every test of a new way to attach clay parts...some of those things result in disasters (thus the release of the evils), but certainly there is satisfaction when something previously untried turns out better than we hoped/expected. Almost every firing that I do has something in it that I have never tried before (usually some new combination of texture, stain, underglaze. or combination of of glazes), so in some respect every kiln opening has some Pandoran aspect.  I doubt that I would go as far to make every single piece in a firing an untried experiment, although there are times that I wonder if the atmosphere inside the kiln may have hopes/expectations of its own.

 

-Paul

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I have been one of those who does not peek at Christmas gifts/bags full that my wife leaves in closets and other places, even when young. I also am able to wait on a treat until time. So I guess I have patience to pursue something when the time is right, not before. I also have the tendency to research, plan, over-plan in my head, sometimes drawing/writing things out, before ever making a move. Overly cautious to a fault.

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I would like to think that I wouldn't open Pandora's Box but after considering some of the crazy and daring things I have done in the past I just might. I am not afraid of heights so you imagine how times I came close disaster.  I've only had three smoke and fire issues with my kiln and they were all caused by some experimentation.   Soooooo?          Denice

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Pres: that is an interesting thought: do you think maybe being (overly) curious means those people are impatient? Could be.... You know, I admire people who can moderate their curiosity. I never could. I always peeked in the closet before Christmas, shaking all the presents, not only mine...

 

Denice: maybe you are the "open Pandora's box just a tiiiiny little bit..." type? ;)

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Heck yeah! Open that sucker up! Let's see how it was put together!!! :lol:

 

I'm a bit of both. I like to experiment, and the consequences be damned, but, I also like to ponder the possibilities. I tend to play things out in my head, looking down every avenue I can think of. But I always seem to be looking left, when I should have glanced to the right from time to time. The outcome is that I often get results I hadn't even thought of. Is my life vaguely controlled chaos? Oh yeah! And I LIKE it that way! Never a dull moment in the Eberhardt household! :lol:

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First off I do not believe the Pandora legend.

 

As for myself I try to be cautions however at time when I get I new idea will through some of that caution to the wind.  In my creations I try to make conservative changes.  Every pies I make I try something a little different which sometimes turns out to be for the better and other times does not.

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This quote from "Mark Twain",best define me.

Throw off the bowlines,Sail away from the safe harbor.Catch the trade winds in your sails.Explore,Dream ,Discover!!

 

So woo hoo open the Pandora box and then lets see the result!!

 

 

Vinks.

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I find myself in a quandary ...

To open or not to open

Hmmmm

What if I want to do both?

 

I like to plan, do, succeed

 

But my father instilled a strong sense of curiosity concerning the world around me. So I would measure the box, examine it, research it, learn all I could about it.... Then open it and see what happens.

 

I should also state I named one of my Pugs, Pandora.

 

T

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That's interesting. Most are for "yeah, let's open that box, but be careful handling it and, maybe, first x-ray it". I love to see that curiosity didn't die as yet. Surely it doesn't matter whether we open the box just after finding it, or if we walk around it a bit and reflect. In the end, the box has to be opend.

 

Good thoughts about if the legend is still the original one! And I like that pugaboo call a Pandora her own.

 

Let's see whether more people like to open the box (or let it stay closed)....

 

Evelyne

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The hardest lesson for most of us potters, I think, is waiting to fulfill our curiosity. Patience while waiting - for clay and glazes to dry, waiting for a full kiln load, waiting for the kiln to cool - is made easier for me by the way that there are always other things to work on while I wait.

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  • 2 weeks later...

And surprise...the box has a hole in the bottom! (Lee is definitely gonna open it.)

Love your Pandora's Box, LeeU! Perfect!

 

I was reading an article about precedents for robots. In the Iliad, Hephaestus first made wheeled tripods to do his bidding, then gold maiden servants which could think and speak. At around the same time, Hesiod wrote that Hephaestus created a golem-like Pandora by mixing earth and water (essentially the First Woman) and endowed her with "speech and strength." She was then taught "crafts" by Athena and from Hermes received a "shameless" mind and a "wily" character! So, definitely a Potter!

 

Anyone else ever make a covered jar or box whose lid just WOULD NOT come off (yes, probably glazed together), but you put it on a shelf and then hours, days, weeks, months later it PINGs and the lid is released?

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