It's Art, but Is It Important, and Why?

I'm in the process of preparing for a presentation on Contemporary & Modern Ceramics.

This has caused, within me, 2 difficult tasks:

1)What makes a Ceramic piece, a Ceramic piece? By this, I mean: does the person to which the work is attributed have to create the entire piece, or just have a say in the process, or contribute to the design? I bring this up, because many of the works I've decided to present are simply canvases for the artist to work on. Frank Lloyd Wright did some of his geometric designs on plates. The Bauhaus School did many works that were very important, but seem more than anything to be production pieces that have good style.

2) How does one know if a contemporary Ceramicist is important? In this sense, I've hit many brick walls. Peter Voulkos is the only person I am absolutely, 100% positive is/was a major player in the art world. And I know Jun Kaneko is very important, but when I went to the Nelson-Atkins museum, I saw bowls that were mind-numbingly "just bowls." How am I to be sure that this is important art?

Moving On?

Coffee is starting to irk me.

Too many people become a part of the Coffee Community/Cafe Culture Community with illusions of grandeur, and I'm starting to realize that it's potentially not for me. Too many customers don't actually care about the quality of the drink being prepared; at most, they care that it's Certified This or Certified That, but shrug at what's truly important: is it any good? Is the person roasting the coffee or making the coffee or paying the people making the coffee a good person?

Espresso is difficult to manage, and it's something I've grown to appreciate - the fact that Espresso is my Fickle Friend. Some days, it clicks; some days, not so much. I love making coffee, I love giving people great espressos, or great lattes; but it's an aesthetic thing for people. People want to be seen drinking coffee, or having coffee from such and such a shop - the smaller independent, the not-chain.

So, I'm going to apply at a Screen Printing company, and see if I enjoy that. I think that coffee, for me, is something I need to get into myself, so I can set the standards and make the menu.

We'll see.

"Transparency"

So I'm coming upon problems with one of my jobs, which is truly unfortunate because it's the closest thing there is to the #2 coffee shop in Lincoln, and it's one of my employers.

You see, the owner of this shop will wax poetic about the virtues of transparency of his business, the fact that you can see his roast log on his website, and know about everything about his shop. BUT, the moment transparency becomes valuable, opacity will automatically come in to play. He invited someone from out of town to come and give him pointers on roasting, barista-ing, etc. When I came in with my camera, I got pulled off to the side, and the owner told me that I shouldn't post any pictures of this person being IN TOWN for a reason so weak that I can't recall, he may have just said that he wants it kept on the down-low.

Never-the-less, this week has been a real eye-opener for me, as far as quality and commitment goes. I cupped coffee for the first time, and am slowly eking my way to pouring a legitimate rosetta. I'm slowly starting to grasp what goes into roasting, and it's genuinely impressive. The sad state of affairs in Lincoln seems to show that we're small peanuts compared to some of the big dogs, and there's (in my eyes) one legitimate roaster in the city.

More later, seeing as this blog is primarily for me, and isn't hot-linked anywhere, as far as I know.

Responsibility of a Barista at a New Job?

So I've been in a transition of sorts, leaving a job because I got offered another job, then that job not being able to give me any hours. I started applying anywhere I'd be willing to work, which in Lincoln means any coffee shop. They tend to be easy-going, but manage to keep me busy.

I got a job at a new place, and upon being interviewed, I checked out their espresso station. Rancilio Techna espresso machine, which isn't the best, but, having experience on them, can pull excellent shots. The one thing that always sticks out like a sore thumb to me is that no matter how nice the equipment is (They have a Mazzer SJ and a Rossi RR45), the tamper is always in dire need of not existing. That is, I've worked at, or have experience with 6 coffee shops, of which, 3 have had legitimate tampers. These 3 had Reg Barber, Reg Barber Knockoffs, or solid SS tampers, all of which fit the 58mm groups. The other 3 have had 57mm tampers or those dinky aluminum double-sided tampers.

Which brings me to my question, in general. When one is hired as a Barista, is it their responsibility to achieve the consistency of the coffee shop they work for, or is it their responsibility to do the best they can do? In this case, I have 2 jobs, one with the wholesaler/roaster, one with a shop that serves their coffee. I have experience with the espresso blend, know how to dose it to pull the best shot.