Capote Mud frames pottery as the physical embodiment of change. Through the lens of the H. Wilson & Co. pottery near Seguin, Texas, this book examines how raw earth is transformed by fire–just as the lives of freed slaves were trans–formed by agency. The first African American-owned business in Texas is highlighted as a pivotal moment where pottery has provided freedmen with a vessel for independence. This publication is a brief look at how a simple medium can change lives by documenting how the evolution of clay mirrors the enduring pursuit of a self–determined life in Texas history.
Why Read
The reader will gain insight into how the medium of pottery embodies the idea of change–like how it changed the lives of freed slaves and culture in Texas. The act of being able to mold clay into anything you can imagine is an empirical example of these ideas, and is represented through imagery, and the physical artifacts of this project.
Typography
Bernino Sans is a Humanist sans-serif font that has very open spaces, and an even weight distribution. I used the narrow bold style, because it holds alot of weight on the page, similar to the works of clay.
Lapture is a calligraphic Humanist sans-serif that I felt contrasted nicely with the very straight and even strokes of Bernino Sans. It's black letter did well to establish the historic tone of the book.
Feel, Think, Learn
The reader will feel the permanence of the medium exemplified through the physical objects they can interact with.
I want the reader to think of turning soft, malleable clay into a ridgid permanent structure, and how this literal change mirrors the Wilson pottery company's story.
Readers will learn of the history of Texas pottery, and how the Wilson pottery company lives on through their methods and ideas that survived and evolved throughout history.
Transparencies
The transparencies were meant to be layered on top of one another to reveal a new image each time. They're meant to visualize the subject of change, and entropy.
Tabula Rasa
The clay tablet represents the 'tabula rasa', a blank slate awaiting the world to change it, and is the base of which this project will be activated.
Poster
A collage of photography from my visits to Seguin, Tx. I gathered my resources from many different locations, such as the Seguin Heritage Museum, The Sebastopol House, and the Historical sight of the Capote Baptist Church in Capote, TX.
