An opportunity to work on such a beautifully made bench* or table was an extreme privilege. Having arrived I immediately set about making the space my own by putting pictures up on the walls and other things from my studio. Unfortunately I was unable to fit the other 4 members of the studio in.

Open bench gives one the chance to be confronted head on with the public. Or the   public confronted by some body making their craftde’art. (Craftde’art – an object or person that uses craft, history, medium to work outside of traditional perceptions  of craft and art). Over the four week period a numerous amount of individuals strolled through some surprised others well learned of my activities. In some cases though people would poke their head around the corner, go ‘Oh!’ and disappear. Perhaps shocked by seeing someone working with their hands. I never bothered to chase them to explain that they where most welcome to come in and observe (note: perhaps bars or glass would make these people feel more comfortable) 

Some people where easier to engage than others – my engaging lines where as follows –how are you today, morning ect.

-          are you a maker - response, oh no [chuckle] I'm just a ----. Or yes

-          Are you from Melbourne

-          How are today 

I stayed away from 'How's the weather?' or 'How's it hangen mate!'

Some individuals would talk and talk while the odd person would grunt and leave. What I found most interesting was the variety of people that come into Craft Victoria.  Students, Business people on lunch break, holidaying people from around the world and other craftarts wo-men. A great conversation I had was with two guys who worked in advertising- about being creative and the intuition it takes to trust your ideas with in what you do. All agreed that we are trying to turn people on and the demand for advertising is unfortunately greater. Some punters confused and looking bewildered thought the space was mine and worked their full time, so an explanation of the Open Bench Project was explained and an understanding of my presence was made.    

One night I held performance / demonstration where I set the bench with an unfired dinner setting.  It was well received with a few ohs ahs- but it was a challenge for me to create something dynamic out of clay with out using colour and gold. To create a sence of atmosphere I lit it up with candles. It worked out well and will lead some ceramic ware. Testing an idea out in front of a small group of people, rather than trusting your intuition in the studio was like doing. Market research with instant feed back it was great.

Open bench for me wasn't about making a finished product but about sharing my trade with those who where interested from how I pay my bills to making work and developing ideas. Some work has made it back to the studio in one piece the rest will be recycled and reformed away from public's eye only to be seen in its finished state at a venue near you.

I would recommend working in the public domain because it educates the public and gives them a great understanding of process. Next time you paint, pot, sculpt, jewel, saw and fabricate drag someone in (the one who might ask is "when are going to get a job "would be perfect) who doesn't appreciate craftde'art they will leave with a bag of respect for what you do.

* The bench used by David Ray and other Open Bench participants was made by Damien Wright