What is a technician?

Test tiles from before I was working, from testing which glazes to use in the buckets, and from trying to adjust glazes we already have but weren't working well.

(Originally posted to my old website on Aug 18, 2021)

During the first lockdown in NZ last year, we all had more time to contemplate our lot in life. For many, that contemplation specifically turned to, "Do I like my job? Is this job worth it? Should I quit and do something else?" That was certainly a set of questions on my mind and ultimately I decided to quit my job as a database manager/digital marketing person to focus on my small business. I wasn't sure if that was a good idea or not, especially going into a global recession, but I did it anyway. The more I worked in writing/marketing the more I realized it was absolutely not my jam and I just needed to go in a different direction.

Unbeknownst to me at the same time the ceramics technician at the Dunedin School of Art, Kylie, was making similar decisions. She wanted to focus on her own art and so decided to quit the technician job as we were returning to school. When I heard that the job was open, I knew this was exactly the kind of opportunity that I had to jump on! So I did, and through my experience in the department, at the OPG, and probably some luck, I got the job in June!

Now that we're in our second country-wide lockdown and I've been at the technician job for over a year, I figured it might be time to reflect back on this past year of work and learning.

So, what is a technician? What the heck do I spend my time doing?

In short, a technician keeps the studio organized and operating smoothly for the artists working in the space.

That means a whole ton of things though! I'll break it down into daily procedures, ongoing procedures, and projects.

Daily Procedures

There's a lot of things I check when I first come in each day I work. Are all the tools put away in the correct bins? Have people cleaned the wedging table? Are the buckets of glaze closed and put away under the bench? This is all just basic tidying up type stuff. For the most part, students are good about cleaning up after themselves, but some people don't. I know what it's like coming in to work on some school work only to have to spend a bunch of time before hand cleaning someone else's mess, so I try to make sure things are cleaned up. It's about keeping everything organized so other students find the tools and equipment they need when they need it.

Next, I check kilns. Do any of them need emptying? Is there a sufficient amount of greenware to put on a bisc? Should I put together a gloss firing? Biscs are the most frequent firing going on, and sometimes the most time-consuming to load, surprisingly! Although pieces can and should be touching to conserve space, handling the more delicate greenware takes a bit more consideration.

In addition to these clockwork tasks that happen all the time, as I work I help students on an individual level as necessary. I show them how to use a piece of equipment, explain glazes to them, etc. I did this kind of stuff when I was "just" a student as well because I just like helping people. It's nice to have it be part of a paid job though! Another key part of this is making sure everyone is keeping to health and safety standards for our studio. Clay dust and various glaze materials are extremely hazardous to our health, so making sure people are cleaning up after themselves properly and utilizing the necessary safety equipment is very important for everyone.

Another unseen aspect of my daily job rituals includes financial work. I make sure our department is keeping within our budget and order anything that we need. Glaze materials, clay, replacement parts for equipment, tools, and on and on. There's a lot of price comparisons and discussions between me and Rob on what we consider 'urgent' buys and what we can wait on. Some of these things can just be ordered in, but sometimes I have to go into town to buy things from hardware shops or specialty manufacturers. I've certainly learned a lot more about mechanical equipment in this job!

Ongoing Procedures

For the past year, a lot of the stuff I had "ongoing" was related to our move out of the old building and into the new building. There were bits of our old studio scattered around the art school and it was a big task getting it all back together. Even now there is still organizational work going on, like finding homes for all our hardware and tools in the workshop.

Also in this category is helping the studio stay organized and running smoothly. This means stuff like putting up signs to remind people to clean a specific area or not bring food into the glaze room. It means before the start of the year, labeling shelves so that students can start the year off knowing where their space is. I'm always assessing and talking with students about problem areas in the studio that could use some quality of life upgrades.

There's also the more typical ongoing work, like topping up materials in the glaze room, grinding and re-washing kiln shelves, fixing wheels, doing upkeep on kilns by using fire cement to apply new ceramic fiber, recycling clay through the pugmill, etc. These aren't necessarily a daily task, but something I need to keep an eye on so that things don't wind up empty or severely broken.

Projects

This is my favorite, to be honest. I get to work on new projects to help make the whole experience of working and learning in the studio better for everyone. As students in studios, I think we all think about ways we could improve the 'flow' of the studio. Now I get to act on those ideas and work with other students to improve them!

One of the first things I was tasked with was setting up an online schedule for booking our kilns. DSA has seen a huge increase in the number of in-person students over the past two years, meaning lots more people needing to fire their work. To keep things organized and streamlined I worked with Rob to set up a Google Sheets document where people can check what kilns are booked and book a firing for themselves. It's not perfect - some people continuously forget to book their kilns (and sometimes I do too!). But it's something I'm always looking for ways to improve.

My favorite project was getting to re-do all of our communal glazes we have available to our students. Our glaze buckets were a bit of a mess - lots of buckets full of glazes we no longer had recipes for, glazes that were extremely hard-panned, and of course, lots and lots of shades of brown glazes.

Glazing and testing glazes is possibly my favorite part of ceramics, so I was so excited when Rob told me this was something he wanted me to work on. I've kept some of our old glazes, but overall I've done a huge reboot. New tiles, new glazes, new bucket labeling system. It's been a ton of work and it's still not 100% finished (looking at you, raku glazes!) but it's one of the things I'm most proud of. I know the glazes are mainly intended for night class students, but I know that having interesting, usable, and well-documented glazes available is extremely useful for the diploma students as well.

Currently, I'm in a MIG welding night class at the Polytech as part of my professional development for the technician role. Knowing how to weld means I can be even more helpful in the department! I'll be able to weld parts of kilns as we build them and repair our existing kilns in ways I couldn't before.

Overall, as a technician, I wear a ton of different hats. But I have learned SO MUCH that I would not have otherwise and I really enjoy helping make the studio a more useful and fun place for the other students.