He Sells for 3 Hours a Day | Avi Farber | Episode 543

Avi Farber | Episode 543

Avi Farber is a wood-fire ceramic artist and documentary photographer based in Taos, New Mexico, U.S.A. Avi studied philosophy at Bates College, ME, Digital Media Production at the Maine Media Workshops, and Spanish at the Universidad de Cuyo in Mendoza, Argentina. Working in clay, Avi creates installations, sculptures, and functional wares that explore natural processes. Avi’s work is raw and refined, subtle and gestural. Drawn to the moments that break through the distractions of daily life, Avi documents the unbridled power of wildfires. A firsthand witness to climate change, Avi makes photographs and ceramics works that offer a bridge to the natural landscapes, a connection that has been lost by many as we distance ourselves from the ecosystems we rely on. Avi’s photos and video reveal a strong sense of place as seen from a quite observer. Avi’s ceramic work has been exhibited internationally, and his documentary photography of wildfires has been recognized by National Geographic magazine.

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When you are selling your work face to face how important is that first impression?

The first impression for the buyer of the work?

Yes.

I guess I don’t know how important it is but I can tell you that having nice work and a unique space makes a great first impression and it seems to be a big part of selling.

How important is really good lighting to be able to capture what the work looks like?

Man, I can’t understate how important it is. I don’t have all the lighting in there that I would like to but especially with the wood fire work that has so much depth to it, it is night and day when you have a nice light on it. So often where I am parked I will have people take the work outside into the sunlight so they can really see what it looks like. Depending on where I have the trailer, if I don’t have that much power I will run a battery, but I can’t run all that many LED lights. So, I am still trying to figure that part out. Lighting is really, really important.

How important is it for you to know what kind of customer is coming into the trailer?

Well, I am still learning that. I am learning that where I park the trailer is a big part in the success I have selling. So I know that I want to sell my work for full price and I think that with all the work firing wood kilns and harvesting clay and all the thought that goes into making a really finely crafted piece of pottery that I should get full price for it. I go to places where I can find a market and where people have an income to buy it. I mean, I want to everyone to have my work but that is just kind of the reality of what I have to do.

When a customer comes into your space, do you talk to them, or do you let them look around?

I will definitely greet them and I want them to feel comfortable and then I will just let them look around. I can usually gauge how interested they are in the work if it is actually catching their attention. Then I just inform them about the process and kind of tell the story of how the pots are made and who I am and what I do. That part’s easy because I am just sharing what I love to do with them and they are in my space. It is pretty simple at that point. And the trailer really breaks the ice because they just come in and say, Wow, what is this thing? and then I can just tell them about the trailer, how I rebuilt it and what I do with it and then, you know, when people want to buy a piece of pottery a lot of time it is because they want to take your story back with them, so it makes a nice story.

So story seems to be a big part of the selling process, is that accurate?

Yes, definitely. It is all about the story. You have to give the person context, unless they are a ceramics collector who really knows about wood fire work and they can see that it is quality wood fire work, they just see something beautiful and you have to make them feel like they want to bring that into their life.

Does the story add value?

I think so. Sure, yeah. I mean my work is of Northern New Mexico, it is supposed to connect the user to Northern New Mexico landscapes because it is made of the landscapes and I evoke themes that I am inspired by from living in such a beautiful place. So that is the story I want to translate to people and I want them to have a really beautiful thing that they use in their daily lives. So that is all part of the story, but maybe not in such a direct way as in a story but it is all part of why I’m making and what I am doing. And when they are buying one of my pots they are buying into what I am doing and they are helping me to make more pots.

I know you have a new venture of going up to Vancouver, B.C. . Why did you choose that for a school?

A couple of reasons. It kind of happened spontaneously, actually. It was the heart of the winter here and I wasn’t selling very much work so I started to think about other ways I could augment my income in the winter time and I started looking at different kinds of design programs and that one just kind of caught my attention because they seemed to be a lot more open-ended on what they considered design and design research. So I applied to that program and actually applied a week after their deadline had passed and they still let me apply. I had to film a video of myself for my application and I happen to be firing a wood kiln, so I kind of just videoed myself and talked about that process and when I interviewed they seemed very interested in my making process and interested in seeing how I could explore that in design. So that is why I kind of chose that school. It was a lot more affordable to go to school in Canada. They gave me a scholarship which made things a lot easier and it is kind of nice time to get out of the U.S. for awhile as well.

How long is the program?

It is a two year program.

Will you be going back to New Mexico when you are done?

It is hard to say where I will go but I really love New Mexico. New Mexico is home for me. I think I will be here at some point. I just bought a small piece of land by the kilns so I have a root down with this wood fire community because I will always fire these kilns here.