Music for Teacups is a series of video and sound that captures the falling and breaking of teacups. Melissa Haviland, a professor at the Ohio University School of Art + Design, uses the china as a cultural lens to explore relationships: personal and economic. Her concentration turns a physical object into a platform for interactions ranging from conversation to negotiation. Desire, etiquette, and the power of objects in our lives as landmarks and commodities is a practice that can also be seen in the use, commission, and value of the manuscript. Her modern artist book captures the essence of a manuscript without using a single word.
Music for Teacups pairs sound and sight in a similar way that a manuscript or more traditional modern books pairs text and illustration. As mentioned in The Century of Artist Books, “the book becomes first and foremost a means of direct communication.” Works by artists of the Russian Avant-Garde reflect the fact that books could be done with limited means by the artists themselves using technology and their own skills. This was a radical reconception of the book as an artistic form because it was not solely a publishing feat, but a new form with no rules or limits.[1]
Some questions that I had revolved around Haviland’s influence from etiquette and class. Was the loudness of shattering the teacups meant to juxtapose how quiet and reserved the practice of drinking tea was? Were specific teacups used? When there were aspects of Music for Teacups that I did not understand or wanted a further explanation of, I was able to ask Haviland. She was even able to provide me with more details of her process for the creation of the project. That is one major difference between researchers of medieval manuscripts and contemporary artists’ books. The importance of the teacup can be represented as a token of high class citizens who had the luxury to enjoy tea and casual events. Haviland’s focus on fine china is part of a larger exploration of issues dealing with class, etiquette, and family upbringing. The intended user of fine china in a tea party setting was primarily women. In Caviness’ article, Matron or Patron, she delves into prayer books gifted for weddings. This is an item meant to assist in the pious devotion of a wife to her husband. The responsibility of a wife was to represent virtue and yield to her husband. At the same time, the prayer book was the place for whimsical notes or jokes could be place in the ba-du-page.[2]
The fealty of the woman can be seen in the practice of tea party etiquette. The project by Haviland broke not only the shape of the teacup, but also its orderliness and conventional purpose. In the destruction of routine etiquette practices, there is music and enjoyment for the participant, listener, or viewer.
Feel free to listen to her video at: https://vimeo.com/39291390
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[1] Madeline H. Caviness. “Patron or Matron? A Capetian Bride and a Vade Mecum for Her Marriage Bed.”
[2] Johanna Drucker. “Chapter 3: Artists' Books and the Early 20th Century Avant-Garde.” A Century of Artists' Books
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