I recently heard the term “extinction burst” for the first time. I found it so evocative. The context was someone telling me how she’s planning to cut back her hours at one of her jobs next year, but she ended up with more work there than ever in the short run because a colleague got sick. I began using the expression to describe my current relationship to my ceramics studio. I’m planning to give it up completely soon, in preparation for selling our old house, and to make more time for writing. But in the short run, I’ve been spending more time there than ever.
Some of that time has been necessary to find new homes for my remaining ceramics pieces, selling and giving them away. But it is also the contrary behavior a lot of us manifest when something is changing – we try to double down on our old ways of being. I developed a fantasy of using up all the remaining clay and glazes by becoming a production potter for the first and only time. Less discovery, more volume, more functional pieces that are easier to sell or give away. Craft more than art. I did a kiln load of wheel-thrown bowls and other vessels, making a small dent in the leftover materials and reminding myself that I don’t love these aspect of ceramics as much as hand-building and sculpture.
In preparation for writing this piece, I Googled “extinction burst.” I discovered that it is used heavily in the context of Applied Behavior Analysis, the increasingly popular and insurance-funded but controversial system of intensive behavior therapy for kids with autism. I apologize to those who may be offended by its use for this reason. In behavioral psychology in general, it refers to the tantrum that often ensues when previous rewards for a behavior are withdrawn. If we can bear to wait, the extinction burst will end and new habits can emerge.
I also found an article Martha Beck wrote a couple of years ago applying the term extinction burst to the US political situation. She encourages us to stay the course, to outlast the extinction burst being generated by the decline of the patriarchal, racist power structures in our society. I don’t know whether she still thinks this is just another burst that will pass. I hope it is. I also wonder, when I hear about friends and family taking vacations to far-away places, or view my own upcoming domestic frequent flying plans: Is this our collective extinction burst in reaction to the knowledge that such behavior is not sustainable? I hope we don’t create conditions for actual extinction of the human race in the process of these bursts.
In the meantime, I have one more open studio sale coming up this weekend, Sunday 9:00am-2:00pm at 2116 Jefferson St. If you’re in Madison and want to stop by I’d love to see you. We can talk about art and craft and evolution and extinction, and maybe you’ll take home a piece or two or three. All proceeds will go to Standing Together, a progressive grassroots movement mobilizing Jewish and Palestinian citizens of Israel against the occupation and for peace, equality, and social justice.
I love how you always are processing life through your creative expressions Becca. Extinction bursting is intriguing phrase, I imagine there is whole range of feelings as you let go of the ceramics you loved creating through an ealier life stage.
I am enjoying the pieces I brought home last weekend and may be back for more!