【Rapsa (2025)】

This post ispart ofHard Refresh,Rapsa (2025)a soothing weekly column where we try to cleanse your brain of whatever terrible thing you just witnessed on Twitter.

For those of us that don't find comfort in watching hot knives delicately destroy their surroundings, I am here to offer up a solution.

Among the time suck that is Instagram, there's a beacon of hope that comes in the form of every video of wheel throwing uploaded by a potter. Look, I could start this off by explaining in detail about each video, but first I must insist that you watch the magic for yourself.

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A quick search though the hashtags #wheelthrowing and #potterywheel on Instagram offers up thousands of videos just like the ones above. Some are from accounts dedicated to showing off the finished product and the behind-the-scenes life of a ceramicist, like Eric Landon of the Tortus Studio in Denmark. Others are just videos from pottery enthusiasts who throw clay occasionally and document it on 'gram.

For the purpose of comfort, however, a video from either breed of potter works. They're extremely soothing to watch and before you realize, you may find yourself 50 videos deep in the wonderful world of throwing clay.

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The best part about this form of peaceful content is there are varying degrees of satisfaction while watching these videos. If you're not intimidated by an incomplete project, pick a video that starts at the beginning of the object's journey. Watching a potter throw a chunk of clay onto a wheel and witnessing it form into somethingis calming in it's own way, like the clip below.

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Or you can catch a piece already formed and in need of the final touches, like trimmings, slip for texture, or designs.

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Lucky for you, there are many other soothing things in the pottery realm beyond molding clay.

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For example, this invisible crack in a piece by Landon may make you weep. The pieces fit so perfectly together. Without watching Landon place the pieces together, there is no indication that they are two separate items, and it's so incredibly calming to watch them reunite.

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If for some reason that isn't your thing, let me direct your attention to what Landon, and many potters, do to their trimmings. No piece of clay is wasted, and it's incredibly satisfying to see what can come from adding a few drops of water to leftover pieces of clay.

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If you're interested in pottery, there's a whole soothing world of ceramics just waiting for you out there. Follow these accounts if you need an injection of calm in your timeline from time to time:

• Tortus Copenhagen

• Fray

• Key West Pottery

• Helen Christgau Levi

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