Documentary Film | Coming Soon
The Proper Task
About the Film
At a small pottery studio in central Minnesota, there’s a feeling that’s hard to name. You sense it in the focus of artists at work, in the beauty of the local materials and surrounding landscape, in the conversations over tea. It permeates every step of the process and culminates as the community gathers around a massive wood-burning kiln, where flame and ash leave indelible marks on the clay inside. It’s embodied by master potter Richard Bresnahan, whose life and work are shaped by a deep connection to art, people and the physical world.
Blending intimate observation and impressionistic imagery, The Proper Task is an experiential documentary that will immerse viewers in the rhythms of the studio: the gathering and preparation of local materials, the daily work of making, the knowledge transferred between generations, the meals and conversations that bind the community together, the slow loading of the kiln, and the days of shared labor that bring the process to its culmination.
Why This Film?
Almost everything about American culture centers around speed, extraction, mass production and self-promotion. Yet subjecting ourselves to the hamster wheel of more, more, more leaves us feeling spent. Overwhelmed and emptied out.
Is there another way? Can we build a life around art, beauty, purpose, community and responsibility?
Artist Richard Bresnahan and the pottery studio offer one compelling way into those questions. His life and work are rooted in a radically different relationship with creativity, materials, place and community. Through his example, The Proper Task asks what becomes possible when we slow down and live with greater care for one another, the places we inhabit, and the generations that come after us.
The Subjects
At The Saint John’s Pottery in MN, master potter Richard Bresnahan leads and works within a community of artists, apprentices, longtime partners and guests. The studio is a place to make, learn, teach, gather, talk and take part in something shared.
At the center of that community is the Johanna Kiln, a wood-burning kiln whose firings bring hundreds of people together for days of continuous work. The pottery, the materials, the landscape, the kiln, and the people around them are inseparable. Together, they offer a way of thinking that extends well beyond ceramics.
Our Mission
The film aims to cultivate in viewers a renewed sense of awe at the world around us, and a desire to slow down and consider what people, places and pursuits give their lives meaning. It invites everyone to consider how we live in relationship with art, one another, and our environment. The Proper Task creates space to consider a few larger questions:
Can art be a way of living? What does it look like to organize a life around creativity and beauty rather than productivity or recognition?
What does it mean to live in relationship with a place? How might attention to local materials, natural systems and the surrounding environment change the way we understand what we make and consume?
What do we leave behind? How does a multi-generational view of time change the way we create and care for resources and communities
What can we create together? What happens when art moves beyond the individual artist and becomes a shared act of community, care and participation?
Impact Strategy
We plan to bring the film to audiences through a combination of screenings, partnerships and broad distribution:
Local premiere in partnership with organizations connected to the film and its themes.
National online premiere in partnership with leading voices in art, sustainability, community and related fields.
U.S. screening tour with local organizations and community partners.
In-person and virtual screenings and discussions with nonprofits, businesses, community groups, universities and libraries.
Conference and event screenings accompanied by conversations with artists, educators and subject matter experts.
National television broadcast through public television.
Digital release through online streaming.
Viewer resources designed to continue conversations around creativity, community, legacy, and sustainability.
Get Involved
We are currently seeking partners and supporters to help bring The Proper Task to life. Reach out to learn more about the project and explore opportunities to get involved.