Vince Pitelka on sat 4 may 96
Billie -
You are right about the widespread neglect of ceramic history. But placing
more emphasis on ceramic history should not take precedence over general art
history. Back in the 1960s, chock full of idealism and angst, we rebelled
against having to take art history. When I returned for grad studies much
later I couldn't get enough of it. I don't know what initiated the change in
my own thirst for knowledge, but I do know that it is important to view and
make ceramics within the broader context of art history and world history. But
of course if the history of the media itself is neglected then the student is
really missing out. It is fortunate that in most survey courses students do
learn something about Persian, Minoan, Mycenaean, Greek, Roman, and Islamic
ceramics, but this is only because in these cultures ceramics were seen as
among the highest of artforms, and the knowledge we have about the culture is
often largely based on the study of their ceramics. Otherwise, it is
appalling how completely the study of art history neglects fine craft. So it
is up to ceramics teachers to make up for this lack. Part of the problem is
that academic art history slide collections often do not include much fine
craft work, historical or contemporary, except in the most well-funded
programs. Ceramics faculty need to put together their own slide collections.
It is the only way to really break the cycle that you speak of. Spread out
over time, it isn't such a chore.
- Vince
Vince Pitelka - wkp0067@tntech.edu
Appalachian Center for Crafts - Tennessee Technological University
Smithville, TN
Karen Ottenbreit on sun 5 may 96
Hi Vince and All,
I have found this current thread on art /ceramic history an
intregueing one. While I do have, what I believe to be a be, a rather
sound if not extremely basic knowledge of general art history from all the
"Humanities" classes in college (all of which I did enjoy !) Being mostly
self taught in the ceramics world, needless to say...I'm fairly lacking in
that area. To be honest, I never really cared before. Now, as I am
gaining more experience and exposure to the clay world I am finding that I
DO want know more about ceramic history. Without knowledge of the past,
how can we understand where we are and how we got here...let alone where we
may be going ?
With that said...can any of you recommend any good books ? I do have one
or two that touch a bit on history but not much. I think I also might
start introducing a bit of ceramic history into my classes. Since they are
classes aimed at pottery hobbiests what would you recommend ? (I don't
want to bore them too much...after all I need to pay the bills with their
money...)
TIA
Karen on the Kenai
.....where the caribou are shedding great gobs of hair on the tide flats.
Hluch - Kevin A. on mon 6 may 96
Vince,
This brings up another important point. Art Historians should be
retrained to include ceramics (and pottery) in their classes. There
aren't many art historians who classify pottery as art. It appears that
if the ancients had painted in oils and had discovered a way to mummify
those examples then we wouldn't be looking at pots in Greek, Roman,
Minoan,etc. cultures. We'd be looking at the mummified remains of oil
painting.
Art Historians need to be taught differently...This is the source of the
problem. And, by the way, did the ancients define their work as "fine
craft"? Is there such a thing as unfine craft? I always thought pots were
craft. Or are pots that are not useful "fine craft".
It seems to me that the analogy between art and craft is complete in
regard to art and craft. The Greeks gave beautiful pots as trophies in
athletic contests, now we give ugly sculptures for the same prowess.
Kevin
On Sat, 4 May 1996, Vince Pitelka wrote:
> ----------------------------Original message----------------------------
> Billie -
>
> You are right about the widespread neglect of ceramic history. But placing
> more emphasis on ceramic history should not take precedence over general art
> history. Back in the 1960s, chock full of idealism and angst, we rebelled
> against having to take art history. When I returned for grad studies much
> later I couldn't get enough of it. I don't know what initiated the change in
> my own thirst for knowledge, but I do know that it is important to view and
> make ceramics within the broader context of art history and world history. Bu
> of course if the history of the media itself is neglected then the student is
> really missing out. It is fortunate that in most survey courses students do
> learn something about Persian, Minoan, Mycenaean, Greek, Roman, and Islamic
> ceramics, but this is only because in these cultures ceramics were seen as
> among the highest of artforms, and the knowledge we have about the culture is
> often largely based on the study of their ceramics. Otherwise, it is
> appalling how completely the study of art history neglects fine craft. So it
> is up to ceramics teachers to make up for this lack. Part of the problem is
> that academic art history slide collections often do not include much fine
> craft work, historical or contemporary, except in the most well-funded
> programs. Ceramics faculty need to put together their own slide collections.
> It is the only way to really break the cycle that you speak of. Spread out
> over time, it isn't such a chore.
> - Vince
> Vince Pitelka - wkp0067@tntech.edu
> Appalachian Center for Crafts - Tennessee Technological University
> Smithville, TN
>
Lisa Skeen on tue 7 may 96
In a message dated 96-05-06 18:34:06 EDT, you write:
> Art Historians should be
>retrained to include ceramics (and pottery) in their classes.
A-freakin'-MEN!!!!! I've already stated my views on Art History in general;
just think how much better I'd like it if there were some POTTERY pieces to
study!!!!
L
jeden@PO-Box.McGill.CA on thu 9 may 96
Wonders will never cease, I have just been informed that there is money
available for audio/visual materials for our department. I am looking for
material (slide sets, cd-roms, videos, films) suitable for an intro ceramic
history/survey course. We have a fairly extensive collection of slides but it
is weak in the area of contemporary work. I am particularly interested in any
cd-roms of ceramics collections of any period that may be out there. Its the
end of the fiscal year so I have to move quickly on this, any help would be
appreciated. Thanks in advance.
John Eden, John Abbott College, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
I am changing over to a new server so if anyone wants to connect with me off
the list my new e-mail address is > john.eden@johnabbott.qc.ca
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