Ken Ford on mon 21 apr 97
Hi Folks,
More about the artspeak discussion. Somthing that strikes me is
that pottery often draws the short end of the stick when it comes to the
fine arts and art history. We all know that.
For instance; I came to the realisation that conceptualism in art
has its roots in pottery! Art before this was representation of events,
images etc but the first pottery was conceptual in that it was made with
the future in mind, ie to store or hold food.This is rudimentry conceptual
art!
Take a slice out of art history, lets say Abstract Expressionism,
painters got all the glory here too, but think about it, the earliest form
of absrtact expressionism was pottery or working in clay. THE ultimate
abstract expression.
Lets get a bit closser to the present. There has been a postmodern
idiom of Earthwork, it doesnt take much imagination to realise who the
first Earthworkers were,or where the roots of this idiom lie.
So, even the most basic potter is working from a conceptual
historic base. Pottery/Ceramics/Claywork are not problematic as ART but
threaten the hierarchy of painting as the major art form in western
art.Only through a concerted effort to formulate a strong critical language
will we be able to place clay in its rightful position in Art status.
Thanks, Ken Ford (Artfa Artsake)
dan wilson on tue 22 apr 97
Ken Ford writes:
----------------------------Original message----------------------------
>Only through a concerted effort to formulate a strong critical language
>will we beable to place clay in its rightful >position in Art status.
The sentiment wich gives rise to this statement is respectable and
admirable. Yet I'm left with the problem of deciding whether the "strong
critical language" you speak of doesn't already exist- or whether we should
formulate our own language to accomodate our self interests. While it is
important to have a body of theory within which to frame our explorations,
the idea of developing that body outside of the pre-established historical
parameters that have evolved within the art world since the establishment
of esthetics as a legitimate field of study raises a number of unsettling
questions; not the least of which: What is to be gained by changing clay's
current "position" in the arts? Dignity? Respect? Compensation?
Dan Wilson
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