Tadeusz Westawic on wed 26 feb 97
Lili Krakowski wrote:
>There has been a very holier than thouish
>attitude among high-firing reduction potters for as long as I can
>remember which goes back to 1949. There is not space here to go into the
>whys, but part of it was the Nipponiphilia introduced by Leach and Hamada
>and the ...
----snip----
Funny that the bias may go back further than the 60's and 70's, I didn't
suspect that.
A lot of us first put our adult hands in clay in the late 60's and early
70's during the heyday of Folk Revival here in America. At that time I
first became aware of the bias through the use of the term "housewife
ceramics" to refer to ceramics produced by china painters and
slipcasters practicing in their homes.
I will admit to carrying that bias myself for a time (I was 20 years old
in 1970, so give me a break), but my bigotry had its roots more in the
commercial wares produced at that time. A brief foray down memory lane
recalls "screaming orange" ashtrays in obtuse triangular forms and "red
crackle" anatomically correct bulls (which later came out in a velvet
finish). One could find these items next to the beaded fruit, two isles
over from the catgut-and-oil-drip lamps.
Today, I recognise that the makers of these items did not wake up in the
morning and say to themselves "What can I make today that is really
stupid?" They were responding to the universal drive to be creative and
make a dollar (or perhaps five dollars) while doing that. Moreover, not
all slipcasters were making junk, its just that the junk had the
mass-market. I try to apply this lesson when I browse the Wal-Mart today
and see the velvet-glazed coyotes with their cute little bandanas along
with the rest of the "Santa Fake" genre. Sure, I cannot help but let a
smug giggle escape, but I am also pleased to know that some pottery
somewhere landed a contract with Wal-Mart and will survive another year.
Genuinely pleased.
Nipponiphilia helped launch Art-Deco, and Art-Deco perhaps brought the
first heyday of ^6 slipcast ceramics. Nipponiphilia also brought the
raku-tea esthetic. So if it took something away, it also gave alot. I
think it is arguable that it sustained the craft through to the post war
Folk Revival.
I've already said a mouthful, some of it probably wrong, but there are
more factors at work here that have yet to be mentioned. One is the
method of university education of American women in the 20's. I think I
heard Beatrice Wood say "We were taught to paint landscapes." I wonder
if slipcasting were not also taught. Another thing I think about is the
Folk Revival period in America. Can it be argued that say, 90 percent of
the "gene pool" of today's American university ceramics instructors come
out of this period? If true, how do we protect from staleness?
Tadzu -- Where Spring has taken a break and the skies are leaden, wind
out of the East and snow at 7000 feet. And if someone has an
anatomically correct red crackle ceramic bull, contact me and I'll give
you $20 for it.
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