Mel Jacobson on tue 1 jul 97
it may be of some interest to people on the net that in japan, and
especially in cities like kyoto, there are only electric kilns.
there is a huge misconception that there are anagamas all over
japan....sorry it is just not true. pollution controls are very tight and
potters have learned to adapt to electric firing.
i receive several japanese magazines and books each year with openings
of large exhibits and shows illustrated. ...it is amazing what they are
doing with electric kilns and interesting clay and glaze. at some point
we will all be grateful to the technical wizardry of japanese potters using
electric kilns when it becomes our turn to try.
if some of you could see what is being done with skill and beauty in
japan it would help explain why so many of us shudder at the "post modern
garbage" that some americans are producing. do not get me wrong here....i
am not against metaphor, poetry and abstract design....just tired of poor
skill and technique couched in wordy needed pots.
I have a book next to the computer of the new work of Kiomezu Rokube
(phon. spelling) of kyoto...my god the man can work clay...abstract,
modern, lyrical and the most amazing skill i have ever seen. 70 years old,
nice, kind, gentle and thoughtful. he makes me feel like a fumbling
teenager. we have a lot to learn. and if you think the only way to make
pots is in a reduction kiln you even have more to learn.
mel jacobson/minnesota
kinoko@junction.net on wed 2 jul 97
Mel. Inlate 1969 I sold my studio,etc, in Marblehead,Mass. To Phillip White
who somewhat later opened astudio in Lynn,Mass.on the old Lydia Pinkham
property. While there he started called the "Reduction Production" copany,
producing an electric kiln using somewhat heavier element wire than usual.
This kiln had a small box entering the kiln near the bottom,one one side. At
somepoint in the firing,the box was filled with charcoal and introduced into
the kiln effectively producing a reducing atmosphere.
Perhaps,because of Leach,Rhodes, and others, most potters seem to
have followed the practice of not reducing electreic kilns because of the
"....reduced element life of approximatly 10%" Where the figure comes
from,none of us really knows....out of a hat,probably! If the figure were
true and with a somewhat heavier element, one could stand the possible 10%
element life out of,say,500 firings. Althugh we have never used Phil Whites'
kiln,we have introduced fairly large quantities of pine
splinters,(aka-matsu) into electric kilns with no great reduction in kiln
elements using normal size elelemtns. At the same time,the reduction effect
in the pots has been indifferent.Note: White later sold out to some outfit
in the US.
The entire business of wood firing could certaily stand a long and
fruitful discussion without simply 'finger-pointing' at other sources of
polution, of which there are thousands including the family goat. I would
point out in this context that nearly ALL Japanese kilns until WW2 were very
large,and communally operated,thus having the advantage of size-economy and
being fired perhaps four times/year. The Anna-gama we built in New Brunswick
had a volume of well over 300cubic" often fired for 5 days,(120hrs) and
included the work of 7 to 10 persons. Although we have been away from N.B.
for more than 10 years,the kiln was operated for much of that time by a
consortium of students and professors,from the Nova Scotia College of Art
and Design,(Walter Ostrum) as well as Prof.Marie Ulmar of the Universite' de
Moncton,N.B. Don & Isao Sanami/Morrill---------------------------Original
message----------------------------
>it may be of some interest to people on the net that in japan, and
>especially in cities like kyoto, there are only electric kilns.
> there is a huge misconception that there are anagamas all over
>japan....sorry it is just not true. pollution controls are very tight and
>potters have learned to adapt to electric firing.
> i receive several japanese magazines and books each year with openings
>of large exhibits and shows illustrated. ...it is amazing what they are
>doing with electric kilns and interesting clay and glaze. at some point
>we will all be grateful to the technical wizardry of japanese potters using
>electric kilns when it becomes our turn to try.
> if some of you could see what is being done with skill and beauty in
>japan it would help explain why so many of us shudder at the "post modern
>garbage" that some americans are producing. do not get me wrong here....i
>am not against metaphor, poetry and abstract design....just tired of poor
>skill and technique couched in wordy needed pots.
> I have a book next to the computer of the new work of Kiomezu Rokube
>(phon. spelling) of kyoto...my god the man can work clay...abstract,
>modern, lyrical and the most amazing skill i have ever seen. 70 years old,
>nice, kind, gentle and thoughtful. he makes me feel like a fumbling
>teenager. we have a lot to learn. and if you think the only way to make
>pots is in a reduction kiln you even have more to learn.
>mel jacobson/minnesota
>
>
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** Don and Isao Morrill **
** Falkland, B.C. **
** kinoko@junction.net **
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