mel jacobson on sun 1 apr 07
as a teacher, i am committed to teach the best information
i can pass on.
this is very important. it is the life blood of a teacher.
we live in the world of craft and art. we have thousands
of years of models of pots, sculpture, tiles and other things
made of clay. millions of exemplars. we observe the past, we
live in the present. our teachers are the millions of folks that
have made pots for thousands of years.
we see great pots, we see funny pots, some great design, some
very poor design. during the past year we have seen 12 issues of
cm, 6 issues of claytimes and about 20 other issues of various publications
and images on the internet, we go to shows of pots. hundreds of
pictures of pots.
some move us, make us take notice...many leave us cold and we flip
forward fast. we each have very strong opinions about what makes a good
pot, what is junk. opinion. often opinion is just a re/hash of what we have
been told. sometimes it is logic, ideas that have been formed in our own
mind, based on experiences in the production of pottery. that is when
experience is vital. years of experience and thousands of made pots.
it makes those opinions more valid.
the world of ceramics is also full of opinions based on science and technology.
many live in 1949 when the first modern books on ceramics were published.
often it takes new scientific ideas decades to penetrate
the world of art and craft. ways of doing things seem to get stuck in our
thinking, and then it becomes dogma. often that dogma is not fact...it is just
dogma.
we have been faced with some new information this month. good, well
thought out
and researched information. it may shake some dogma. from my
experiences being
a long time potter....i must totally believe the work of bill
carty. it is based on
water as the essential in mixing clay. that is easy to believe as it
was one of the
dogmas that i believe to be true. aging is a different issue. the raku family
ages a hundred years. it is tradition. does the clay get better
after one year?
maybe not. but, they believe in old clay. it is not science, it is tradition.
is it wrong? no, it is their dogma. many of you would be surprised
at the quality
of that clay. it is amazing. most of you would explode in your mind
if you got
to use well aged, shigaraki clay..mined, slaked in ponds, from a
natural clay mine.
`it leaps from the wheel, and just wants to be pots.` it has
traditional value.
i made thousands of pots from that clay while working in kyoto. i do not have
it now...so i make do.
i do not have a blunger, so i make do. i do soak my clay in water,
let it age a bit,
make lots of pots. and, i wish i had kyoto clay to work with every
day...but i don't.
what i do have makes pots well, seems to please my aesthetic senses and get i
on with it.
traditional forms, pots that have function and that have been proven
to have value
over the years still work well. it would serve many potters to
observe the old, value
good concepts of traditional design and incorporate `design concepts`
into your work.
of course, it takes serious thinking on the part of the potter to
make any dogmatic changes.
old messages keep clamping down your mind.
i loved the `fuss` that sandy miller got last year. her pots on the
cover of claytimes
delighted many people. but, look at the design concept that sandy
incorporates in
her work. simple forms, well thrown and planned. rich glazes that
shimmer with life.
great craftsmanship. a sense of value of good design.
it is the same for handles. clear thinking about what the handle's
function is, how it works,
how it relates with negative space against the wall of the cup. how
does it fit the finger or
hand. how does it relate to heat. `DO YOU WANT TO HOLD IT?`...HOW
DOES the rim FEEL
NEXT TO YOUR MOUTH?` do customers bring back your broken, shattered
mug and say.
`my god, make another one, just like this one...exactly like this one`
or, do they just throw it out.?
it is like a 80+ plus inch flue, a big stack and small burners.
all the heat goes up the stack..none stays in the kiln. but, old dogma
says...`84 inch flue into a 15 foot stack 12 inches round.` and of course the
kiln stalls every time at cone 6. so, the potter fires it 126 times
in a row and
wonders....`how come this kiln stalls all the time?` but, does not
change a thing.
dogma.
i have had a 35 square inch flue for fifty years. it has never stalled
once. we fire kilns in oxidize atmosphere as fast as four
hours...reduce on the
way down with wood. perfectly reduced pots. new dogma. few believe me.
i down fire all my kilns, as some really wonderful, intelligent
friends have advised
me that what happens on the way down....during the cooling is more important
then what happens on the way up. i believe them, as the pots are better now.
new dogma.
i have tripled the life of my electric kilns using itc. nasa uses itc on the
launch pads. it works...alcoa uses itc on million dollar furnaces and it saves
them millions in gas cost. it works.
and a potter with two years of experience told feriz delkic, owner of itc that
it `does not work`.
it is now her dogma...itc is worthless. hmmm, who may be correct?
it has been a great couple of weeks on clayart. some rich discussion by very
passionate people. some great science, and some great questions.
some dogma has been questioned...and that is good.
we have had some questions and answers from some great clayarters
with backgrounds in science. engineers, chemists and researchers that
also make pots. they are valued. science and technology marches forward
just like art. tomorrow is a new day. we learn, we adjust.
and, often we have to squash old dogma.
it is hard to do, it hurts, but, it is good for us.
mel
from: mel/minnetonka.mn.usa
website: http://www.visi.com/~melpots/
Clayart page link: http://www.visi.com/~melpots/clayart.html
Ivor and Olive Lewis on tue 3 apr 07
Dear Mel,
I agree whole heartedly with your principle << as a teacher, i am =
committed to teach the best information i can pass on. this is very =
important. it is the life blood of a teacher. >>.
In the best teacher training institutions this is part of the Philosophy =
of Education. But the accomplishment of the Principle depends on the =
willingness of a teacher or instructor to research deeply to keep up =
with the generation of new knowledge. The same might be said of any =
field of vocational training. Practitioners should do the hard yards.
We have to be willing the examine, to question, to look for anomalies, =
for hidden assumptions, for contradictions, for flawed arguments, for =
"non sequitur", for the oxymoron.
Let me put it this way, If Lawrence and West were right about the nature =
of Water that is closely associated with Clay, then the model that =
proposes water as a lubricant between moving clay crystals must be =
untrue. Which is why I asked you about the movement of an skate over =
Ice.
Best regards,
Ivor Lewis.
Redhill,
South Australia.
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