primalmommy on thu 12 apr 07
OK, it's 2 a.m.... I babysat burners on the salt kiln yesterday in the
rain/sleet from 6am to midnight and got home after one in the morning,
and that's after the night before of bricking up/rolling ino bed at
2am... I'm too old for this...
all of this to say that I am scribble headed with tiredness, a few
bricks short of a caternary arch, and mentally firing on one weed
burner.
However, my mid program review is tomorrow, and I have been here all
evening trying to pull an artist's statement out of my hat.
I spent several hours yesterday at kilnside huddled in my car writing on
this thing, resulting in several false starts and a lot of scribbled-out
blather.
It just seemed too stilted, pretentious, and formulaic, and not like my
voice at all... but I picture the 7 mfa members staring at whatever I
can line up on a table to justify my last year of mfa life, and I just
freeze up.
So I just pretended I was writing my bloggy stuff to clayart, and here
it is, below. I just emailed it to all the profs so it's too late now to
tell me, "No! Don't send it!"
Here goes. It's apparently about breakfast. (What was I thinking?)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------
I always wake up hungry.
I could drive to McDonalds and have a bag of breakfast, tossed out a
window by anonymous hands into my lap. But there is no joy in that (and
anyway, my 13 year old would lecture me about fast food, deforestation
and factory farming.)
Artless, anonymous food can feed our bodies, but it leaves our souls
unsatisfied.
So instead, I put my hands to cooking breakfast, a creative and
rewarding task.
Coffee. While it brews, I choose from a dozen unique cups, stoneware and
porcelain, ash glazed and maiolica, made by potters whose names and
faces I know. In the private hours before my little homeschoolers wake
up, I hold the warm mug in my cupped hands and press it again and again
to my lips, both kiss and communion. It's a good beginning. Every
nursing baby knows this comfort, holding and sipping something warm.
(Given the choice of Styrofoam, though, or anonymous factory mug from
the WalMart, I might well skip coffee all together. It matters who makes
the things we use, and whether it's artful skill that I hold to my lips,
or mass produced, empty utility.)
There is joy in a smooth brown egg, laid by one of six hens in my small
suburban back yard. We've come to recognize each friendly bird's "style"
of egg, by the color, speckle, shape and size. They all have dark orange
yolks, and the good energy of hens who live on green grass, clover, bugs
and freedom.
I honor those omelettes with real stoneware plates, made by the careful
hands and good energy of a skilled studio potter.
There is joy in the yogurt I make by giving its living culture a warm
place to thrive in my kitchen. In the bubbling fermentation of next
year's elderberry wine, the tangy sourdough starter I've nurtured for
months, the alfalfa sprouts in a mason jar, and the hand-shredded
sauerkraut in my stoneware crock, my kitchen is full of small, busy
communities transforming the simple into something more. But the yogurt
will be breakfast, with fresh garden strawberries.
There is joy in the honey from my backyard hive, another product of
determined industry: 60,000 bees working together to distill summer's
blooms into sustenance. I honor that sweetness with a wood-fired honey
pot, made by a Virginia potter/poet who works as hard as the bees.
The bread I toast - (because the smell wakes my children) - I made by
hand. I chose and blended the grains, ground it to flour, kneaded the
loaves, and baked it in the wood-fired bread oven I built by hand, using
clay I dug myself. It's heated with wood I cut and stacked, and a fire
carefully tended until skill and practice tells me the time is right to
bake.
I serve home canned peaches, and jam from backyard berries, in a bowls I
made by hand. I chose and blended the clays, kneaded it into balls,
formed them on the potter's wheel, and decorated with glazes. They are
fired in a kiln we built, brick by brick, last summer, or in the wood
kiln we stoked patiently for 24 hours with wood we hauled, stacked and
split ourselves.
It is said that work is love made visible. If that's so, my children are
well fed both in body and spirit, by the fruits of many labors: the
bounty of birds, blossoms and bees, the peaches they peeled on canning
day and the garden they planted and tended themselves. The mom who made
their breakfast and the potters who made their juice cups did so with
skill and love, as well.
I am proud that my own pottery inhabits the breakfast tables of others,
the same way these beloved pots dignify mine.
Our modern world seems full of people buying more and caring less,
eating more and enjoying less. I suspect what is missing is real work
for our hands that makes us feel like participants in our own lives, the
timeless daily tasks repeated until they take on an artful rhythm of
their own. My farm grandma, who spent days picking and canning cherries,
or on the porch shelling peas into her apron while clothes danced on the
line, had a sense of peace and purpose that I work hard to recreate in
my own life. I loved her pantry under the stairs, pine shelves shining
with rows of pickled beets and carrots, mustard pickles and apricots in
mason jars. I get the same feeling of accomplishment, beauty and plenty
from the shining rows of finished pots on my own pine studio shelves.
Pottery is a primal. It connects us with our human history and with the
bounty of earth, and while we no longer know the butcher, the baker or
the candlestick maker, our pots reconnect us with each other. With every
pot meant to hold or be held, to serve and be used, we are linked to
those who will use it, pass it at the table, wash and dry it as part of
their own daily work.
My goal is to be like the bees, the hens, the sourdough, my grandmother,
and the cherry tree, taking what the earth offers and transforming it
into something more, something of use and beauty to others. My pots are
about honoring the work of our own hands, in the soul-sustaining process
of making, as well as in the finished pots themselves.
Kelly Averill Savino
April 2007
http://www.primalpotter.com
Save money. Click here to find low mortgage rates.
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Ann Brink on fri 13 apr 07
Eric Hansen wrote:
But when I see a modern potter making
> figurines as well as vessels, two-dimensional as well
> as three-dimensional work, for example, I want to see
> if there are personal and primal reasons.
OK, Eric, the personal reasons are curiosity, the joy of discovery, and the
pleasure of exploring different paths....seems like reasons enough to me.
What do you mean by primal reasons? ....something subconscious?
Ann Brink in Lompoc CA
(mostly about pottery)
Eric Hansen on fri 13 apr 07
Kelly - here is what I have in my statement. This is
how I actually talk and think so try not to laugh:
Autochthonous, place-centered traditions, coming up
from the earth, parallel all human traditions having
what vinticulturalists call 'terrior'. The obvious
vertical integration of local clays, local kilns,
local wood firing, and local styles is one expression
of this. But when I see a modern potter making
figurines as well as vessels, two-dimensional as well
as three-dimensional work, for example, I want to see
if there are personal and primal reasons. Due to our
specialization in formal approaches it can be
difficult to make this leap, commercialism and “feats
of clay” for their own sake are easier traps to fall
into. Let me quote Shigaraki potter Shiho Kanzaki: "
‘Do you want to quit? Do you want to quit being a
potter?’ The voice tormented my conscience. Although
we may be satisfied with our lives both financially
and materially, seeking only after material
satisfaction could take away our very reason for
existing. The question is this: self-affirmation or
self-denial ("Do I stay true to myself or not?")? The
voice forced this question. Pottery pieces which are
made to ingratiate themselves to others....pieces
which are made purely for the sake of
novelty....pieces which are made only to show one's
technical expertise.... The world of ceramic art is
overflowing with such things: it has become a world
focused on quantity. This should not have happened.
But it has happened because we are living according to
short-sighted calculation, and living for our own
self-interest. This way of living harms not only
ourselves, but also others.”
There's at least 3-4 good ideas in here but they are
all jumbled in together - I'm still working on it
H A M B O N E
I think your statement is fine
--- primalmommy wrote:
> OK, it's 2 a.m.... I babysat burners on the salt
> kiln yesterday in the
> rain/sleet from 6am to midnight and got home after
> one in the morning,
> and that's after the night before of bricking
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Mark Tigges on fri 13 apr 07
On Fri, Apr 13, 2007 at 12:33:10PM -0700, Eric Hansen wrote:
> Kelly - here is what I have in my statement. This is
> how I actually talk and think so try not to laugh:
I'm not Kelly ... I didn't laugh, but I didn't read very far ...
Two things you might want to correct in the opening sentence.
First, it's viniculture ... a vintner is someone who makes wine, a
viniculturist is someone who practices the science of making wine.
Second, it's terroir, not terrior.
There is no such thing as a vinticulturist. I believe you meant
vintner, not viniculturist - they both recognize terroir, but it's
less important to the science of wine making than it is to wine
making.=20
Best regards,
Mark.
>=20
> Autochthonous, place-centered traditions, coming up
> from the earth, parallel all human traditions having
> what vinticulturalists call 'terrior'. The obvious
> vertical integration of local clays, local kilns,
> local wood firing, and local styles is one expression
> of this. But when I see a modern potter making
> figurines as well as vessels, two-dimensional as well
> as three-dimensional work, for example, I want to see
> if there are personal and primal reasons. Due to our
> specialization in formal approaches it can be
> difficult to make this leap, commercialism and =93feats
> of clay=94 for their own sake are easier traps to fall
> into. Let me quote Shigaraki potter Shiho Kanzaki: "
> =91Do you want to quit? Do you want to quit being a
> potter?=92 The voice tormented my conscience. Although
> we may be satisfied with our lives both financially
> and materially, seeking only after material
> satisfaction could take away our very reason for
> existing. The question is this: self-affirmation or
> self-denial ("Do I stay true to myself or not?")? The
> voice forced this question. Pottery pieces which are
> made to ingratiate themselves to others....pieces
> which are made purely for the sake of
> novelty....pieces which are made only to show one's
> technical expertise.... The world of ceramic art is
> overflowing with such things: it has become a world
> focused on quantity. This should not have happened.
> But it has happened because we are living according to
> short-sighted calculation, and living for our own
> self-interest. This way of living harms not only
> ourselves, but also others.=94
>=20
> There's at least 3-4 good ideas in here but they are
> all jumbled in together - I'm still working on it
> H A M B O N E
> I think your statement is fine
>=20
> --- primalmommy wrote:
>=20
> > OK, it's 2 a.m.... I babysat burners on the salt
> > kiln yesterday in the
> > rain/sleet from 6am to midnight and got home after
> > one in the morning,
> > and that's after the night before of bricking
>=20
>=20
> __________________________________________________
> Do You Yahoo!?
> Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around
> http://mail.yahoo.com
>=20
> ___________________________________________________________________=
___________
> Send postings to clayart@lsv.ceramics.org
>=20
> You may look at the archives for the list or change your subscripti=
on
> settings from http://www.ceramics.org/clayart/
>=20
> Moderator of the list is Mel Jacobson who may be reached at melpots=
@pclink.com.
>=20
--=20
http://www.m2crafts.ca
m2crafts [at] gmail=20
Gail Dapogny on sat 14 apr 07
Hi Kelly,
First of all, who am I to offer any kind of advice, much less
admonishment.
That said: Girl, give yourself, your life, your family, and your
psyche a break. You don't have to relate everything to us, run
everything by us, earn our support and approval. You already have
all of those. Yet, it feels like you are turning yourself inside
out trying to explain your every thought, assuage your ongoing
anxieties, defend your occasional fits of rebellion without the
quiet and privacy that you owe yourself. How can you possibly take in
all of this, mull it over, process it, discard and save, ponder and
then ponder some more, and then on top of it all run it by all of us
on Clayart. as though your very life depended upon it.
Your statement is lovely and it is you. Having not been there, I
don't know what your professors will want from you, but I suspect
that your friends and many acquaintances have been touched by it.
Probably your professors as well.
You are a talented, articulate, beautiful person. You are a
nurturer, a maker, a thinker, a special presence. And...you are very
much one of us, and we care about you. You know that. Surely you know
that.
So, please, work some of that precious commodity called space into
your life. Space and time, breathing time, internal time, above all
Kelly-time. This is not an underhanded way of trying to shut you up.
Not at all. We relish hearing your warm voice, breathing in your
energy. But, regardless: don't spend yourself and every 2 a.m. ounce
of that precious energy on us during these two fertile, intense years
of commitment to a new part of your life.
I worry about you, and I suspect others do as well. Perhaps Diana too.
Offered with love and respect,
Gail
Gail Dapogny
Ann Arbor, Michigan
gdapogny@umich.edu
www.pottersguild.net
www.claygallery.org
On Apr 13, 2007, at 1:58 AM, primalmommy wrote:
> OK, it's 2 a.m.... I babysat burners on the salt kiln yesterday in the
> rain/sleet from 6am to midnight and got home after one in the morning,
> and that's after the night before of bricking up/rolling ino bed at
> 2am... I'm too old for this...
>
> all of this to say that I am scribble headed with tiredness, a few
> bricks short of a caternary arch, and mentally firing on one weed
> burner.
>
> However, my mid program review is tomorrow, and I have been here all
> evening trying to pull an artist's statement out of my hat.
>
> I spent several hours yesterday at kilnside huddled in my car
> writing on
> this thing, resulting in several false starts and a lot of
> scribbled-out
> blather. ...
>
Elizabeth Priddy on sat 14 apr 07
Dear Kelly,
Your crit page says the responses will be on the yahoo site.
Your yahoo site says they will be on the crit page.
I would rather respond to the work wherever the crit really is so that
it can go cleanly into your mix.
Regarding your artist statement posted here.
I think it is an intersting piece of creative writing,
but it is not an artist statement. It is a statement
made by an artist. For future use by galleries and
universities where you may show and teach, you will
need an actual, just the facts artist statement.
It will be less sensitive, less personal, less you.
And it will be what business people want, because it will
be similar in form to others with which they make direct comparisons.
That is sad in many ways, but they want to compare artists,
sans the info that one of them in the buch is a very good writer.
So where is your actual crit? I am late in the mix and do not want to
bore you with similar comments.
E
Elizabeth Priddy
Beaufort, NC - USA
http://www.elizabethpriddy.com
----- Original Message ----
From: Gail Dapogny
To: CLAYART@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG
Sent: Saturday, April 14, 2007 1:11:28 AM
Subject: Re: my artist's statement
Hi Kelly,
First of all, who am I to offer any kind of advice, much less
admonishment.
That said: Girl, give yourself, your life, your family, and your
psyche a break. You don't have to relate everything to us, run
everything by us, earn our support and approval. You already have
all of those. Yet, it feels like you are turning yourself inside
out trying to explain your every thought, assuage your ongoing
anxieties, defend your occasional fits of rebellion without the
quiet and privacy that you owe yourself. How can you possibly take in
all of this, mull it over, process it, discard and save, ponder and
then ponder some more, and then on top of it all run it by all of us
on Clayart. as though your very life depended upon it.
Your statement is lovely and it is you. Having not been there, I
don't know what your professors will want from you, but I suspect
that your friends and many acquaintances have been touched by it.
Probably your professors as well.
You are a talented, articulate, beautiful person. You are a
nurturer, a maker, a thinker, a special presence. And...you are very
much one of us, and we care about you. You know that. Surely you know
that.
So, please, work some of that precious commodity called space into
your life. Space and time, breathing time, internal time, above all
Kelly-time. This is not an underhanded way of trying to shut you up.
Not at all. We relish hearing your warm voice, breathing in your
energy. But, regardless: don't spend yourself and every 2 a.m. ounce
of that precious energy on us during these two fertile, intense years
of commitment to a new part of your life.
I worry about you, and I suspect others do as well. Perhaps Diana too.
Offered with love and respect,
Gail
Gail Dapogny
Ann Arbor, Michigan
gdapogny@umich.edu
www.pottersguild.net
www.claygallery.org
On Apr 13, 2007, at 1:58 AM, primalmommy wrote:
> OK, it's 2 a.m.... I babysat burners on the salt kiln yesterday in the
> rain/sleet from 6am to midnight and got home after one in the morning,
> and that's after the night before of bricking up/rolling ino bed at
> 2am... I'm too old for this...
>
> all of this to say that I am scribble headed with tiredness, a few
> bricks short of a caternary arch, and mentally firing on one weed
> burner.
>
> However, my mid program review is tomorrow, and I have been here all
> evening trying to pull an artist's statement out of my hat.
>
> I spent several hours yesterday at kilnside huddled in my car
> writing on
> this thing, resulting in several false starts and a lot of
> scribbled-out
> blather. ...
>
______________________________________________________________________________
Send postings to clayart@lsv.ceramics.org
You may look at the archives for the list or change your subscription
settings from http://www.ceramics.org/clayart/
Moderator of the list is Mel Jacobson who may be reached at melpots@pclink.com.
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Chuck Wagoner on sat 14 apr 07
For what it is worth here is mine,
=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=
=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=
=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D =
It is my premise that there is a polarized duality represented by the
dichotomy between usefulness and symbolism with respect to the question =
of
pottery as a fine art, or in this case, more specifically, sculptures. =
I
attempt to bridge this gap in my work by bringing the two together in =
one
sculpture.
Just as a shard can be a synecdoche for a vase, pottery can become a =
metonym
for earth and a metaphor for containing. In turn, containment can be =
tied to
sculpture in its intrinsic delineation of space. This symbolism is an
important component in all of my work in clay.
I start by "Taking the pots apart" and using them to synthesize a new
greater whole. This clouds the difference between inside and outside. =
Now
a new perspective is created. I am showing the viewer what they could =
not
see before, the inside.
It is this polarized duality in the perception of pottery that has =
caused
discussions and arguments unto this day. The very nature of pottery's
relationship to our existence and its utility is what makes it a unique
symbol of our humanity. Pottery forms are more than useful objects. They =
are
symbolic forms. I believe pottery has become over time a unique type of
sculpture with an underpinning of utility.
Utility narrows the semiotic range for pottery, but it also gives it a
unique meaning that is shared and knowable. It is this duality, =
represented
by the dichotomy of usefulness and symbolism that makes pottery a
multi-leveled source of signs and symbols as well as a metaphor for =
man's
imprint on the earth. Pottery signifies the shared meaning of duality, =
as a
three-dimensional object in space.
=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=
=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=
=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D
"Yes, I really believe this and I did not use at post modern art speak
generator. I wrote it all by myself during my masters program at Indiana
State University."
Charles Todd Wagoner
North Vermillion Jr./Sr. High School Visual Art Dept.
Billie Creek Village Potter, Rockville, IN
Charter Member "Bald Headed Potters of America"
cwag@abcs.com
cwagoner@nvc.k12.in.us
http://www.abcs.com/cwag
http://www.nvc.k12.in.us
http://www.myspace.com/themuddoctor
Lois Ruben Aronow on sat 14 apr 07
Dearest chuck - -
You made my head hurt.
Your pal...Lo
Lois Aronow Ceramics
www.loisaronow.com
www.craftsofthedamned.blogspot.com
-----Original Message-----
From: Clayart [mailto:CLAYART@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG] On Behalf Of Chuck Wagoner
Sent: Saturday, April 14, 2007 10:39 AM
To: CLAYART@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG
Subject: Re: my artist's statement
For what it is worth here is mine,
==========================================================================
It is my premise that there is a polarized duality represented by the
dichotomy between usefulness and symbolism with respect to the question of
pottery as a fine art, or in this case, more specifically, sculptures. I
attempt to bridge this gap in my work by bringing the two together in one
sculpture.
Just as a shard can be a synecdoche for a vase, pottery can become a metonym
for earth and a metaphor for containing. In turn, containment can be tied to
sculpture in its intrinsic delineation of space. This symbolism is an
important component in all of my work in clay.
I start by "Taking the pots apart" and using them to synthesize a new
greater whole. This clouds the difference between inside and outside. Now
a new perspective is created. I am showing the viewer what they could not
see before, the inside.
It is this polarized duality in the perception of pottery that has caused
discussions and arguments unto this day. The very nature of pottery's
relationship to our existence and its utility is what makes it a unique
symbol of our humanity. Pottery forms are more than useful objects. They are
symbolic forms. I believe pottery has become over time a unique type of
sculpture with an underpinning of utility.
Utility narrows the semiotic range for pottery, but it also gives it a
unique meaning that is shared and knowable. It is this duality, represented
by the dichotomy of usefulness and symbolism that makes pottery a
multi-leveled source of signs and symbols as well as a metaphor for man's
imprint on the earth. Pottery signifies the shared meaning of duality, as a
three-dimensional object in space.
=========================================================================
"Yes, I really believe this and I did not use at post modern art speak
generator. I wrote it all by myself during my masters program at Indiana
State University."
Charles Todd Wagoner
North Vermillion Jr./Sr. High School Visual Art Dept.
Billie Creek Village Potter, Rockville, IN Charter Member "Bald Headed
Potters of America"
cwag@abcs.com
cwagoner@nvc.k12.in.us
http://www.abcs.com/cwag
http://www.nvc.k12.in.us
http://www.myspace.com/themuddoctor
____________________________________________________________________________
__
Send postings to clayart@lsv.ceramics.org
You may look at the archives for the list or change your subscription
settings from http://www.ceramics.org/clayart/
Moderator of the list is Mel Jacobson who may be reached at
melpots@pclink.com.
Vince Pitelka on sun 15 apr 07
Forgive me for subjecting all of you to this once again, but Chuck Wagoner
wrote:
"It is my premise that there is a polarized duality represented by the
dichotomy between usefulness and symbolism with respect to the question of
pottery as a fine art, or in this case, more specifically, sculptures. I
attempt to bridge this gap in my work by bringing the two together in one
sculpture.
Just as a shard can be a synecdoche for a vase, pottery can become a metonym
for earth and a metaphor for containing. In turn, containment can be tied to
sculpture in its intrinsic delineation of space. This symbolism is an
important component in all of my work in clay.
I start by "Taking the pots apart" and using them to synthesize a new
greater whole. This clouds the difference between inside and outside. Now
a new perspective is created. I am showing the viewer what they could not
see before, the inside.
It is this polarized duality in the perception of pottery that has caused
discussions and arguments unto this day. The very nature of pottery's
relationship to our existence and its utility is what makes it a unique
symbol of our humanity. Pottery forms are more than useful objects. They are
symbolic forms. I believe pottery has become over time a unique type of
sculpture with an underpinning of utility.
Utility narrows the semiotic range for pottery, but it also gives it a
unique meaning that is shared and knowable. It is this duality, represented
by the dichotomy of usefulness and symbolism that makes pottery a
multi-leveled source of signs and symbols as well as a metaphor for man's
imprint on the earth. Pottery signifies the shared meaning of duality, as a
three-dimensional object in space."
End of Chuck Wagoner's artist's statement.
Beginning of my comment:
Oh . . ick . . . Chuck, please, do yourself the great service of re-writing
this artist's statement in your own words, and for god's sake, don't be so
goddamn preachy. You're not convincing anyone of anything. Put things in
simpler terms, in your own voice, and you obviously will have a lot of good
things to say. Please check out my handout on writing artist's statements
at
http://iweb.tntech.edu/wpitelka/syllabi-handouts/handouts/artist's%20statement.htm
For a good start, get out of the trap of empty Post-Modern jargon that says
less than nothing - eliminate the words "duality," "dichotomy," synecdoche,"
"metonym," and "semiotic." I am entirely in favor of the use of
intelligent art language, but only when it is not used foolishly.
No disrespect meant, because this is likely how you were taught to use
language by well-meaning but misguided teachers. I'm hoping that I am doing
you a favor.
- Vince
Vince Pitelka
Appalachian Center for Craft, Tennessee Technological University
Smithville TN 37166, 615/597-6801 x111
vpitelka@dtccom.net, wpitelka@tntech.edu
http://iweb.tntech.edu/wpitelka/
http://www.tntech.edu/craftcenter/
Chuck Wagoner on sun 15 apr 07
Hi Lois,
...It made mine hurt too, but it sort of made sense to me when I was in =
grad
school, I still like making things overly complicated.
I do like the "making sculptures out of pots thing" and there is always =
that
"inside/outside" thing going on.
Chuck
-----Original Message-----
=20
Dearest chuck - -
You made my head hurt.
Your pal...Lo
Lois Aronow Ceramics
Eric Hansen on mon 16 apr 07
Chuck: Yes I am bald too.
Thanks for the post. More food for thot.
H A M U L U S
--- Chuck Wagoner wrote:
> For what it is worth here is mine,
>
>
>
==========================================================================
>
>
> It is my premise that there is a polarized duality
> represented by the
> dichotomy between usefulness and symbolism with
> respect to the question of
> pottery as a fine art, or in this case, more
> specifically, sculptures. I
> attempt to bridge this gap in my work by bringing
> the two together in one
> sculpture.
>
> Just as a shard can be a synecdoche for a vase,
> pottery can become a metonym
> for earth and a metaphor for containing. In turn,
> containment can be tied to
> sculpture in its intrinsic delineation of space.
> This symbolism is an
> important component in all of my work in clay.
>
> I start by "Taking the pots apart" and using them to
> synthesize a new
> greater whole. This clouds the difference between
> inside and outside. Now
> a new perspective is created. I am showing the
> viewer what they could not
> see before, the inside.
>
> It is this polarized duality in the perception of
> pottery that has caused
> discussions and arguments unto this day. The very
> nature of pottery's
> relationship to our existence and its utility is
> what makes it a unique
> symbol of our humanity. Pottery forms are more than
> useful objects. They are
> symbolic forms. I believe pottery has become over
> time a unique type of
> sculpture with an underpinning of utility.
>
> Utility narrows the semiotic range for pottery, but
> it also gives it a
> unique meaning that is shared and knowable. It is
> this duality, represented
> by the dichotomy of usefulness and symbolism that
> makes pottery a
> multi-leveled source of signs and symbols as well as
> a metaphor for man's
> imprint on the earth. Pottery signifies the shared
> meaning of duality, as a
> three-dimensional object in space.
>
>
=========================================================================
>
>
>
>
> "Yes, I really believe this and I did not use at
> post modern art speak
> generator. I wrote it all by myself during my
> masters program at Indiana
> State University."
>
>
> Charles Todd Wagoner
> North Vermillion Jr./Sr. High School Visual Art
> Dept.
> Billie Creek Village Potter, Rockville, IN
> Charter Member "Bald Headed Potters of America"
> cwag@abcs.com
> cwagoner@nvc.k12.in.us
> http://www.abcs.com/cwag
> http://www.nvc.k12.in.us
> http://www.myspace.com/themuddoctor
>
>
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Chuck Wagoner on mon 16 apr 07
Hi Vince,
>>No disrespect meant, because this is likely how you were taught to use
>>language by well-meaning but misguided teachers. I'm hoping that I am
>>doing
>>you a favor.
>>- Vince
I appreciate your candidness and taking the time to respond.=20
You are probably right, I grew up with Profs for parents, my childhood
friends parents were Profs, I studied with a lot of Profs in school and =
I
wrote the statement for the three Profs on my Masters committee. It was
directed to that point.=20
It made sense to me when I wrote it and still does. It is not the only
statement I even made about what I do with clay, but I like the way it =
works
if the right people are reading it. It was food for thought in some of =
my
seminars and it seemed to go well with my work at the time.
I guess I could just say, "I take the pots apart and put them back =
together
again in a different way hoping to show the viewer the inside and also =
bring
up the problem of form vs. function and how pottery is so much apart of =
the
human condition."=20
Simple is usually better, but I just love the different variations of
metaphors (my favorites are the "dead metaphors") and I have always been
intrigued by semiotics. I think the examples I use with pottery hold =
water
Your guide on writing artist's statements is excellent and I will pass =
it
onto my students. I thought I did a pretty good job following some of =
your
guidelines when I read through them, except for using a complicated word
when a simple one would suffice. I'm going to take the time to try to
re-write that statement as an exercise in clarification and =
simplification.
As you point out in the guide, an artist's statement should be an =
ongoing
process.
http://iweb.tntech.edu/wpitelka/syllabi-handouts/handouts/artist's%20stat=
eme
nt.htm
I may be flakey, but sincere in my attempt to state what I try to do =
with
clay, I just need to be careful to consider who my audience is when I =
choose
my words.=20
Best regards and I really do appreciate your time and energy,
Chuck
Rockville, IN
Gayle Bair on tue 17 apr 07
Thanks Chuck,
Your statement is reminiscent of those
I heard in the painting department 1963 to1966
at the Phila. College of Art.
They were my greatest inspiration to switch
from being a painting major to printmaking
my junior year of college.
It was a the best decision I could have made.
My printmaking experience was wonderful
and has carried over into my pottery.
Perhaps my disdain is tempered by the fact that
those 'painters" professors and students were highly
untalented and used "art speak' to mask it.
In our senior year one of these painting majors
confided in me. He said the portfolio he juried into the
college with was not his work.
After college it took years for me to find my painting voice again.
My statements seem to be getting simpler and simpler
the latest one is for a local garden art show in WA.
I'd be laughed out of any MFA department with this one......
A major goal of mine is to transform functional everyday items into works of
Art which will be displayed, used & enjoyed. My original designs are brushed
& carved into the clay prior to firing. I throw on a wheel or handbuild each
piece using stoneware & porcelain.
All my clay is recycled, what does not get fired becomes another piece. The
fired pieces not meeting my standards are recycled into one of a kind garden
art, mosaics & stepping stones.
My functional works of Art are food, dishwasher & microwave safe."
On the other hand the people I am targeting shake their heads in agreement,
stop to tell me how much they love the pieces, display, use and enjoy them.
Often they come to replace the one they gave to a visiting relative or
friend.
I so admire Kelly's quest and am positive she will find her way and voice...
as a matter of fact I think we all will or already have!
We just reach it from different directions.
Gayle Bair
Tucson AZ
www.claybair.com
-----Original Message-----
From: Lois Ruben Aronow
Dearest chuck - -
You made my head hurt.
Your pal...Lo
Lois Aronow Ceramics
-----Original Message-----
From: Chuck Wagoner
For what it is worth here is mine,
It is my premise that there is a polarized duality represented by the
dichotomy between usefulness and symbolism with respect to the question of
pottery as a fine art, or in this case, more specifically, sculptures. I
attempt to bridge this gap in my work by bringing the two together in one
sculpture.
Just as a shard can be a synecdoche for a vase, pottery can become a metonym
for earth and a metaphor for containing. In turn, containment can be tied to
sculpture in its intrinsic delineation of space. This symbolism is an
important component in all of my work in clay.
Snip>
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