Lili Krakowski on sat 27 oct 07
To all Edith Wharton fans: Isn't this delicious typo the perfect three word
summary of "The House of Mirth"?
But there is a lesson here: Lily Bart wants all the good and ideal[alized]
parts of the high society into which she was born, but does not want to pay
the
price. She wants to ignore the rules, the cruelties; the savage rites, the
bigotry etc which are, in fact, exactly and precisely what kills her .
It rather is the same with many would-be potters. They want to "embrace"
the parts they love and somehow be given a dispensation from those they do
not. Tapping to center is--check the archives!--- a matter of--dare I say
it?--practice. Make a fairly thick (heavy) flower pot type pot. Let it
get leather hard. Now invert it on you wheel
and NOT pushing down as if closing a recalcitrant suitcase
lid, but as you would rest it on a child's head JUST for reassurance,
rest your hand on the pot.
Turn you wheel SLOWLY--like 20 rotations a minute. Now lift your left hand
and tap the pot gently trying to hit at the spot that is sticking out in the
rotation. You are NOT spanking it....you are gently and tenderly giving it
a little nudge...After a few tries it will work. Main obstacles: too high a
wheel speed, too dry clay, to violent a smack....
I do not moisten the wheelhead. Many do. Matter of preference.
As to trimming qua trimming. Same thing. If you do not like making foot
rings, don't. I do not put feet on anything that does not need it. How do
I know if it needs it? Because the idea of the pot included a foot. It is
not, I think a matter, of gee, this pot gets a foot because I want to trim,
and this one does not because I do not feel like trimming....it is as matter
of designing the pot with, or without, a foot. Most of my pots do not have
foot rims. They are designed to be pickupable and cupped with both hands.
They deserve it.
There is something basically wrong with the fragmentation of the production
of pots, as there is in the
fragmentation of a lot of other things. As far as creating objects this
is precisely what the Arts & Crafts Movement wanted to combat--fragmentation
.
Modern machines already allow us to have servants who live for us.
Blundgers,
pug mills, electric wheels, grips, kilns controllers and gas analyzers,
etc...What more
can we add? Why not get an entire staff? And then just get called as to
dinner:
"Madam, dinner is served...." "Madam, your pot is ready..." instantly
leading to:"What will Madam wear to the All Time
Eternal Overarching Top Dog Clay Award Ceremony?"
I cannot think of anything in life that does not have a down side.
gardening, cooking, fishing,
pottery. Musicians practice and practice--I cannot believe that playing
"Pour Elise"
(known in my family"Poor Elise") is any more fun to
do than to listen to. Moofah will have to have her stall cleaned, her coat
brushed, and all sorts of blushmaking things will need doing on the way to
those gallons of 5% milk!
BUT SO WHAT? Isn't it all part of the discipline?
People still talk about this or that "discipline". But they do not absorb
the word. Yes.
A lot of the pottery process is a bore. So what? I like trimming, like
Wayne I find it
rests my brain, I like my finger tips gliding over the lather hard clay,
I like the evolution of the shape and so on. On the other hand I hate
glazing.
I love the technical aspects, do not love clay application. Why? Because I,
for some
reason dislike "stuff" on my skin. (Yes that includes sun screen, and I ache
the sun damage that pays for that dislike.) But I glaze. I signed on to
that
when I became a potter.
What I think matters is to think about is the continuity of process.
Cards on Mother's Day do not
arrive on their own. They --forgive my being gross-- travel through diaper
pails,
facefulls of spit out peas or spinach, trips to the ER, sleepless nights and
so on...
If one wants to be a potter one has to embrace the whole process--loved or
hated. Otherwise
one may as well go work in a factory...
And I totally agree with Bill. Unless you ARE Japanese, grew up, and lived
within that culture, you cannot make a Japanese teabowl. As Bill said, you
can make your own approximation of one.
This is the same in every culture. I have no idea why Japan and its special
relationship to tea[s] overtook US pottery. Why Americans who have drunk
tea forever ( Boston Tea Party, anyone? (Dec. 6, 1773)?feel a need to
espouse
Japanese teabowls, which are part of the culture and religion of Japan.
Are the Japanese making bean pots? Cafe au lait bowls? Seder platters?
NO! They know better.
I love the shape and all that. That is not my point. But to feel some
pressure to
follow standards --unless as a disciplinary exercise? People like Mel go,
went to Japan
to master a discipline. Like learning a second language. NOT to create
lutefisk sushi!
Lili Krakowski
Be of good courage
Lee Love on sat 27 oct 07
On 10/27/07, Lili Krakowski wrote:
> Japanese teabowls, which are part of the culture and religion of Japan.
*BUZZZ!* Wrong! ;^)
Japanese tea bowls are a part of modern global culture.
It is a secular expression of zen. You might call it spiritual, but
not religious.
Tea is accessible to any cosmopolitan culture. Tea bowls are
relevant to me and many other Americans than Boston Bean Bowels, errr
bowls. How many America Veterans have visited Japan through WWII,
Korea and the Vietnam War and Japanese occupation? Many more than
have visited Boston.
> Are the Japanese making bean pots?
Yes they do. Many of the early pots were for the kitchen and the pantry.
> Cafe au lait bowls?
Yes, they make them very well. They are easier to buy in
Japan because they are very interested in French antiques. Our
Joyful Honda in Utsunomiya has a European and American antique store.
You can buy very nice latte bowls there. And the work well as
matcha jawan too.
> Seder platters?
You don't need to be circumcised to make a Seder platter.
;^) I was born in Osaka and can make them. Culture is not genetic.
By definition, it is knowledge transmitted non-genetically.
> NO! They know better.
You don't even have to travel to know about the extent of
global human culture.
Here is an example. I did a photo search for you on Google,
only Japanese pages for "latte bowls" 10,500 hits for latte bowls
$B%+%U%'%*%l%\!<%k (B.:
http://tinyurl.com/2kb9jc
or
http://images.google.com/images?svnum=10&um=1&hl=en&safe=off&rlz=1B3GGGL_enUS229US231&q=%E3%82%AB%E3%83%95%E3%82%A7%E3%82%AA%E3%83%AC%E3%83%9C%E3%83%BC%E3%83%AB&btnG=Search+Images
We have no excuse for not understanding the rest of the world
except for our lack of interest or arrogance. Knowledge is our open
oyster.
--
Lee in Minneapolis, Minnesota USA
"Let them have no reason to complain of our copying the brutal example
of the British army." --George Washington
http://mashikopots.blogspot.com/
"Technological progress is like an axe in the hands of a pathological
criminal." --Einstein
Ric Swenson on sat 27 oct 07
Lili,
=20
Love your latest posting. "Hat trimming" indeed....
=20
I agree totally with your views on claywork... and appreciate your style o=
f writing ....and the humor too.
=20
Ric
=20
=20
_________________________________________________________________
Windows Live Hotmail and Microsoft Office Outlook =96 together at last. =A0=
Get it now.
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6971033=
Lee Love on sun 28 oct 07
On 10/27/07, Lili Krakowski wrote:
> And I totally agree with Bill. Unless you ARE Japanese, grew up, and lived
> within that culture, you cannot make a Japanese teabowl. As Bill said, you
> can make your own approximation of one.
Culture in not genetic. It is learned. If you have the intention
and good will to learn from another culture, you can.
I I have been thinking about this for an article for CM.
Almost all the best pottery in Japan came from its contact with China,
Korea and the West. Because Japan is
Lee Love on sun 28 oct 07
On 10/28/07, Lee Love wrote:
> On 10/27/07, Lili Krakowski wrote:
>
> > And I totally agree with Bill. Unless you ARE Japanese, grew up, and lived
> > within that culture, you cannot make a Japanese teabowl. As Bill said, you
> > can make your own approximation of one.
>
> Culture in not genetic. It is learned. If you have the intention
> and good will to learn from another culture, you can.
>
> I I have been thinking about this for an article for CM.
> Almost all the best pottery in Japan came from its contact with China,
> Korea and the West. Because Japan is
Sorry, rest got deleted! continues below
Because Japan is looking less outside itself for ceramic
inspiration, I think it's quality is waning.
Hamada decided to settle down in the countryside
in Mashiko after visiting Arts and Crafts communities in England.
Before he came to Mashiko, they only made crockery. Hamada brought
forms and techniques from England, Korea, China and Okinawa. In
fact, I have noticed in my travels around Japan, that in general, they
are pretty weak in their pitcher, mug and cup handles. They are
better in Mashiko, because Hamada brought the English pulled handle
there.
Why is you Seder dish more American than my
Japanese tea bowl? Can a Somalian or Ethiopian contribute to
American culture? Can a Hmong or Tibetan? Is the only valid culture
in America, culture that comes from Europe? Homey doesn't think
so...
--
Lee in Minneapolis, Minnesota USA
"Technological progress is like an axe in the hands of a pathological
criminal." --Einstein
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