Josh Berkus on sun 5 oct 08
Lili,
> Doesn't anyone else remember when we moved from Medieval to
> Renaissance to Baroque, from Baroque to Rococo =A0and so
> on, from Victorian to the Arts & Crafts Movement,
Heck, I was only born in 1970. I don't remember *any* of that stuff. ;-)
=2D-=20
Josh "the Fuzzy" Berkus
San Francisco
Lili Krakowski on sun 5 oct 08
Oh dear, oh dear!
We have heard this plaint so often!
I heard it first in the Middle Ages, or was it
the Dark Ages? and it always is the same.
Doesn't anyone else remember when we moved from Medieval to
Renaissance to Baroque, from Baroque to Rococo and so
on, from Victorian to the Arts & Crafts Movement, from that to
Bauhaus/Danish Modern/ Russell Wright/ Scandinavian to Japanese
and there was this constant drone of Oy Veh?
Things change. The natural desire of the young is
to have homes that DON'T look like mom's
We once bought for $15 a set of horsehair upholstered chairs
plus loveseat! NO ONE wanted that ugly old stuff.
We gave it away years later to friends--who wanted to refuse it
because the set would have brought "so much" in the antique
market.
Ditto for a 56" round oak table, lion's claw feet, several
extensions:
bought for $50 sold for 8 times that --when the market turned!
That is it. The "cutting edge" gets dulled over time. The
never-seen becomes
deja vu.
Those who consider themselves "artists" want to express
themselves!
They want to say what they want to say, and expect the world to
listen. Well that is not what happens! The world does not owe
one an ear...
I love to sing! My singing is a disaster. Even dogs and cats
leave the
room when I sing. So? Too bad.
The assumption that because adorable us want to make all sorts of
pots
the world out there has to buy our stuff is, erg...infantile.
Of course skill matters. One has to have mastered the language
to make a connection. But somehow
--as one sees in the mags--there may not be that
profound emotional rapport that makes people buy.
Furthermore there are turns and changes in priorities. Right now
it appears people with money for extras (yes, there still are
some) buy electronic tzatskes. Huge TVs, Ipods, Blackberries,
all sorts of stuff I do
not remotely understand (I still like my old black dial phones
best)
Way back then when people bought pots it was that they were
moving into new homes. Many of these people--ok, my
generation--had lived hand-to-mouth from Depression through WWII.
Many had camped out at their
parents during the war. Now they were home, safe, it was
Levittown time,
and people were immensely home centered. They entertained at
home.
Going out to dinner was at best a Saturday night treat. Most
women
--not only regular women, but the college educated ones--stayed
at home.They were "homemakers". The pots they bought were part
of their self-image as women of discernment and taste.
Most women now work outside the home. "Homemaking" no longer is
the focus of their lives. Women no longer meet in each other's
homes for morning coffee. They
have "girls' night outs" . Starbuck cardboard containers have
replaced the mugs.
Couples dine out more. Either alone or with friends. What is
it? Like
American families have only 1.5 meals together a week. For this
you buy
a special casserole?
What people buy for their homes today are "entertainment
centers", bathtubs they can share with the neighbors. granite
kitchen counter tops, and sets of cooking ware built
like Big Berthas whose use they do not know, and which they plan
to
own not use....
In the 40s-60s there were few potters, few woodworkers. Now
there are droves of potters, droves of woodworkers, craft
fairs, home sales, and what not.
I think just as many--maybe more--pots are sold today as before;
but individual potters sell less.
As to educating people so they buy our products? The "best" ad
folk in the world cannot convince people to stop smoking, stop
taking drugs, stop driving after drinking....and "we" expect to
convince them they need to buy pots?
See you around the next corner.
Lili Krakowski
Be of good courage
Ric Swenson on mon 6 oct 08
fuzzy,
you Don't read much eh dude? Try to remember what you read.
We as humans are just a blink in the eye of life.
The history of art is rich with information and what has been tried before. Want to re-invent the wheel?
Ric
> > Doesn't anyone else remember when we moved from Medieval to> > Renaissance to Baroque, from Baroque to Rococo and so> > on, from Victorian to the Arts & Crafts Movement,> > Heck, I was only born in 1970. I don't remember *any* of that stuff. ;-)> > -- > Josh "the Fuzzy" Berkus> San Francisco
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