mel jacobson on mon 20 dec 10
amazing when we think of past times and all the
crafts people that made a village or small town work.
they did their craft for trade or money. it was vital work.
but, what always made me smile is how the craft person
moved from common craft to design/art.
it happened in all of the crafts.
the black smith shoed horses, or made metal objects
for farmers..then, someone needed a gate...not just a metal
gate, a `nice` metal gate...and that smith started to design.
a fence, a gate, a fancy door. art started to appear.
yet, it was done for money...it was their work. those that
made great fences made a great deal more money. creative
juices started to flow.
they never looked for a grant, or government help. they did it on
their own.
the carpenter made practical things...houses and barns...but then
someone wanted a nice pie cupboard. hmmm, a nice piece of
furniture...then it was art/design. the better wood workers specialized.
the old world boys could carve. they did it for money.
the plasterer all of sudden was confronted by flowers, design, scroll
work. it became fine design and art. they had to figure it out.
skill and knowledge.
ma johnson that made great pies, all of sudden needed to design
pies for special occasions. it was now specialized craft and baking.
new ideas came forward. she made her living making pies. but
she made fancy pies. the value increased.
the quilters were not content to make a brown quilt. it was artistic
expression that moved them. they loved to design...it became a very
competitive art/craft
movement. rebecca nelson made the best...everyone wanted one of those
quilts and they would have to pay extra. art/design.
and we all know how it worked in clay. we are still a part of it.
but, it was grass roots. it was not a new york critic that put a stamp
on a design that gave it a quick future. it was years of talent and
reputation that made the great craft sing. it is still true. years
of knowledge,
experience, reputation of excellence made it good and desirable.
it is so true in art..the young untried
artist gets a great review...someone says it is new and good....a few sales=
,
ego builds, but it fades fast. two years later they are looking for
work. they
did not know what hit them. (art and fear story.)
one of my main objections to art movements like pop...is not based on `good
or bad` art, it is the philosophy behind it. it was anti beauty,
anti art, it was
a joke on america. if you were a serious artist you became part of the jok=
e.
if you were a serious potter, you were part of the joke. and, you had to
experience it. history does not hold up well in art movements. it gets al=
l
confused because we are not a part of it any longer. the 25 year old can l=
ook
back on pop and say `hey, that was cool, look at that soup can on the
pedestal.` they have no idea what it was about. every time i went to a sho=
w
at the walker i felt as a teacher of art, someone was throwing a towel full
of urine in my face. again, that was me, that is what i felt..it cannot be
debated. it was my feeling. so, i turned to ceramics. it saved my sense
of worth. it gave me a firm direction. and that feeling never stops...and=
i
still look at a great deal of art as fraud. here for the moment, gone for
ever. my pots will be around for thousands of years. and, that is because
i have made thousands of pots. and, i can always express my artistic sense=
s
in the glaze and surface of my work. and, i make a good deal of money beca=
use
like that quilter, people still want the work..honest prices, lots to
choose from
and a nice environment to come and buy. customers are treated with
respect and honesty. many years of customer service and quality work.
like the old world craftsman, i still earn a good share of my living sellin=
g
pots.
your sense of worth is often reflected in your work. does it have value
for you, and others? do you have to pretend that it is good? is it all
words and talk? or, is it tangible, real and ever lasting?
mel
from: minnetonka, mn
website: http://www.visi.com/~melpots/
clayart link: http://www.visi.com/~melpots/clayart.html
new book: http://www.21stcenturykilns.com
alternate: melpots7575@gmail.com
Jeff Longtin on mon 20 dec 10
Amen Mel!
Well said.
Jeff Longtin
Minneapolis
In a message dated 12/20/2010 7:43:35 A.M. Central Standard Time,
melpots2@VISI.COM writes:
your sense of worth is often reflected in your work. does it have value
for you, and others? do you have to pretend that it is good? is it all
words and talk? or, is it tangible, real and ever lasting?
mel
from: minnetonka, mn
website: http://www.visi.com/~melpots/
clayart link: http://www.visi.com/~melpots/clayart.html
new book: http://www.21stcenturykilns.com
alternate: melpots7575@gmail.com
Vince Pitelka on mon 20 dec 10
Mel wrote:
"amazing when we think of past times and all the crafts people that made a
village or small town work. they did their craft for trade or money. it wa=
s
vital work. but, what always made me smile is how the craft person
moved from common craft to design/art. it happened in all of the crafts. th=
e
black smith shoed horses, or made metal objects for farmers..then, someone
needed a gate...not just a metal gate, a `nice` metal gate...and that smith
started to design. a fence, a gate, a fancy door. art started to appear.
yet, it was done for money...it was their work. those that made great
fences made a great deal more money. Creative juices started to flow."
I teach ceramic history every other fall semester, and I'd like to include =
a
short segment from a lecture I gave just two weeks ago on the evolution of
American ceramics. It adds to what Mel said above.
-----------------------------------------------------------
"Studies of the Industrial Revolution pay little attention to its affect on
art and craft. Before industrialization, all utilitarian craft items were
individually handmade in small family businesses with a lineage lasting
through many generations. It was a simple matter of wise business practice
to create the highest-quality work with a unique identifiable style that
would stand out from the competition. In this market, there was no clear
distinction between a fine work of silversmithing or pottery and a painting
or sculpture. If an item was finely crafted with original design features,
it stood out, with no consideration of whether it was art or craft.
With the onset of the Industrial Revolution, handcraft traditions continued
in remote rural areas, but urban hand-craft workshops simply ceased to
exist, unable to compete with inexpensive factory-made goods. Artisans wer=
e
absorbed into the industrial age as factory workers, machine operators, and
product designers. The real death-blow to urban craft came when the factor=
y
owners and salesmen successfully promoted the idea that identical
mass-produced goods were modern and new, superior to "old fashioned"
handmade goods that showed irregularity from one piece to the next. The
buying public readily swallowed this misguided propaganda. In the mid-19th
century, this trend affected rural artisans as well, because the Sears
Roebuck Catalog allowed people in even the most remote regions to purchase
inexpensive factory-made goods such as furniture and dinnerware instead of
patronizing the local cabinet-maker or potter. Owning the latest
factory-made goods became a status symbol in the modern home.
Of course paintings and sculptures continued to be individually handmade,
and were seen as "high art," as distinguished from "low art," the handmade
functional crafts that had been largely replaced by modern factory products=
.
With the Industrial Revolution, art became something expensive and
untouchable, hanging on the wall or sitting on a pedestal, never used in
everyday life, and handmade craft became suspect, rejected and misunderstoo=
d
by the general public. 200 years later we are still struggling with this
artificial separation between art and craft."
-------------------------------------------------------
Mel obviously does a great job of educating his public about how his work i=
s
made and the general worth of handmade craft. Other professional potters o=
n
this list like David Hendley, Kathi LaSueur, Craig Martell, Richard Aerni,
and so many others work hard to do the same. It is what we have to do to
combat the propaganda of industrialization and mass-production that is stil=
l
so large in the perception of the general public. They are still suspiciou=
s
of handmade craft, because they have been made to believe that the products
of industry are more consistent and reliable than handmade craft. It is ou=
r
responsibility to teach them that the degree of consistency provided by mas=
s
production is no advantage at all compared to the unique feel and
personality of the handmade object, and that well-made handmade craft
objects are just as reliable and often more reliable than factory-made
goods. Much of it all boils down to the daily satisfaction that comes of
having and using fine handmade items. When we win people over to that
reality, we've got long-term customers.
Fine handmade craft is just functional art. When people come to see that
there is no clear distinction between fine craft and fine art, the they com=
e
to understand with what Garth Clark said - "Fine craft reconnects art and
life." It brings fine art back into regular usage and daily ritual in our
lives.
- Vince
Vince Pitelka
Appalachian Center for Craft
Tennessee Tech University
vpitelka@dtccom.net; wpitelka@tntech.edu
http://iweb.tntech.edu/wpitelka
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