Lili Krakowski on fri 21 oct 11
All this scaly chatter!
This is like the discussion my mother and I used to have about whether =3D
one uses a spoon or a fork when making mayonnaise...
You can weigh out glaze in an old beam or balance scale!You can measure =3D
out glaze tests using bottle caps, pill bottles,and measure out glazes =3D
in yoghurt cheese containers and coffee cans--we are craftsmen for =3D
pity's sake!
We--potters--have no way of testing our materials for moisture; we do =3D
not know what actually is in the materials--whether the last batch of =3D
whatever is truly identical with the previous one... And we put on our =3D
Little Scientist outfits and quibble...
This all is getting swamped, submerged, wiped out by ever-newer =3D
gadgets...No doubt. from digital scales we will move on to some =3D
playing-card sized thingie that you wave three times over the cup of =3D
feldspar and it gives you the moisture content, the exact chemical =3D
analyses, the possible variation,needed adjustment in melting =3D
point...and in all likelihood tells you what to have for lunch!
I am all for gadgets and the like--but not when they are used to replace =
=3D
brain action! I see already on Facebook a disappearance of intellectual =
=3D
quality....Supposed adults, people I had thought of as viable grownups, =3D
telling the entire world that they had Sushi for lunch, or repainted =3D
the kitchen!
The whole ethos, concept, cultural value of the old tools is being =3D
lost...Hand -stitched quilts, writing with quills, all that craft that =3D
involved conscious human action, an investment in conscious human time =3D
is being destroyed. =3D20
There is no doubt, only fear, in my heart that all too soon, we will =3D
have gadgets that go beyond glaze programs, right into mixing: where we =
=3D
will be able to punch in a desired effect, the gadget will analyze, =3D
calculate. then measure out materials, thanks to sensors in the material =
=3D
bins...For a few thousand dollars one will be able to have twenty =3D
material containers, all wired to a computer, a dear little conveyor =3D
type thingie, and all will be well. =3D20
Maybe just maybe, "creativity" will survive. But the concept that it is =
=3D
worth while to spend actual time doing things that actually matter will =3D
be gone...
Lili Krakowski
Be of good courage
Michael Wendt on sat 22 oct 11
I am serious about lasers in the studio
See: http://www.wendtpottery.com/laser_measuring_tools.htm
It is one of several laser tools I have used for several
years now
Michael Wendt
paul gerhold on sat 22 oct 11
Now that I am getting older I have found it efficacious to switch all my
studio throwing to a Creative Industrial Clay Master Three Thousand Series
robot. This is more cost effective than outsourcing to China and with the
optional teflon coated throwing fingers reduces my carbon footprint by
eliminating the need for throwing water.
As soon as I can afford it I will add the optional laser guided sighting
accessory which will insure perfectly fitting lids every time.
Paul
On Fri, Oct 21, 2011 at 8:09 AM, Lili Krakowski wr=
ote:
> All this scaly chatter!
>
> This is like the discussion my mother and I used to have about whether on=
e
> uses a spoon or a fork when making mayonnaise...
>
> You can weigh out glaze in an old beam or balance scale!You can measure o=
ut
> glaze tests using bottle caps, pill bottles,and measure out glazes in
> yoghurt cheese containers and coffee cans--we are craftsmen for pity's sa=
ke!
>
> We--potters--have no way of testing our materials for moisture; we do not
> know what actually is in the materials--whether the last batch of whateve=
r
> is truly identical with the previous one... And we put on our Little
> Scientist outfits and quibble...
>
> This all is getting swamped, submerged, wiped out by ever-newer
> gadgets...No doubt. from digital scales we will move on to some playing-c=
ard
> sized thingie that you wave three times over the cup of feldspar and it
> gives you the moisture content, the exact chemical analyses, the possible
> variation,needed adjustment in melting point...and in all likelihood tel=
ls
> you what to have for lunch!
>
> I am all for gadgets and the like--but not when they are used to replace
> brain action! I see already on Facebook a disappearance of intellectual
> quality....Supposed adults, people I had thought of as viable grownups,
> telling the entire world that they had Sushi for lunch, or repainted t=
he
> kitchen!
>
> The whole ethos, concept, cultural value of the old tools is being
> lost...Hand -stitched quilts, writing with quills, all that craft that
> involved conscious human action, an investment in conscious human time is
> being destroyed.
>
> There is no doubt, only fear, in my heart that all too soon, we will hav=
e
> gadgets that go beyond glaze programs, right into mixing: where we will =
be
> able to punch in a desired effect, the gadget will analyze, calculate. th=
en
> measure out materials, thanks to sensors in the material bins...For a few
> thousand dollars one will be able to have twenty material containers, all
> wired to a computer, a dear little conveyor type thingie, and all will be
> well.
>
> Maybe just maybe, "creativity" will survive. But the concept that it is
> worth while to spend actual time doing things that actually matter will b=
e
> gone...
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Lili Krakowski
> Be of good courage
>
Lis Allison on sat 22 oct 11
On October 22, 2011, paul gerhold wrote:
> >
> As soon as I can afford it I will add the optional laser guided
> sighting accessory which will insure perfectly fitting lids every
> time.
Boy, do I need one of those...
Lis
--
Elisabeth Allison
Pine Ridge Studio
website: www.pine-ridge.ca
Pottery blog: www.studio-on-the-ridge.blogspot.com
Garden blog: www.garden-on-the-ridge.blogspot.com
Sojourner Forspam on sat 12 nov 11
On Fri, 21 Oct 2011 08:09:31 -0400, Lili Krakowski =3D
ET>
wrote:
>The whole ethos, concept, cultural value of the old tools is being
lost...Hand -stitched quilts, writing with quills, all that craft that
involved conscious human action, an investment in conscious human time is=
=3D
being destroyed.=3D20=3D20
>
>There is no doubt, only fear, in my heart that all too soon, we will ha=
=3D
ve
gadgets that go beyond glaze programs, right into mixing: where we will =
=3D
be
able to punch in a desired effect, the gadget will analyze, calculate. th=
=3D
en
measure out materials, thanks to sensors in the material bins...For a few=
=3D
thousand dollars one will be able to have twenty material containers, all=
=3D
wired to a computer, a dear little conveyor type thingie, and all will be=
=3D
well.=3D20=3D20
>
>Maybe just maybe, "creativity" will survive. But the concept that it is=
=3D
worth while to spend actual time doing things that actually matter will b=
=3D
e
gone...
Pardon the necropost, but this piqued my curiosity
I sort of understand what you are saying, I think. And yet ... writing w=
=3D
ith
quills was a major pain in the tuchus. I'm old enough to remember the da=
=3D
ys
of bottled ink and fountain pens, and I can't say I'm sorry to have seen =
=3D
the
last of those, let alone quills and grinding your own ink and having it
freeze because there was no heat to speak of in the winter ... I'm just a=
=3D
s
glad to have flour milled for me rather than having to beat it to death w=
=3D
ith
a 10 lb stone pestle ... I'm thankful I don't have to spend hours at a
spinning wheel spinning thread that someone else then has to spend hours =
=3D
at
a loom making cloth .... I've done some spinning and while I enjoyed it,=
=3D
I
enjoyed it because I could quit whenever I felt like it. I'd like to lea=
=3D
rn
to weave but I wouldn't want to have to sit at the loom throughout the
daylight hours and into the night because you just can't weave enough clo=
=3D
th
otherwise ...
I still sew a few things by hand - which is to say, I have a sewing machi=
=3D
ne
and I know how to use it. I would NOT like to sew by hand.
The Ballad of the Harp Weaver was not so much about the miracle of the
clothes as a commentary on the way people had to work themselves to death=
=3D
back in the "good old days" when everything was done by hand.
I do think we are losing something when so few people these days know how=
=3D
to
do SOMETHING - ANYTHING, with their hands. Crochet, knit, woodworking,
carving, pottery, painting, drawing, basketweaving, even cooking seems to=
=3D
be
a dying art. In a world where "stampbooking" is seen as an art form, I d=
=3D
o
think we are losing something important. And yet ....
Why can't I still exercise my ingenuity and creativity when I conceptuali=
=3D
ze
the effect I want and ask the machine to mix it up for me? (Or, honestly=
=3D
,
more likely, order it from a supplier). Why is that really any different=
=3D
than using the glaze recipes from this and other sites, only having to mi=
=3D
x
it "by hand"? Artists don't have to grind their own pigments anymore, ye=
=3D
t
no one decries the loss of creativity just because the artist can buy tub=
=3D
es
and tubes and tubes of Paris green, vermilion, cobalt blue or cadmium
yellow, all that he wants from Dick Blick and his ilk. (OK, well, not Pa=
=3D
ris
green - I don't think ANYBODY uses Paris green anymore. But the rest of =
=3D
them)
On the bright side, since painters by and large stopped having to make th=
=3D
eir
own pigments, we don't see nearly as many
crazy-from-brain-damage-caused-by-heavy-metal-poisoning painters these da=
=3D
ys.
IMAGINING it in the first place, and applying what you have imagined, tha=
=3D
t
seems the crux of creativity to me. But the mixing and measuring - that'=
=3D
s
just following a formula. I guess I wouldn't miss that much, and I don't=
=3D
see that there's a lot of difference between reading through a ton of tab=
=3D
les
to find a glaze formula to give you an approximate effect at a given firi=
=3D
ng
temp/cooling schedule/clay body, and just being able to ask for it in the=
=3D
first place. You've still applied creativity in imagining the effect you=
=3D
want, and more creativity is going to be required to put it into practice=
=3D
.
I'm glad I don't have to dig clay up myself, clean it of sticks and stone=
=3D
s
and crud, somehow get it to the right moisture content so it'll throw
consistently, all of that by hand. I don't feel I'd be missing anything =
=3D
if
I were able to buy glaze the way painters buy paint. It isn't knowing ho=
=3D
w
to make paint that makes a painter creative; it's knowing how to APPLY it=
=3D
.=3D20
Otherwise, every kindergartner would be Michelangelo.
Am I misapprehending your point? I apologize if I did. But I have spent=
=3D
a
significant portion of my life doing without things most people these day=
=3D
s
take for granted (such as running water, central heat, and electricity).=3D=
20=3D
I'm not in any big hurry to be particularly nostalgic about anything that=
=3D
makes things harder for me. So if I could buy a pre-made glaze that woul=
=3D
d
get me close to the effect I'm looking for, I would. Due to the nature o=
=3D
f
the material I sort of doubt that you could get anything close to the sor=
=3D
t
of repeatability the modern painter can count on, so there'd still be ple=
=3D
nty
of room for fiddling about - errr, "perfecting" the effect you want, LOL!=
=3D
Would that really be so bad?
http://holyjoe.org/poetry/millay6.htm
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