David Hendley on fri 9 oct 98
------------------
At 09:07 AM 10/7/98 EDT, you wrote:
=3E----------------------------Original message----------------------------
=3Eeach piece is unique because it is a =5Ffirst=5F time witnessing
=3Eof a world event through the =22eyes=22 of the artist=3B thus, there can =
be no
=3Eduplicate pieces. Where does that put artists who accept orders to
=3Eduplicate a piece they have produced? Are they still labeled artists or =
do
=3Ethey become something else? It is art? Can the two be reconciled? Any
=3Ethoughts?
I've always believed that art cannot be =22ordered=22. In fact, it often
happens when least expected.
Yes, there are some things that money can't buy.
Picture two paintings (sculptures, vases, whatever) that look the same.
You can't tell a difference between them.
But, the maker can, and to her one is an artistic statement and one is
a copy of a thought.
This is not the same as a 'series' of work, where the artist is constantly
thinking and refining the work.
The thing is, it's next-to-impossible to make a living just doing 'art'.
You have to have a finished product, and each piece would
represent enormous amounts of time. When you finally got
eveything worked out, and came up with a good piece, you would
quit and start on something new. I know, there are 'conceptual
artists' with nothing to sell, but that is the one-in-a-several million =
case.
My workday consists of short bursts of 'art', and long periods of =
'production'
or 'craftsmanship'.
The 'art' happens when I change something, take a chance, or push a
boundry.
I'm not unhappy with this, because good craftsmanship, backed with artistic
thought, is a noble and worthy goal. (And it's fun.)
This is a reason, however, I prefer not to produce a 'line' of work and
take orders from samples=3B it takes away those precious few 'art' moments.
We're all 'part artists' and 'part craftsmen', and the two are easily and
naturally reconciled.
There's on real need, of course, to even assign any labels.
I also do a lot of my 'art' away from the studio.
I'm not much of a drawer, so I don't sketch ideas. I find that I
often do my best designing in bed, thinking about what's on the
agenda for the next day, and visualizing things to try that I haven't
done before. That fuzzy, semi-conscious time just before falling
asleep is best.
All artists struggle with balancing 'art' and production, or making a =
living.
I'm reminded of a Joni Mitchell concert, years ago, when she wanted to
play her new songs, but the crowd was yelling out the titles of old hits.
=22Come on,=22 she implored the audience, =22no one ever said to Van Gough,
'Hey, man, paint another 'Starry Night', man.'=22
David Hendley
Maydelle, Texas
=3E------------------
=3EHello clayarters,
=3E
=3EI was just asked to read a book about the making of art, which I was =
unable
=3Eto finish (got a bit repetitive imho)=3B however, here is what I gathered
=3Efrom what I read:
=3E
=3EArt is another view of the world that is represented for the first time,
=3Efirsthand, and that is filtered through the artist's uniqueness. Art =
does
=3Enot have to be beautiful (the first impression would not be that it's
=3E=22pretty=22), but bears a meaning. That meaning may not even be clear =
to the
=3Eartist while working on or upon completion of the piece, nor may it ever =
be
=3Eunderstood by him/her. It does not preclude that an outsider may bring
=3Ehis/her =5Fown=5F experiences and through those find a meaning for =
him/herself
=3E(which may not be that of the artist=3B it would be preposterous to =
actually
=3Ebelieve we might feel/see the same as the artist, although possible).
=3E
=3EHere is something that bothers me about what the author writes. He seems
=3Eto imply that each piece is unique because it is a =5Ffirst=5F time =
witnessing
=3Eof a world event through the =22eyes=22 of the artist=3B thus, there can =
be no
=3Eduplicate pieces. Where does that put artists who accept orders to
=3Eduplicate a piece they have produced? Are they still labeled artists or =
do
=3Ethey become something else? It is art? Can the two be reconciled? Any
=3Ethoughts?
=3E
=3EThe book is =5FNo More Second Hand Art -- Awakening the Artist Within=5F =
by
=3EPeter London. Anyone read it?
=3E=A4=BA=B0=60=B0=BA=A4=F8,=B8=B8,=F8=A4=BA=B0=60=B0=BA=A4=F8,=B8=B8,=F8=A4=
=BA=B0=60=B0=BA=A4=F8,=B8=B8,=F8=A4=BA=B0=60=B0=BA=A4=F8,=B8=B8,=F8=A4=BA=B0=
=60
=3EFabienne
=3E Yes, I have learned from my mistakes...
=3E I can reproduce them exactly.
=3E
Joyce Lee on mon 12 oct 98
I appreciated David's comments from Friday's posts about some of the
best work being visualized in that free-wheeling, semi-conscious state
just before sleeping or awakening. I just had that experience for the
first time and can't wait to start with a bowl after I get that sad mess
of a glaze room sorted out. I saw a black&white photo in yesterday's
Daily Independent of some gold mine tailings out in Homewood Canyon. The
tailings had been eroded by spring rains leaving a hill of especially
intriguing cracks and crevices...eerily similar to some fluting I had
attempted on a small blue celadon vase. (I've been "working on" fluting
for two years now.) That photo really spoke to me but I misunderstood
and thought I just needed to go see the tailings for myself. Not
necessarily so; what I need is to make a bowl carved to resemble the
tailings. In this case, is "need" somewhat close to "inspired"? I'm
still laboring on "craftsmanship." I don't really want to pursue "art."
Too bad for me...I'm going to make that bowl.
Joyce
In the Mojave wanting to smack down the audacity of my own mind...to no
avail.
Pike Studios Pottery on tue 28 aug 01
From Bob Pike
Definition: Art is the individual, creative expression of everyday life.
This definition comes from a musician. Dizzy Gillespie or Miles Davis I
believe but don't quote me. It's very simple as all really good explanations
are. Whatever we decide to do in our lives, is because of things that happen
to us every day. When we decide to pick up our guitars or write a poem or
create a sculpture or make a pot, it is because of the way we have decided
to live our lives. There is nothing mysterious here. You just simply express
the things you want to through the vehicle that you choose. If you choose to
build a house, it may be just a house because you were not trying to make
any kind of creative statement. When Frank Lloyd Wright Built houses he
created works of Art.
Maybe anyone can take anything to the level of Art if they are creative
enough about it. Creativity is the key word here. Creativity is a leap into
the unknown. It is a fresh new way of seeing things. If you are creative
enough about about how you do something, it can be Art. This does not mean
if you create something, it is Art. You must bring your own creative vision
to it to make it Art. A copy of something someone else did will not do. The
design and conceptualization of it must be your own. Painting a perfect
picture of something that you see, may be very technically skillful, but is
not very creative. If there is no creativity there is no Art.
When you are looking into a tide pool at the ocean, is it "THE Ocean"? Well
it is the ocean but it is not all of the ocean. The ocean has so many
different depths and parts, it's almost impossible to grasp it all at once.
Much like Art.
There is beginners art, children's art, formal art, naive art, cave art,
professional art, renaissance art, fine art, eastern art, early Egyptian
art, late Italian art, West Coast indian art, and on and on into more
classifications than we can name. When a cave painter put one of his images
on a wall, was he a "Fine Artist"? Was he a "professional Artist"? Or was he
just a hunter doing a ritual to help his tribe put food on the table?
Calling anything you make "Fine Art" may mean different things to different
people, depending on their level of understanding. If you say 'art' to an
average person who is untrained in art, they will most likely think of a
'picture', painting. If you were to say 'art' to someone trained in art,
they will have a much broader view and understanding. They may inquire if
you are referring to ballet, jazz or fine pottery.
All this talk and none of it has anything to do with whether the 'Art' is
any good for anything. Some previous discussions on this forum showed that
there are people here who would not hang a Picasso on their wall even though
he is acclaimed as being one of the greatest artist to have ever lived. So,
just because you are a great artist doesn't mean people will like you or
your work. There is no 'good' art or 'bad' art, just all kinds of different
people doing many kinds of art and at any one time there will be the critics
of the day expounding on one artist or another depending on what is or is
not in style at the time. Art criticism is totally subjective and will
change depending on who does it and why and by what criteria and on and on.
Marshal Maclewan said it best when he said: "Art is anything you can get
away with". (and many artists do).
So you go out into the world giving it your best creative ideas and insights
and doing it for the satisfaction of knowing it is the best you can do.
If you want to say your pots are Art-----Do it. If you want to know if your
pots are Art-----Only can say. Maybe the most important question is, "What
will happen to me if I tell people that my pots are Art"?
Bob Pike. Always wishing I had more time to do my Art.
--
Bob and Connie Pike Pike Studios Ltd.
http://www.pikestudios.com
Gwyn Wahlmann on wed 29 aug 01
Found this in ClayArt archives. Should settle all questions:
clayart - thread 'sculpture and ceramics'
Dannon Rhudy on sun 7 jun 98 (potter@koyote.com)
-----------------------------------------------Original
message-----------------------------------------------
Penny,
..I guess we are all just used to it...Is there anyone else
bothered
by these beliefs? What is art anyway?...
Sandy Burke
Aha! I can tell you exactly. Not my opinion/idea, mind you,
but this is excerpted from a letter to Ceramics Monthly, summer issue:
"One final note. I would like to put this "art
versus craft" thing to rest once and for all. It's really
very simple. Let's say you have a pig. Now if you draw a
picture of that pig and nail it to your parlor wall, you
might think that that is art, but it is not - it's merely
a decorative accessory. If, however, you take and nail the
pig to the wall, well then, that there is art. Now, if at
a later date you can take the pig off the wall and play
"Scotland the Brave" with it, well, then, that is craft."
excerpted from letter signed "Stu Gray, Birmingham, MI".
Smile folks. Summer's here.
Dannon Rhudy
potter@koyote.com
http://www.potters.org/subject 14312.htm
(Great stuff in those archives! - Gwyn USA)
Elizabeth Herod on sun 29 dec 02
And now from my husband.... (fiction writer, photographer, and IP lawyer)
=B3There is art that is thought provoking, and there is =B3shock art=B2. When on=
e
puts a crucifix in a bottle of urine, where is the art? Is that there only
to piss me off? Why not just write on a board, =B3I hate Christians=B2, but
that would be politically incorrect, right? The same thing with putting a
pile of crap on Christ=B9s head?
The photographs of the Holocaust are gruesome, thought provoking, and real.
Some people might not want to look at them, but they are expressions of
reality and serve us historically. Some of them are excellent photographs,
with great contrast and composition, and would qualify as art.
Just because something is shocking doesn=B9t make it art.=B2
Now this kid will no doubt be selling his art for thousands of dollars in
the future, which may or may not be great work. (It=B9s all in the eye of th=
e
beholder, right?) Making a name for yourself, however one attains status i=
s
the name of the game.
On a happier note, at Silvermine, most of what sells, whether it be
paintings, sculpture, pottery, prints, photography, etc., has one thing in
common. The craftsmanship is superb. The better the craftsmanship, the
higher the price. It warms my heart when someone who has taken hours and
hours to create a beautiful piece is able to sell it for its worth, rather
than have to practically give it away.
Best wishes to everyone in the New Year. May it bring you peace and
prosperity, joy and love.
Beth
Earl Brunner on sun 29 dec 02
We just had an exhibit in one of our City Cultural Center Galleries of
photographs, taken from the Nazi collected possessions of holocaust
victims. Happy normal pictures of happy normal families and friends.
It was a very powerful exhibit. And sad.
Earl
Elizabeth Herod wrote:
> And now from my husband.... (fiction writer, photographer, and IP lawyer)
>
>
> The photographs of the Holocaust are gruesome, thought provoking, and real.
> Some people might not want to look at them, but they are expressions of
> reality and serve us historically. Some of them are excellent photographs,
> with great contrast and composition, and would qualify as art.
>
Jerry Coleman on tue 31 dec 02
Dear Beth
I agree with you about craftsmanship, but it doesn't end there. If the most
highly crafted pieces of ceramics or the most skilful paintings command the
highest prices there's something wrong. Yes craftsmanship is important
because without it the expression of an idea or whatever else is contained in
a work of art cannot take place. Poorly crafted work draws attention first
and foremost to the poverty of the technique, whereas in a well crafted work
you don't notice the technique but you are drawn into the work as a whole and
there is a dialogue between you and the artist. You see his or her world
view, their philosophy and understanding. Without this there is no real work
of art. I think that the legacy of Marcel Duchamp has been a disaster for the
work being produced in our time. If anything is art, then anyone is an artist
and anything can be justified. Thus we have so much purile, sterile nonsense
masquerading as something important. As you say, it's a question of pointing
out that the Emperor is, in fact, naked,
When I look at a Rembrandt self-portrait I am confronbted by my own humanity.
It can be shocking and moving and beautiful and poignant and terrible all at
the same time. But it's about life in all its fullness, rather than the
limited ambitions of a black box with fear painted on it. A real work of art,
be it a pot or a painting oir whatever, will have relevance far beyond the
limitations of the time and circumstances of its creation. I doubt whether
anyone will be queuing up to look at these black boxes in a hundred years
from now.
W J Seidl on tue 21 oct 08
This amusing little video tells us what the typical "American" thinks of
art.
It's set to Claymation style characters.
Need a smile? Here you go....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pDo_vs3Aip4
Best,
Wayne Seidl
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