Jim Cullen on mon 8 mar 99
I saw a televison retrospect on Billy Crystal (the comedian) on the E! Channel
this afternoon. I got to thinking about the issue of copying others (art,
style, symbols, etc.) and made the analogy of Crystal's tremendous
impersonations of the likes of Howard Cosell, Cassius Clay, and Sammy Davis
Jr. He "copied" these people out of appreciation and admiration. He was
memorializing them for others to see and remember. He didn't harm or defame
them in any way. His copying was out of respect.
Can't we as artists/potters be doing the same? Isn't this perhaps the way we
can show our appreciation and admiration?
Isn't it possible that I, this Irish-American guy could be a Mimbres potter
reincarnated? Is my appreciation and admiration a reflection of who I may have
been in a past life? Does any of this make sense...does it have to?
That's what one gets for watching too much television.
KEEP CENTERED
CULLEN
Naperville, IL
D. McDysan on tue 9 mar 99
The key word here is impersonate. He did not try to BE those people or
pass himself off as the original. Indeed, the portrayals do honor those
legends and that is performance art which usually always includes
credits.
You can make any kind of pot you want but if it turns out to look like a
Mimbres then you have copied a Mimbres pot. And if you are an incarnate,
I would think that your highly evolved consciousness could create a pot
that is influenced by all of your past life energies. I'd love to see
it, especially with the Billy Crystal glaze.
Debbie in Dallas
where spring has sprung and the purdiest weeds are coming up everywhere!
Marty Anderson on tue 9 mar 99
Andrea Gill has said, "If you see something you like, copy it. Sooner or
later it will become you and be nothing like the original." This was meant
to help people get started, and also to give them some direction when they
had no direction to go for creativity. It did not mean that you were trying
to make something and pass it off as your own. We chose potters that we
admired and for their contribution to the art. I would be honored is
someone thought so much of my work that they wanted to duplicate any part of
a piece. Is this not the same as going to a hands on workshop to learn new
techniques and copying the instructor? At some point the piece is no longer
the instructors, but becomes yours.
marty
martya@airmail.net
-----Original Message-----
From: Jim Cullen
To: CLAYART@LSV.UKY.EDU
Date: Monday, March 08, 1999 7:12 AM
Subject: Billy Crystal (this is not a glaze recipe)
>----------------------------Original message----------------------------
>I saw a televison retrospect on Billy Crystal (the comedian) on the E!
Channel
>this afternoon. I got to thinking about the issue of copying others (art,
>style, symbols, etc.) and made the analogy of Crystal's tremendous
>impersonations of the likes of Howard Cosell, Cassius Clay, and Sammy Davis
>Jr. He "copied" these people out of appreciation and admiration. He was
>memorializing them for others to see and remember. He didn't harm or defame
>them in any way. His copying was out of respect.
>
>Can't we as artists/potters be doing the same? Isn't this perhaps the way
we
>can show our appreciation and admiration?
>
>Isn't it possible that I, this Irish-American guy could be a Mimbres potter
>reincarnated? Is my appreciation and admiration a reflection of who I may
have
>been in a past life? Does any of this make sense...does it have to?
>
>That's what one gets for watching too much television.
>
>KEEP CENTERED
>CULLEN
>Naperville, IL
>
Sharon Pollock-De Luzio on wed 10 mar 99
Haven't really been following this argument too closely but Marty, your entry
struck a nerve. As someone who was trained as an arts educator many moons ago
I have seen many fads come and go. In the early 70's the "tiranny of the new"
really took over. Students were discouraged from looking back and great
emphasis was placed on coming up with something "original".
It always felt like a mistake to me. The only person that I went to school
with who has become reasonably famous is Robert Longo and he certainly did his
homework in terms of "borrowing" from the past.
It wasn't until I heard Phillip Rawson speak many years later that it made
sense to me. We are learning to speak a language and find our own voice. How
can we do this well and make connections to others through our work without
shared understanding of the language we are trying to speak and bring to a
higher level?
I teach 5 and 6 year olds as well as college students. The first thing I tell
them all is "copying is how we learn". Marty and Andrea are right on.
Sharon Pollock-De Luzio
Marty Anderson wrote:
> ----------------------------Original message----------------------------
> Andrea Gill has said, "If you see something you like, copy it. Sooner or
> later it will become you and be nothing like the original." This was meant
> to help people get started, and also to give them some direction when they
> had no direction to go for creativity. It did not mean that you were trying
> to make something and pass it off as your own. We chose potters that we
> admired and for their contribution to the art. I would be honored is
> someone thought so much of my work that they wanted to duplicate any part of
> a piece. Is this not the same as going to a hands on workshop to learn new
> techniques and copying the instructor? At some point the piece is no longer
> the instructors, but becomes yours.
>
> marty
> martya@airmail.net
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Jim Cullen
> To: CLAYART@LSV.UKY.EDU
> Date: Monday, March 08, 1999 7:12 AM
> Subject: Billy Crystal (this is not a glaze recipe)
>
> >----------------------------Original message----------------------------
> >I saw a televison retrospect on Billy Crystal (the comedian) on the E!
> Channel
> >this afternoon. I got to thinking about the issue of copying others (art,
> >style, symbols, etc.) and made the analogy of Crystal's tremendous
> >impersonations of the likes of Howard Cosell, Cassius Clay, and Sammy Davis
> >Jr. He "copied" these people out of appreciation and admiration. He was
> >memorializing them for others to see and remember. He didn't harm or defame
> >them in any way. His copying was out of respect.
> >
> >Can't we as artists/potters be doing the same? Isn't this perhaps the way
> we
> >can show our appreciation and admiration?
> >
> >Isn't it possible that I, this Irish-American guy could be a Mimbres potter
> >reincarnated? Is my appreciation and admiration a reflection of who I may
> have
> >been in a past life? Does any of this make sense...does it have to?
> >
> >That's what one gets for watching too much television.
> >
> >KEEP CENTERED
> >CULLEN
> >Naperville, IL
> >
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