elise pincu on fri 11 jun 99
Last winter I had the opportunity to go to Japan with
my Japanese boyfriend and stay with his family.
The first morning I went downstairs for breakfast and
there on the kitchen table were several, I think six,
different ceramic dishes with different pickles. I
sat down to my own miso soup bowl and my own rice
bowl, as well as chopsticks. Every family member had
their own bowl for miso and their own for rice. Every
morning from then on I got the same bowls and
chopsticks. And every morning, depending on the
pickle, there were different bowls with pickles in the
middle of the table. Nothing matched as we are used
to in America.
Later on my trip I, being a potter, wanted to see some
pottery shops. First we hit the huge depatment store
in Kawagoe. It seemed to me, at first glance, that I
was headed to an American Macy's or something but with
a Japanese name. When we got to the housewares floor,
I was surprised to see hundreds of ceramic dishes in
all shapes and sizes, some hand-made and others mass
produced. The whole floor was practically covered in
beautiful wares, and not one design was sold as a
'set' like here in AMerica. My boyfriends mother
proceded to explain that she had a chip in her rice
bowl and needed another. We looked at all the bowls
and decided on one. It didn't match her old bowl and
certainly didn't match the other bowls of the rest of
the family.
Then as I traveled around Japan, on every other
street, it seemed, there was a pottery shop. These
shops sell hand-made and factory made ceramic peices
ranging from $6 - $10,000. There is at least one of
these ceramic shops in every town in Japan, I figure.
From my experience, I realized that the history of
ceramics is deeply rooted in Japan and many Americans
cannot relate to the history or the aesthetics behind
the history. "clumsy pots" may be an aesthetic with a
meaning for Japanese which we don't really get, not
being from that culture. And the importance of the
history, whether Zen tea ceremony is practised or not,
still remains though the use of Ceramics everyday in
Japanese life. It is not learned through 'pitchmen'
but through use in every home in Japan.
And the packaging of certain pots held in esteem for
the aesthetic beauty and historical richness we may
not understand, is part of the culture of Japan to
emphasize the importance of things in life. Packaging
is not meant to increase the prices. Take a look at
the book "How to Wrap Five Eggs". It shows the
intrecasies of packaging in Japan. This doesn't hold
true only for cermaics. If you were to purchase a
sweet at a candy store or bakery, it would be
beautifully packaged, too.
Japanese live artful lives every day. THis is what
America needs to learn. Japanese people choose the
specific dish for the right food, package novelties in
special wraps, wear handcrafted clothing - kimono's
(though I only saw the elders in kimono on an everyday
basis), etc. They pay attention to detail,
aesthetics and history, and use folk crafts daily.
And as a people this is what they learn in their
culture from birth, not something they learn through a
pitch on television.
As for the typical Japanese 'personally-felt beauty,'
people's understanding of beauty comes from our
culture. Ceramics play a grand part of every Japanese
life and so every Japanese has a direct connection and
knowledge of the craft. And with the incredible
accessabilty to ceramic art (on every corner)and the
need for specific dishes for specific foods for a
specific individual in the family, every person in
Japan builds their own personal aesthetic
(though of course like I noted, their aesthetic is
influenced by their culture and that culture is the
history and aesthetics of tea ceremony pots).
Japanese aesthetics is something we as Americans can
study, and perhaps understand individually. However,
we did not grow up in their culture and so their
aesthetics don't come naturally to us. It is not that
AMericans should study Japanese aesthetics to have
them. But we should study the importance that the
Japanese put on objects used everyday. From wrapping
a cookie with love to show the specialness of that
cookie to choosing a specific ceramic dish for a
specific food. This part of their culture is
something I believe we all should learn. And if
Americans had this quality, we potter's would be
respected more like Japanese potters. And sales would
climb sky high!!!
Elise Willa Pincu
On Wed., June 9 Ray Aldridge wrote:
....I've often been amazed at the clumsy pots lionized
by
Japanese collectors-- it was as if the buyers listened
to the pitchmen
going on about firing for a week, or the religious
adherence to difficult
processes, or what in the end amounts to
self-conscious attempts to imitate
the necessity-driven crudeness of folk potters. And,
mesmerized by the
packaging of the pot, the buyers failed to look at the
pot and see it for
what it actually is.....
I'm not sure
he understands any more about personally-felt beauty
than Joe Sixpack......
I don't believe the Japanese are substantially more
evolved than Americans, in esthetic terms.....
===
Pincu Pottery
Funktional Ceramic Art
http://www.basic-learning.com/pincupottery/
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Ray Aldridge on sat 12 jun 99
At 06:55 PM 6/11/99 EDT, you wrote:
(snip)
>
>Japanese aesthetics is something we as Americans can
>study, and perhaps understand individually. However,
>we did not grow up in their culture and so their
>aesthetics don't come naturally to us. It is not that
>AMericans should study Japanese aesthetics to have
>them. But we should study the importance that the
>Japanese put on objects used everyday. From wrapping
>a cookie with love to show the specialness of that
>cookie to choosing a specific ceramic dish for a
>specific food. This part of their culture is
>something I believe we all should learn. And if
>Americans had this quality, we potter's would be
>respected more like Japanese potters. And sales would
>climb sky high!!!
>
>
But would this then mean that American potters would also have to adopt
Japanese styles in order to sell? It's my understanding that few American
potters are held in high regard in Japan.
Frankly, I prefer the best American potters' work to that of the best
Japanese potters. Does that mean that my esthetic is therefore inferior to
the typical Japanese person's?
Just wondering.
Ray
Don & Isao Morrill on sun 13 jun 99
At 09:16 6/12/99 EDT, you wrote:
>----------------------------Original message----------------------------
>At 06:55 PM 6/11/99 EDT, you wrote:
>
>(snip)
>
>>
>>Japanese aesthetics is something we as Americans can
>>study, and perhaps understand individually. However,
>>we did not grow up in their culture and so their
>>aesthetics don't come naturally to us. It is not that
>>AMericans should study Japanese aesthetics to have
>>them. But we should study the importance that the
>>Japanese put on objects used everyday. From wrapping
>>a cookie with love to show the specialness of that
>>cookie to choosing a specific ceramic dish for a
>>specific food. This part of their culture is
>>something I believe we all should learn. And if
>>Americans had this quality, we potter's would be
>>respected more like Japanese potters. And sales would
>>climb sky high!!!
>>
>>
>
>But would this then mean that American potters would also have to adopt
>Japanese styles in order to sell? It's my understanding that few American
>potters are held in high regard in Japan.
>
>Frankly, I prefer the best American potters' work to that of the best
>Japanese potters. Does that mean that my esthetic is therefore inferior to
>the typical Japanese person's?
>
>Just wondering.
>
>Ray
> Hey,everybody wake-up, Japanese aesthetics arose out of necessity
in a country with few natural resaources to plunder and had little to do
with the great mass of viiolently exploited Japanese peasants of the past.
Only the rich and powerful could afford 'aesthetics' and only the
dilletantte could practice.
The aesthetique of the modern Japanese children is little
different from that of their brothers and sisters of other
industrialized,imperialist countries. They are born,crammed,work,espouse
every fad and attend the local McDonalds' church just like American kids.
(and I do not love them less, for the foregoing.) Don M.,(kinoko)
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