Janet Kaiser on mon 14 jun 99
It has been an interesting debate....
Especially as the whole studio potter ideal (which has been mostly
overlooked throughout this thread) was a product of Japan and Japanese
culture in the first place!
A history lesson from a British point of view:
Thanks to the industrial revolution and the machination/automation of
ceramic production the general public was nicely educated to "perfect" and
"pretty" pots (from an affordable price to ultra expensive) for well over a
hundred years.
Then William Morris came along and reintroduced the idea that
hand-made/crafted was intrinsically far superior, hence his social, moral
and aesthetic ideal. It gave a craftsman (and his family) a source of income
an honourable trade and produced good pots. The best became good enough for
manufacturers like Royal Doulton, who then fell over themselves producing
"hand-crafted" lookalikes.
A bit later Leach & Co. came along and reinvented the amazing idea that a
pot did not need to be "perfect". Throwing rings, apparently simple
slap-dash brushwork, glaze runs and even crazing (shock! horror!) reappeared
and became acceptable. Slip trailing was also rediscovered and the potters
wheel became an icon.
And where did these new aesthetics come from? Japan! Read literature from
the time and see how many "understood" "appreciated" or even "liked" what
they were seeing. Only educated eccentrics actually bought the pots!
But being a "Gentleman" of the right social standing, entrie and following
(equate this to the "visually educated" of the parallel thread on "taste")
and hey! presto! Not only were the aesthetics accepted, it paved the way to
the general public now (50 years later) happily buying stoneware milk jugs
that do not "match" the corn flake bowls and all sorts of bits and pieces
that do not actually get used at all, but are there to look at and admire.
It may be different in the US, but here in Wales we have Teena Gould who was
the Grand Prix winner at the International Craft Festival in Toyama (JPN) in
1992. But she works on what she wants to do, although her pots do not sell
well to the British public and she has to depend (financially) on teaching
and public commissions, with the occasional private commission (by a
"visually educated" person?)
In 1996 she was invited to represent Wales at the IRIS5 International
Symposium in Porvoo, Finland. Once again her pots won wide acclaim from
fellow potters and an educated audience. She did not even win a travel
allowance from The Arts Council of Wales, who are ostensibly there to
educate, support and promote the Arts. (In the same year they funded ALL
travel expenses for TWO potters to look at industrial glazing techniques at
a noname factory in Poland).
So are Teena s pots ahead of the times. Too ultra-modern "Japanese"? Only
time will tell, but as potters now turn towards producing more and more
non-functional "art" then they will certainly take a different path to that
of the pretty, functional, cosy work of the past.
The person who claimed western/US taste is not revered in Japan should know
that Japanese society has embraced a great deal of (too much?) Western
culture. Just look at who is spending the money and buying the products at
Gucci, Hermes, Lagerfeld, et al in London, Milan, Rome, N.Y. and LA as well
as in Tokyo! That this does not include western/US potters and their work,
may well lie with what Japanese society have been educated to expect from
the west. How are sales of Wedgwood, Portmeirion, Doulton and Spode in
Japan?
But to return to the western view of contemporary Japanese ceramics: I do
not believe it is a problem of not understanding/appreciating Japanese
aesthetics, more a case of the growing gulf between the William Morris/Arts
and Craft Movement ideal plus the Leach/Cardew tradition and all they stand
for versus the "fine art" development of ceramics in recent years. This
brings us nicely back to that other thread: universities, academia, taste,
etc.
But that is quite enough thought for today!
Janet Kaiser
She who is down in the dumps because the whole of Europe has just swung
dramatically to the right and only 20% of the electorate bothered to vote.
Is the whole world returning to tribal feudalism? NO! Do not answer that
please! It was a rhetorical question and I do not want to upset the
moderators!!
The Chapel of Art, Criccieth, GB-Wales
Home of The INTERNATIONAL Potters Path
Email: postbox@the-coa.org.uk
WEB: http://www.the-coa.org.uk
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