CNW on tue 20 jul 99
Hhhhhmmmm-Well on behalf of all of those of us that get by on emerging
artist earnings, I appreciate those cracked, imperfect pots.
I will some times buy pots from people whose work I admire that have
imperfections. (that is the pots are imperfect) If the flaw is on a
non-food surface I will use it on my table. If it has a bad flaw, I put it
on the shelf. I don't purchase flawed work to pass on.
However I have noticed ceramic sculpture that is often sold with repairs,
cracks, and well just plain screw-ups. I some displayed at galleries around
NCECA and one of the pieces showed up in a recent Ceramics Monthly.
No mention of seconds or 'as is' and a steep price too!
I don't feel comfortable selling my own work (sculpture) that is imperfect.
But I really appreciate getting to purchase a 'second' from others.
Irrational I know. But for those of us who can never afford a pot from a
fine potter and fine person, seconds can be meaningful and inspiring.
But displaying and selling imperfect pots ( or sculpture ) at the same price
is bad business for all of us.
I went to the discussion group that included the Chinese potters and the
subject of poorly made pieces came up. One of them summed it up well, "Don't
their hands know what to do?" By displaying imperfect pieces as our best
pieces we imply that we can't do better. Seconds should be noted as seconds
and not displayed in the same place.
Opinionated as always--Celia in NC
cwike@conninc.com
Thonas C. Curran on fri 23 jul 99
CNW wrote:
>
> ----------------------------Original message----------------------------
> Hhhhhmmmm-Well on behalf of all of those of us that get by on emerging
> artist earnings, I appreciate those cracked, imperfect pots.
> I will some times buy pots from people whose work I admire that have
> imperfections. (that is the pots are imperfect) If the flaw is on a
> non-food surface I will use it on my table. If it has a bad flaw, I put it
> on the shelf. I don't purchase flawed work to pass on.
>
> However I have noticed ceramic sculpture that is often sold with repairs,
> cracks, and well just plain screw-ups. I some displayed at galleries around
> NCECA and one of the pieces showed up in a recent Ceramics Monthly.
> No mention of seconds or 'as is' and a steep price too!
>
> I don't feel comfortable selling my own work (sculpture) that is imperfect.
> But I really appreciate getting to purchase a 'second' from others.
> Irrational I know. But for those of us who can never afford a pot from a
> fine potter and fine person, seconds can be meaningful and inspiring.
>
> But displaying and selling imperfect pots ( or sculpture ) at the same price
> is bad business for all of us.
> I went to the discussion group that included the Chinese potters and the
> subject of poorly made pieces came up. One of them summed it up well, "Don't
> their hands know what to do?" By displaying imperfect pieces as our best
> pieces we imply that we can't do better. Seconds should be noted as seconds
> and not displayed in the same place.
>
> Opinionated as always--Celia in NC
> cwike@conninc.com
Celia...
There are seconds and there are seconds...esthetic seconds, technical
seconds, minor glaze flaws, hairline cracks in major sculptural pieces.
Again, no one answer to fit all situations. I never will forget Toshiko
T's comment on one of my pieces as she passed by at Skidmore studio...
I had made an elegant bottle form with simple monochromatic glaze - in
the middle of which was a big blob of glaze which had dripped from the
kiln shelf above. I thought "second" to myself, and Toshiko said "that
keeps it from being sterile". I did offer it as a second, but I did not
distroy it, as it really was esthetically a very nice piece. Chacun a
son gout, shibui, yin and yan and all that... Carolyn
Connie Powell on sun 8 aug 99
I am running a little behind on my mail but I really wanted to say something
about this cracked pot business. In school we had a semiannual sale of
student work. My professor would inspect our work before it went out on the
tables. He taught me that only my finest work should be offered up. He
taught me to think of not only a crack, but whether it would scratch
someone's table. That the bottom of a pot was just as important as the piece
itself. Did you not look at it as you signed your name to it? It may just
be a pot, but when I sign my name to it, that means something to me. As a
result, for as many pots as I have out there to sell I have those that are
not for sell. In school we would break the bottoms out to keep them from
being taken out of the trash. Now I have to admit without those flawed pots
of mine I probably wouldn't have any of my earlier work.
I have taken to painting "stitches" on the bottom of those cracked pots
which I do keep and writing "ouch" on them. Sometimes they are here and
there, picked up by friends passing by, but they are never sold. Something
about that word "seconds" reminds me of the factory outlet mall. I never
thought of them as seconds, only not a good representation of my work.
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