Alisa and Claus Clausen on sun 23 apr 00
------------------
Jeff, I read and related to some of your post. It was not I however, that =
gave
my post
this title, as it was not really what my sentiments were about. My original
post was
more a lament. I had an uneasy feeling after this show and talking to the
artist.
It had not to do with territory for me. On the contrary, I felt a hole in =
the
work because
the artist had not experienced the entire process. Of course that is not
necessary or
desired by all or the public. Mr. Arnoldi had fun and the results were a
success, so that
could be good enough. It was not my intention to judge galleries who =
sponser
the work or
the public who buys it. It had to do with my personal acceptance of the =
work in
order to
validate it or not. When I worked at the Modern Art Dept. at the =
Metropolitan
Museum for
a few years, I heard many of these types of discussions. They were about
paintings and
sculpture. I felt I had an opinion, but not an educated opinion because I =
am
not a painter
or sculptor. But with clay work it is different. I feel evangical =
sometimes
about the processes
and therefore felt arkward around Mr. Arnoldi's love story, about an unknown
lover.
Good we have so many different opinions.
Best regards,
Alisa
PS. The vacuum cleaner bit was for humor. I really do not think anyone =
would
assume he made it, which I guess could be just as true for the pots. After =
all,
making proper pots is quite technical.
Now this presents a double sided coin again. Are the pots invisible vessels=
for
which his paintings
cling to, unnoticed by the public? Or are the public so aware of the =
training
needed to produce them, they assume of course he could not have made them. =
Like
you say, who may or may not want to discuss this or listen.
It is finished for me. I have a bad firing to take over my idle thoughts.
-----Oprindelig meddelelse-----
Fra: Jeff van den Broeck =3Cjvdb=40skyinet.net=3E
Til: CLAYART=40LSV.UKY.EDU =3CCLAYART=40LSV.UKY.EDU=3E
Dato: 21. april 2000 21:37
Emne: Pots not made by the artist
----------------------------Original message----------------------------
Alisa, I have no problem with Mr. Arnoldi's pots. I think the problem is
with the clay artist who has the feeling that somebody is playing in his
backyard, It's a problem of territory. Not a problem for a jury, they can
solve 'their' problem if there is one.
Since Duchamp made his Fountain, we learned to live with the idea that art
has no boundaries. There is no academy anymore to tell what is allowed and
what not. This is not only so for painting and threedimensional art.
But clearly nobody ever tought of Duchamps as a plumber or... ceramist.
Picasso made work on clay, ok, he is a genius but not a potter, but who
cares? The public, the curators?
The same about so many artists of the beginning of the 20th century. Who
would suspect Braque, Dufy, Chagall, Gauguin, Cocteau of being potters?
Although they made work in or on clay. For Miro I would like to make an
exception, but he was working closely with a good potter Llorens Artigas.
And the public? It may sound a little bit cynical, but the public doesn't
care. If the show is good, and the publicity done in a professionnal way,
the public will buy, if the product gives it the feeling to belong to the
happy few, or to gain status from it. But this is not different for other
products.
I still remember a Spanish friend who told me that his mother sold the
wooden table, chairs and cabinet of her kitchen to an antique dealer who
told her that furniture in formica was easier to maintain and more
hygienic. Sad? Yes. But his mother was not the only one who exchanged her
wooden furniture for a formica table and chair. They were the proud
proprietors of Formica furniture in the village.
Information is the only way to get out of it, but information is not easy
to spread. Publicity for mass produced or very expensive products is much
more sexy and powerfull. But still there are people around who can
appreciate the true values (like the antique dealer, but this sounds very
cynical).
We have to explain and explain again to those who want to listen, but the
competition with publicity is not fair.
Jeff
Jeff van den Broeck - P.O.Box 1099
Baguio City 2600 - Philippines
jvdb=40skyinet.net
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