artimater on mon 26 mar 01
All this talk about form is making me a little bit =
crazy.....Obviously a good piece will have good form and if it has glaze =
it will have to be good also.....My question for all of you is ...."What =
is good form???" ....What I think is good form and what any one of you =
think is good form I'm afraid might not even be close....I know it flies =
in the face of the academic crowd but, except for obvious mistakes, is =
it possible that there is only form, and not "good or bad"...
First, there are an unlimited number of forms. I try to never make =
the same one twice, and I couldn't if I did try....There will always be =
a subtle difference(I don't slipcast)....Take teabowls for instance: say =
I throw a hundred.......I can pick out three or four I think have good =
form....If I finished them all just by firing with no glaze and asked my =
neighbor to pick the ones with good form, what are the chances he would =
pick the same ones?....Isn't form something that can only be judged on a =
personal bias?....If one bowl had a half inch split from rim to foot =
would it not be a good form for a statement of our tenuous hold on life? =
.....The teabowl that perfectly fit my hand might be too big for a female =
hand...Good form for me, bad form for her......For every rule there are =
a million exceptions.
My current favorite ashtray is one a beginner thought belonged in =
the trash...I think it was going to be a bowl but it got too thin at the =
rim for them and then they flattened the top out totally =
horizontal.....The foot is just the excess clay that usually would be =
cut away on the wheel....The bottom is way too thick if I had thrown =
it....Thin torn rim, thick bottom, funny bump just below the flattened =
part, sloppy accidental foot....Maybe they were right to attempt to =
landfill it....Right now it is my favorite ashtray, and I own hundreds. =
I am often drawn to beginners work. It is often honest(is that =
artspeak?) and simple, and sometimes details the struggle of it's maker
I think it is easier to find characteristics which constitute bad =
form than it is to define good form....Bad form could be poor =
craftsmanship(s-crack)....Bad form could be frivolous sprigging(big =
funky handle hanging off the sideHEHEHEHE)....Bad form could be a =
seemingly accidental reverse in a curve that looks like it should have =
continued....If a piece is meant to be functional it is nice if the form =
can function for it's intended purpose; if it doesn't, that would be bad =
form....A lid too big or small...Most of the bad form I see is related =
to obvious mistakes....I don't much care for cartoons in =
clay....Timidity in a direction; where it looks as if someone was trying =
to do something and wasn't sure about it....
I know I am not the only one who has ever thought about good =
form....I know some things I consider to be good...I like smooth =
curves....I like balanced relationships between various areas, but I =
realize that emphasis of one area over another can often result in a =
"good form"...I am partial to simplicity and minimalism....concise =
statements
I would like to hear what some of you consider the properties of =
good form(please no artspeak and please be specific)=20
-artimator
"I only indulge when I've seen a snake, so I keep a supply of =
indulgences and snakes handy"
artimator@earthlink=20
http://www.geocities.com/artimator/index.html
Snail Scott on mon 26 mar 01
When I was in school, I shared studio space with a
wheel-throwing potter - a tall, skinny guy. One day
he threw a jug, and asked me what I thought of the
form. I said that I thought it was too straight up-
and-down; that the belly should be fuller, the lip
wider; a more dynamic curve. He laughed, and pointed
to my work (handbuilt sculpture) - volumetric and
rounded. He said "Your work looks like you, mine looks
like me!" He was right, though neither of us had
noticed it before.
Good form is surely a personal thing, but also based
in culture. I do wonder if there is a sensibility
'hard-wired' into the brain that makes certain forms
more appealing across time and place, though. It
seems possible, but if so, why? The ancient Greeks
saw ideal proportion as that which reflected the form
of the idealized human body, even if abstracted.
Neither my friend nor I much resembled that ideal...
what would our work have looked like in a world without
mirrors? More like the people around us...an average?
Nowadays there is less regard for the value of an
ideal mean; we seek extremes in form and elsewhere,
and value individuality more than in any past era.
We are not the Greeks of antiquity, and our forms
must inevitably reflect who we are...not just our
physical selves, (as in my story,) but culturally and
psychologically as well. It's not a choice - it's an
inevitability.
-Snail
Steve Mills on tue 27 mar 01
Arti,
I have 2 basic principles from which I judge form:
1) that the pot rises from the surface it sits on rather than squats
there.
2) that it is like a well constructed sentence; growing from the foot,
expanding the idea with the shape, and finishing neatly with a full stop
at the lip.
I love simplicity; I call over-worked pieces Christmas tree pots.
Steve
Bath
UK
In message , artimater writes
> All this talk about form is making me a little bit =
>crazy.....Obviously a good piece will have good form and if it has glaze =
>it will have to be good also.....My question for all of you is ...."What =
>is good form???" ....What I think is good form and what any one of you =
>think is good form I'm afraid might not even be close....I know it flies =
>in the face of the academic crowd but, except for obvious mistakes, is =
>it possible that there is only form, and not "good or bad"...
--
Steve Mills
Bath
UK
Lee Love on tue 27 mar 01
----- Original Message -----
From: "artimater"
I try to never make the same one twice, and I couldn't if I did try....
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
There is a great difference between not being able to make the same thing
twice and _choosing_ to make things that are different. The difference is
called Craft. Craft gives
you the choice and freedom.
--
Lee Love
Mashiko JAPAN Ikiru@kami.com
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