iandol on thu 29 mar 01
Dear Grasshopper,
Thank you for your response to my musings. Since I have the misfortune =
to be blessed with a reading attention span of about twenty two and a =
half seconds it was a difficult task to read the whole of your posting. =
But I persevered. For the main part I find I am in accord with what you =
say. But I think the following comment is central to your thesis.
say "I succeeded in making the form better as that was the objective">
I will make an assumption that by "..make the next form better" you are =
speaking of the object and not of your own skill as a maker!
I believe, if this is your style of working, that it omits an important =
task which requires skill and knowledge before action is taken. That =
task is to analyse the work under consideration in an objective fashion. =
Assess the positive or negative contribution of each and every element =
which has been assembled to create that "Form". People of vast =
experience may do this intuitively without having learned the task as an =
intellectual or practical skill. They automatically say "This should be =
emphasised or eliminated, that should be attenuated, consider subduing =
or intensifying...". Less experienced workers may need to catalogue =
those things which contribute to the presence of a work and itemise =
their inventory with new instructions before embarking on the "Remake".
As an example. Consider what I said recently about newly thrown work and =
the loss of form as drying proceeded. An analysis will often show that =
the proportions of the object change due to drying stresses. Contours =
flex and move. These changes can be observed and measured. Then, during =
the making of the next example of that form, distortions can be added to =
the contour which will adjust during drying to return the contour to its =
intended form. Even the rotation of a teapot spout is adjusted in this =
manner. It is a strategy which can be applied as appropriate, but unless =
it is recognised as being an important skill it will not be used.
My best regards,
Ivor Lewis. Redhill, South Australia
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