K. Sam Miller on thu 12 jul 01
Hello List,
Well, this is my first post (another "lurker"). I am one of those
sculpture-types. I work mostly with coil-building and my forms tend to be
abstract and very organic in their feel/appearance. I am a ceramic artist
by night, engineer by day (i.e. I don't rely on the sales of my work for my
livelihood). I will definitely attest to a smaller consumer base for clay
sculpture (especially abstract). I don't mind keeping the things I create
because they bring me joy (both in the creation and to look at).
I wanted to respond to recent comments on art vs. craft...
Matt writes...
>Why don't more clay sculptors have the courage
> to abandon the idiom of traditional pottery forms and make pure
> sculpture...?
then...
> There are only two explanations that I can imagine. ...so the first
reason this trend may be popular is that it
> presently appears to be an effective way of turning clay into cash.
>
> Second...by making forms that
> reference pottery, it might be easier to create an acceptable art object.
finally...
> It seems unfortunate that so many artists choose this path.
My question is, why do we feel the need to categorize and explain why
someone creates something? Most folks begin creating things because it
brings them joy. Some try to make that joy their livelihood. Many do it
for the sheer beauty of creation.
If someone is happy creating non-functional teapots, why is that
unfortunate? Ultimately it is the artist/creator/potter who must be
satisfied with their work. If "you" (and I mean that figuratively, not
directed at Matt) don't like my work, that's OK. It does not lessen what
its creation has meant to me.
I consider myself an artist, but I also consider Shaner, Karnes, Hamada,
Mackenzie artists as well. In my personal dictionary, creation of objects
considered beautiful or meaningful by their creator is art (even if the
objects are the proverbial "ash tray pots" to everyone else).
Find beauty & happiness in life. Don't get hung up on titles or categories
By the way, I love the haikus. Keep 'em coming!
Sam
The sleeping dog sighs,
Rabbits run fast in her dreams,
Poor, slow bag of clay.
Janet Kaiser on fri 13 jul 01
> My question is, why do we feel the need to categorize
and explain why
> someone creates something?
Sorry to disillusion you Sam, but human nature (the
brain?) needs categories and explanation, otherwise we
cannot recall what we are being told, hear, see and
feel or relate to what we remember, are able to recall
and have learned. There are even little compartments or
areas of the brain for specific storage purposes. And
imagine what libraries, museums, galleries,
supermarkets, even your PC files would end up being, if
they were not divided into categories and
compartmentalised in some way... Utter chaos! Even our
lives and homes are divided... Sleep in this room, bath
in that, cook in the other.
The majority need to categorise art, because it places
people and their work within our own concepts and
experiences. There is nothing derogatory or judgemental
in this natural process. Give a young child a tube of
Smarties (coloured sweets like M&Ms) and it will
"naturally" sort out the colours and decide the red
ones taste better than the brown ones.
After absorbing zillions of facts, figures, experiences
through life, the only way we can possibly cope with
this information overload, is to put everything into
different compartments and boxes. Even if we do not
verbalise this process, it still takes place.
Art history and the educational system reinforces our
natural need to categorise if we want to remember what
we are learning or need to remember. Tags and names are
just one way of sharing our experience with others,
especially on a forum of this nature, where we are
trying to put visual and tactile experience into words.
We often get bogged down in semantics, when a single
glance at an object or a simple hand movement would
clear a controversy up to everyone's mutual
satisfaction.
As for the need to explain why a person should make
something... Well, don't engineers have to explain why
a bridge should be built? When, where, how, who by,
using which materials, measurements, style, design,
etc. etc.? Does there not have to be consensus of
opinion at routing, planning, designing and building
stages? Does the commissioning agent/s need consulting?
The recipient/s or user/s?
> Most folks begin creating things because it brings
them joy. Some try to make that joy their livelihood.
Many do it for the sheer beauty of creation.
I think you are only speaking from a specific
perspective here. Yes, many people love what they do,
but a great many also have to adapt what they do to
meet other goals and targets. Compromise is a major
factor in their lives. This may be market forces,
social trends, cultural tastes and requirements,
economic constraints, etc. etc. The person who sees
beauty in numbers and mathematics ends up as an
accountant, not the pure mathematician of his/her
dreams. There are a myriad pressures on the
professional artist/maker beyond their own creativity
and skills. The beauty and light of creativity you
refer to, is a luxury that many cannot afford (time,
money, resources) and foreign to many who sweat blood
and tears to achieve what they are striving towards
(skill, style, creativity, sucess, recognition).
Rather like giving birth... There is nothing in the
least beautiful or joyess in that process! Sure the
result is joyous, but getting there... Dear God! It is
a damned painful, serious business for all the parties
involved and far from the sweet tripping merrily
through the morning dew of life. The abstract is one
thing, the practice quite another.
> If someone is happy creating non-functional teapots,
why is that
> unfortunate?
It is not unfortunate in itself. The unfortunate part
is that these artists/makers have not transcended the
comfortable and homely into totally new dimensions for
themselves and the rest of us... The first
non-functional teapots were new, exciting and cutting
edge, but now is time to move on, especially for those
who are only copying the concept.
> Ultimately it is the artist/creator/potter who must
be satisfied with their work. If "you" (and I mean
that figuratively, not directed at Matt) don't like my
work, that's OK. It does not lessen what its creation
has meant to me.
No, indeed not. But the difference between making for
and/or indulging oneself, and making for the
marketplace or real world are two quite different
kettles of fish. I also contend that anyone satisfied
with their work is not a real artist. Artists are never
satisfied or complacent.
> I consider myself an artist, but I also consider
Shaner, Karnes, Hamada,
> Mackenzie artists as well. In my personal
dictionary, creation of objects
> considered beautiful or meaningful by their creator
is art (even if the
> objects are the proverbial "ash tray pots" to
everyone else).
Ash trays, door stops, book ends... All the detrius of
the art / craft skills one is trying to acquire and
personal style one hopes to develop. There is more to
creating serious art than you infer here. I am sure
said makers are/would have been honoured you also
consider them artists(!) but there is a slight
descrepancy when comparing the work of all you great
artists/makers, the difference in the forces driving
your creative processes and not least the end result.
> Find beauty & happiness in life. Don't get hung up
on titles or categories
Echoes of the flower people philosophy from my youth
here, not the pressures of succeeding as a serious
artist/maker in the modern world. Finding "beauty and
happiness" can only be achieved when economic security
is ensured and other social pressures / battles are
won. A monthly paycheque from some kind benefactor or
employer is a luxury most do not have. Yes, money is
not everything, but it certainly makes life a whole lot
more comfortable.
Of course there are those who say that starving and
living in poverty is what sets the real artist above
all the rest of us and this lifestyle is a perpetual
major source of personal inspiration. It is usually the
fat and complacent middle class professionals who have
this absurd romantic notion that a suffering artist
must produce good work and feel like a pig in the
proverbial at all times.
Beauty remains firmly in the eye of the beholder,
whether meaningful or not. And as soon as it is deemed
"beautiful" or "real art", it has been categorised and
set apart from all the crap surrounding it.
Yes, it is very hard to put ones own feelings,
philosophy and ideas into words without sounding
pretentious and condescending towards others and their
work. But we keep trying!
Janet Kaiser
The Chapel of Art . Capel Celfyddyd
HOME OF THE INTERNATIONAL POTTERS' PATH
Criccieth LL52 0EA, GB-Wales Tel: (01766) 523570
E-mail: postbox@the-coa.org.uk
WEBSITE: http://www.the-coa.org.uk
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