Ursula Goebels on mon 13 aug 01
Here is how I approached this question:
Writing an "Artist Statement" -- and revising it many times --
has helped me.
Why was the writing of artist statements important?
It forced me to
look critically at the quality of my own work and to
communicate clearly and concisely why I was doing what I was doing.
It helped me to
define my goals both professionally, artistically and financially and to
define strategies for pursuing them.
And finally I had to make a decision on how I wanted to be perceived by the
public (business cards, web page, etc),
After that it was a non-issue.
Ursula
Mud Larque on tue 14 aug 01
I have been lurking on the list for a very long time and am finally moved to post a thought. Having read (or skimmed) many discussions of art and craft and professionalism on Clayart, I needed to further research these topics. To that end I have been reading lots of books on these subjects, since it is between semesters and the school studio is closed. (Of course I know it is better to make than to read.) There are two books that I have found particularly openminded and stimulating, and I recommend them to anyone who likes to ponder these questions.
The first is by a man I remember from his keynote address at NCECA a couple years ago in Fort Worth:
The Potter's Art by Henry Glassie
Glassie explores the role of potters within their societies in India, Japan, Turkey, the American south and the American southwest. He really attacks the wall between western notions of "art" and "craft", and he writes with a lot of respect for these people and their creations.
This book is available in paperback for $12.95 from the Indiana University Press web site. I found my copy at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts book store, and I'm sure any good bookstore could order it.
The other book is published by Oxford University Press:
But is it Art? by Cynthia Freeland
This little book summarizes many different theories of art, and discusses how contemporary art challenges many of the traditional definitions. She quotes Richard Anderson's description of art as "culturally significant meaning, skillfully encoded in an affecting, sensuous medium." I like this definition because it implies that mind, skill and emotion are all necessary in a work of art. Yet Mark Hewitt's wood fired cup, Betty Woodman's pillow pitchers, Goya's etchings, Hokusai's wood block prints, Arbus' photographs - they all fit under this big tent.
I have a hardback priced at $16.95, again from a museum bookstore, but probably available wherever you like to buy your books.
MJ in Boston
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