Wesley Rolley on wed 15 aug 01
subject.
Quote: From "The 3-Cornered World" by Natsume Soseki, a famed (picture =
is on 1000 Yen note) Japanese journalist and novelist from the early 20t=
h=20
century.
"Putting it as a formula, I suppose you could way that an artist is a=20=
person who lives in the triangle which remains after the angle which we =
may call common sense has been removed from this four-cornered world.
Because of this lack of common sense, the artist is not afraid to=20
approach those areas, both in the natural and in the man-made world, fro=
m=20
which the average person shrinks back, and in consequence is able to fin=
d=20
the most exquisite pearls of beauty."
Question:
I have posted a picture to my Internet site,=20
http://www.refpub.com/art/wes/movement.jpg The object is a small (~11 in=
=20
wide x 6 in. high) piece of manzanita that I found along the shore of a =
lake that is between my house and the hills in the background. The=20
picture was an experiment in backlighting with my digital camera, and=20=
came out too dark when viewed online. However, it still is good enough =
to pose my question. Is this a work of art? It was formed by the acts o=
f=20
nature, not mine. I only "recognized it" and decided that it was best=20=
viewed in a certain manner. =20
I think that potters like to talk about their intent and, according to=20=
Mayor Mel, some actually study the technical aspects of their work. But=
=20
I hopefully we all recognize that accident (or at the least science at a=
=20
level, governed by laws of probability, that we are not yet capable of =
fully understanding) plays a large role in what we do. Why else would =
the kiln gods exist?
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