mel jacobson on tue 18 dec 01
like so many techniques that we acquire or borrow
from others.....it seems like we make them our own
and forget where they came from.
every style or technique in ceramics came from someplace.
it was an original, then it became `mine`.
we have to be careful. give credit, it does not hurt.
a bit of reading, a bit of study. it is critical.
it is like when we meet new people, from different
places or back grounds..the first thing most people do
is minimize them. `hell, they don't feel pain and suffering`.
how does an american person understand the
`tea ceremony` without some ability to understand the
japanese language? it is very difficult. i would go so far
as say impossible. even having been there, studied it for
a bit...makes me realize that i know nothing. the flavor and
nuance are gone. sawdust dinner.
raku is the same thing. most understand that it is a family name.
that family still exists in kyoto. i believe the name is ro ku bay.
i met kee o me zu/ ro ku bay when i lived in kyoto. he came to
two of my openings, and we had lunch on one occasion.
he lived very near us in eastern kyoto. i went to that studio several
times. do i understand raku? not very well.
what paul soldner gave us many years ago is a fast fire, low temp
and very glitzy alternative to japanese raku. they are not the same
thing. not close. fast fire/low temp is the connection. it ends there.
japanese raku is so subtle that is barely exists. it is quiet, soft spoken
and elegant. american raku is like the barnum and bailey circus.
making it in a group is like a football game. all you need is the
marching band. (and streaking.)
my interest in writing about shino is the same thing. the root
is there, but the product and what happens to it changes very
dramatically when it became americanized. that is not to say that
what has happened is wrong. far from it. it has become a wonderful
new glaze. but, the funny part is when people see the real thing, an
example of early 19th century shino....they have no clue what they
are looking at. think it is ugly. `my god martha, that crap looks
like cake frosting...and look at the pin holes...jezzzz, is that
ugly.` a little understanding is a good thing. take your time,
look and see.....stop telling, start learning. listen.
it is like ron roy telling us that a glaze is weak and poor.
lemons do funny things to it.
`to hell with him, what does he know? and, i like this glaze.`
yah, that is the answer....very american...`i like it, i want it..give
it to me.` NOW AND SCREW YOU! amazing, doesn't ron understand, i spent
two weeks at alfred taking a workshop. i am an expert`
does the world of clay need those experts? not on your life.
same with clay formula secrets. `hey, i can't let you know
what is in this clay body. four ingredients and some sand,
but it is a lifelong secret. testing? what is testing?` screening,
what is screening?`
this is not a rant. just a couple of thoughts about where
we are going, what we are doing.
others will add to this. it is a good topic.
in fact, it is a life long topic.
mel
From:
Minnetonka, Minnesota, U.S.A.
web site: http://www.pclink.com/melpots
From:
Minnetonka, Minnesota, U.S.A.
web site: http://www.pclink.com/melpots
Isao & Don on tue 18 dec 01
A>mel All very interesting but, I still have problems with accepting
RAKU as being much more than a decadence arrived at by persons with
leisure=money=energy to 'raise'(?) a simple process to an Art-form as
though the practitioners had made an original discovery and become arrogant
enough to, first decry and then iconize the peasant in their own image.
When Isao makes tea for us, it is a simple art between two
persons, bringing closeness without pretence. IMHO, when we go beyond that
point, raku becomes mere ceromonial pretense.>From:Don & Isao.(raku
becomes process?)
>Minnetonka, Minnesota, U.S.A.
>web site: http://www.pclink.com/melpots
>From:
>Minnetonka, Minnesota, U.S.A.
>web site: http://www.pclink.com/melpots
>
>___________________________________________________________________________
___
>Send postings to clayart@lsv.ceramics.org
>
>You may look at the archives for the list or change your subscription
>settings from http://www.ceramics.org/clayart/
>
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melpots@pclink.com.
>
Don & Isao Sanami Morrill
e-Mail:
C. Burkhart on wed 19 dec 01
>like so many techniques that we acquire or borrow
from others.....it seems like we make them our own
and forget where they came from.
every style or technique in ceramics came from someplace.
it was an original, then it became `mine`.
we have to be careful. give credit,>
Let me see if I misunderstand this incorrectly -
A Korean roof-tile maker who made tea-bowls in Kyoto, Japan, or as legend
has it, the Japanese Zen monks (Buddhist school that developed in China and
later in Japan as the result of a fusion between the Mahayana form of
Buddhism originating in India) also made tea-bowls, and there in birthed the
technique known as raku.
Therefore, we should give the monks/ Koreans credit.
So to illustrate this point, for each raku pot we exhibit it should read,
"John Doe used Japanese Techniques borrowed from the Raku (ro ku bay)
family?"
If the above is correct, doesn't it follow that for each automobile the
Japanese manufacture, a stamp should be placed upon the car indicating
techniques originated in USA? And they should call them Ford Toyota?
>yah, that is the answer....very american...`...`i like
it, i want it..give it to me.' NOW AND SCREW YOU! >
In my travel's abroad, this scenario is alive and well!
Carolsan, who thought raku simply meant pleasure and enjoyment.
Steve Mills on wed 19 dec 01
Mel,
You are right; Raku has become very much like the story that was told
earlier this year on Clayart (was it you?) about the student, the
master, the blue glaze, and the question of ownership. When we take
someone else's process and call it our own, we should in all honesty
call it another name, or at least acknowledge its source. Having done
quite a lot of Raku type work in the past, I have always been careful to
refer to what I did as *Raku process*, having been told off VERY firmly
for using the word Raku on its own to describe it; after all it IS
someone's name.
What began as tea ceremony wares has come a long way in the intervening
years, and diversified in many ways, losing on the way the quiet
humility of the original. Perhaps this is sad, but nothing ever stands
still, thank heavens, and I think we should rejoice in that diversity,
but at the same time respectfully remember its origins and be grateful
for those developed it, and those who brought it to our many shores.
Steve
Bath
UK
In message , mel jacobson writes
>like so many techniques that we acquire or borrow
>=66rom others.....it seems like we make them our own
>and forget where they came from.
>
>every style or technique in ceramics came from someplace.
>it was an original, then it became `mine`.
>
--
Steve Mills
Bath
UK
Gary D. Amundson on wed 19 dec 01
I had heard that Raku meant "happy circumstance," looking it up in the
Encarta Dictionary yields the following definition and source of the
word:
ra.ku noun
pottery technique: a pottery technique in which pots are raw-glazed at a
low temperature then taken red-hot from the kiln and plunged in water or
sawdust for reduction or carbonizing
[Late 19th century. From Japanese, literally "ease, enjoyment."]
> I have always been careful to refer to what I did as *Raku process*,
> having been told off VERY firmly for using the word Raku on its own
> to describe it; after all it IS someone's name.
Alan D. Scott on wed 19 dec 01
> When Isao makes tea for us, it is a simple
> art between two persons, bringing closeness
> without pretence.
Well said for both tea and pottery!
Alan
Craig Clark on thu 20 dec 01
Carlsan, I'll go along with the pleasure and enjoyment definition.
Craig Dunn Clark
619 East 11 1/2 st
Houston, Texas 77008
(713)861-2083
mudman@hal-pc.org
----- Original Message -----
From: "C. Burkhart"
To:
Sent: Wednesday, December 19, 2001 9:31 PM
Subject: raku confusion/long
> >like so many techniques that we acquire or borrow
> from others.....it seems like we make them our own
> and forget where they came from.
>
> every style or technique in ceramics came from someplace.
> it was an original, then it became `mine`.
>
> we have to be careful. give credit,>
>
>
> Let me see if I misunderstand this incorrectly -
>
> A Korean roof-tile maker who made tea-bowls in Kyoto, Japan, or as legend
> has it, the Japanese Zen monks (Buddhist school that developed in China
and
> later in Japan as the result of a fusion between the Mahayana form of
> Buddhism originating in India) also made tea-bowls, and there in birthed
the
> technique known as raku.
> Therefore, we should give the monks/ Koreans credit.
>
> So to illustrate this point, for each raku pot we exhibit it should read,
> "John Doe used Japanese Techniques borrowed from the Raku (ro ku bay)
> family?"
>
> If the above is correct, doesn't it follow that for each automobile the
> Japanese manufacture, a stamp should be placed upon the car indicating
> techniques originated in USA? And they should call them Ford Toyota?
>
> >yah, that is the answer....very american...`...`i
like
> it, i want it..give it to me.' NOW AND SCREW YOU! >
>
> In my travel's abroad, this scenario is alive and well!
>
>
> Carolsan, who thought raku simply meant pleasure and enjoyment.
>
>
____________________________________________________________________________
__
> Send postings to clayart@lsv.ceramics.org
>
> You may look at the archives for the list or change your subscription
> settings from http://www.ceramics.org/clayart/
>
> Moderator of the list is Mel Jacobson who may be reached at
melpots@pclink.com.
>
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