John Baymore on sun 15 sep 02
Janet,
Nice post Janet!!!!!! =
The particular example you used instantly awakened a thought about a
"review" that I once got in Japan that here in the US was pretty much
totally USELESS as any kind of a "marketing tool" . So I have never
used the quote in any promotional materials here. Background...... I had=
won a major award for my work in Mashiko. A major art critic from the
Nihon Folkcraft Museum wrote in the exhibition catalog, "John Baymore's
faceted bowl has very sensible form and glazing that are ideal to its use=
as a bowl."
Sure sounds pretty weak here in the land(s) of artspeak .... not a life
metaphor or symbolic intent in sight . No "deep meaning". ("Damn i=
t
Jim, I'm a bowl, not a metaphor." ) But I personally was VERY honore=
d
by his comments, having the knowledge of the Japanese approach to clay. =
When looked at in the context of artspeak, his comment sort of reads like=
........ "So......its just a bowl?"
In the end, it is all about context, isn't it?
I do think it is important to be able to speak and or write intelligently=
about our work...... but not end up actually "muddying the waters" with
many or most listeners or readers in a mistaken attempt at affecting a po=
se
of some sort of intellectualism.
Anyway....... thanks for the chuckle. Your posts are always on my "must
read" list.
Best,
..............................john
John Baymore
River Bend Pottery
22 Riverbend Way
Wilton, NH 03086 USA
603-654-2752 (s)
800-900-1110 (s)
JohnBaymore.com
JBaymore@compuserve.com
Janet wrote, in part........
........... just have to go back to college to learn
"art speak" also known as "art balls" which will enable you to talk at
great length about the bowl being an expression of the womb, the
life-giving vessel from whence we all come and receive nourishment... Or =
if
it is a dark/black bowl then it obviously represents the earth to which w=
e
all return. A grey matt could represent our ashes or dust as we return to=
the basic elements at the end of our earthly existence... On and on it ca=
n
go if you really get carried away and learn your lessons well... Ad
nauseam...........
.............................................
Of course you could save yourselves a lot of heartache, time and money by=
skipping all that and go on insisting a bowl is a bowl is a bowl...
Inordinately useful for culinary and other purposes.
Janet Kaiser on tue 17 sep 02
Thanks, John! I really appreciate your response and the wisdom therein...
A "mere function" being elevated to the highest accolade is redundant in
our "art balls" (western) world AND YET "John Baymore's faceted bowl has
very sensible form and glazing that are ideal to its use as a bowl."
would/could be AT THE HEART of our own culture, if it were not for
trappings of academic and art media clap-trap. Yes, "muddying the water" as
you rightly say!
You want a beautiful bowl to make rice pudding? You have the wherewithal to
pay for a unique, hand-made bowl to compliment your favourite dish? Buy a
John Baymore bowl... It has been given the five gold stars, not only here
in the USA but by a top museum in Japan, a Mecca for potters and the
ceramic arts...! Wow!!! Great! Where can I get one...?
Sadly, it does not work that way, does it?
I really do believe that the "hype" surrounding the whole art world, is
becoming the whole raison d'etre, at the expense of the work itself.
Whereby the "art" or the "craft" is becoming secondary to the "words",
which is surely a BAD THING for ALL artists and makers?
Most readers of this list are makers (whether functional or
non-functional), so I presume that everyone has the/their finished
"product" at heart. But we are totally out of sync with the "art world" as
promoted by galleries, institutions and academia. I get ripples as far as
this "arse of the world" in the British Isles... It is the message and not
the work which is most important, hence "art balls" are necessary to make
the point of the "product" clear.
Without a "deeper meaning", there is no point to any "product", in a world
saturated with consumer goods. Hence the reason why anything created by an
artist or maker has to be described in terms which elevate it above and
beyond the mundane, daily appreciation, beauty and (shock! horror!) simple
USE of something as simple as a BOWL!
Your example interested me personally, because Teena Gould (a clay artist
living and working in Wales, who exhibits at The Chapel of Art) is at the
opposite end of the clay spectrum so to speak... She too won a prestigious
award in Japan for work which is extremely hard to sell here because it is
so utterly non-functional. She is invited to represent Wales at
international symposia all over the world, and yet the "establishment" will
not support her with travel grants, etc. Why? Because they are politically
motivated and influenced by their mothers-in-law!
Seriously, it works both ways as far as Art Balls are concerned... Because
the emphasis has shifted to words rather than the end result, the integrity
of the most elementary to the most avant garde work has been put into
question by "the masses". And because our politicians do not usually have
any art training beyond kindergarten, they are unable to distinguish what
is good and what is utter trash. Because they do not understand the Art
Balls, they dismiss the WHOLE art world as being superfluous, trite
nonsence, because they cannot (=3D are unable) distinguish quality from
crap.
It is all very sad.
Janet Kaiser - Sorry to ramble, but I am amazed I can type, yet alone get a
coherent sentence down following an evening with "the Girls"... Not an
artist amongst them... but a lot of vino and ribald stories... :-)
*********** REPLY SEPARATOR ***********
On 15/09/02 at 16:32 John Baymore wrote:
>Nice post Janet!!!!!!
>
>The particular example you used instantly awakened a thought about a
>"review" that I once got in Japan that here in the US was pretty much
>totally USELESS as any kind of a "marketing tool" . So I have never
>used the quote in any promotional materials here. Background...... I had
>won a major award for my work in Mashiko. A major art critic from the
>Nihon Folkcraft Museum wrote in the exhibition catalog, "John Baymore's
>faceted bowl has very sensible form and glazing that are ideal to its use
>as a bowl."
>
>Sure sounds pretty weak here in the land(s) of artspeak .... not a life
>metaphor or symbolic intent in sight . No "deep meaning". ("Damn it
>Jim, I'm a bowl, not a metaphor." ) But I personally was VERY honored
>by his comments, having the knowledge of the Japanese approach to clay.
>When looked at in the context of artspeak, his comment sort of reads like
>........ "So......its just a bowl?"
>
>In the end, it is all about context, isn't it?
>
>I do think it is important to be able to speak and or write intelligently
>about our work...... but not end up actually "muddying the waters" with
>many or most listeners or readers in a mistaken attempt at affecting a
pose
>of some sort of intellectualism.
>
>Anyway....... thanks for the chuckle. Your posts are always on my "must
>read" list.
>
>Best,
>
>John Baymore
Janet Kaiser
The Chapel of Art =95 Capel Celfyddyd
8 Marine Crescent, Criccieth LL52 0EA, Wales, UK
Tel: 01766-523570 URL: http://www.the-coa.org.uk
| |
|
