Lily Krakowski on tue 26 nov 02
I am not quite sure what you and Professor Herr Dr. Eseleschlager have in
mind. Nor how chimps fit in.
Leach became famous right after WWII when survivors of the Bataan Death
March, former POW's, men traumatized or injured on the Pacific front, and
all of us who Remembered Pearl Harbor, and many bereft by it were learning
to pot.
Leach's enthusiasm for Japanese craft was a troubling loyalty, because,
meanwhile, he was overshadowing the craft tradition of GB and slowly eroded
that of the US. Many former GIs did take advantage of the cheap yen and go
study in Japan, as many Americans took advantage of the cheap pound, franc,
mark.
I have commented before--if slighly differently and elsewhere--that the
influence of favorable money exchanges cannot be overestimated. The 19th
century saw plenty of cultural and artistic influences from the South Seas
(Gauguin) North Africa,(Rousseau) the Middle East, Japan and so on. Leach
was a successor to that trend. I always found Leach troubling, to say the
least, but that is neither here nor there.
However: What bothers a lot of people is that we are not Japanese. I am as
crazy about a cuppa as anyone, and drink lots of tea. But the Tea
Ceremony, its rites and paraphenalia mean nothing to me beyond that it is
obviously graceful, and obviously has deep meaning to the Japanese.
There seems to be a trend afoot to appropriate other cultures, even parts
of our own culture, and re-value them in new ways. Not only do, well, let's
be flattering, PUNKS wear pectoral crosses, which I, a non-Christian, find
horrendous and sacrilegious, but people have been using Channuka menoras as
decoration, when clearly, to them, they are not a special-use object. Let me
try that again. I think the hats Russian Orthodox priests wear wonderful.
I would love to wear one. BUT I WOULD NOT GET AND WEAR ONE IN A THOUSAND
YEARS because it would be a form of sacriledge--although I doubt those hats
are considered sacred.
I can see, I'd appreciate, a thorough rethinking., Does eating pizza make
us Italian? Do fajitas make us Mexican? Do sun-dried tomatoes make us
French? Is American Raku OURS, or must we bow Eastward every time the word
comes up?
Bashing is never nice; there is no defending it. But that thought you
quote about children and Spring, is certainly not exclusively, remotely
exclusively Japanese. I can see perfectly well the "give it a rest"
approach that might say why not quote something you have internalized
better...that is more your own? Quoting which might revitalize our own
culture?
Hendrix, Taylor J. writes:
> Well, well.
>
> I have just finished _Hamada: potter_, 1975 by Bern Leach. Must share with you a jewel of a thought which depends from the end of this longish quote:
>
> pg.137 "The best bowls are made by children who are unself-conscious. But just as you are reaching the peak of skill--summer--this is when the danger sets in. You become aware of your skill, and then you must get beyond that awareness before you can reach autumn and then winter. Then you must come into the next spring, not end with winter but arise with the next spring when the new buds form--the second spring. This is the period Japanese handcraftsmen know to be the time to develop their true craft. It is the second apple we are talking about, that is why it must be born, not made."
>
> In my research, I have been shocked to discover a growing swell of anti-Leach/Hamada/Mingei over the past few years. Yes, I continue to read myself stupider. After reading a few articles I begin to wonder who the stupid one is and have decided that if I am going to fan the flames of idiocy, I'd sure as tootin' better do it with the pages of a peer reviewed journal!
>
> As my dear Zoology Prof. Herr Eselshlagger used to say, "If you're dumb enough to give a chimp a stick, he's bound to eventually poke it in your ant hole."
>
>
> Taylor Hendrix
> Documents Night Supervisor
> Client Services Division
> Baylor University Libraries
> P.O. Box 97148
> 1301 S 2nd St
> Waco, TX 76798-7148
>
> Taylor_Hendrix@baylor.edu
> 254.710.4456
>
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Lili Krakowski
P.O. Box #1
Constableville, N.Y.
(315) 942-5916/ 397-2389
Be of good courage....
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