mel jacobson on sat 29 nov 03
this discussion happens about three times a year.
i have always said:
craft depends on history, a set of values
passed from crafts person to crafts person.
this set of values gives us models to look at, replicate
if necessary. we honor our dead. we honor our fellow
crafts people. we share ideas and technique.
this is not what drives art.
new ideas, secrets, ego, possessive thoughts. here in
is the drive of a great deal of art. the book, `art and fear`
deals with this. why is the world suppose to accept a hair
brained art idea? it belongs to the artist. and, often they
become angry and disillusioned that they are not accepted.
why should they be? it is their idea, not ours.
when a crafts person is stuck for ideas, well they just fall back
on their years of training, and make things that they know how
to make....and sell. the artist is just stuck....and often
quits. our craftsmanship always leads us back on to new paths.
shared technique helps lead us to new frontiers. just as hank murrow
has taught me to down fire. it is leading me to new ideas and
work. this would not often happen in the art world. i would
be accused of copying hank. not having original ideas...depending
on others for help. not in craft.
the world always understands what to do with a bowl.
just common sense. and, if it is a beautiful bowl, with
painting, images, concepts...well all the better.
mel
From:
Minnetonka, Minnesota, U.S.A.
web site: my.pclink.com/~melpots
or try: http://www.pclink.com/melpots
new/ http://www.rid-a-tick.com
Geoffrey Gaskell on sun 30 nov 03
I generally agree with Mel's sensible ideas on this subject, which,
presumably, have been expressed for the third time this year.
I tend to think of my own pottery in terms of craft with arty
flourishes. When I do oil paintings, I tend to think of that as my
favoured method of pure artistic expression.
It is interesting for me to note that the multitude tend to favour my
pottery over my paintings, though I would personally wish the opposite
to be the case. I do love my ceramic work and there are times when it
could and perhaps even should be viewed as art (particularly if it in
displayed in a gallery), but, as I have said, oil painting is where my
main focus lies when I want to be artistic. Other people have their
preference for their ceramics to be viewed as art rather than craft, and
that is fine by me: I have no problem recognising it as such because I
have respect for their work and an understanding of the considerable
time and effort that actually goes into the making of an often
deceptively simple & unique ceramic object.
Geoffrey Gaskell
http://www.homepages.paradise.net.nz/ggaskell/
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