logan johnson on mon 22 dec 03
Hi Lee,
What a great post! Wish I could write my feelings into words this way. Guess I'll just stick to list writing & enjoy what I read on clayart :o)
HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!
Lee Love wrote:
----- Original Message -----
From: "clennell"
> My son went back to school to be a Paramedic. Starting wage including
> overtime $1000/week. Shouldn't a potter (actually there are two of us)
> expect that kind of wage???
Wasn't car mechanic and plumber mention previously? I would
like to see potters making a decent wage too. You know the main
difference between the mechanic, plumber and paramedic on one hand and
potters on the other? Our society sees the former occupations as
essential. Toilets have to flush, our cars gotta run and if you wreck them,
somebody has to take you to ER. But it is easy to replace pottery with
paper and plastic.
Because, in the mind of society, the essential need for
pottery has been replaced by functional objects made in other ways, pottery
is pretty much seen as a luxury, and not essential. Of course, I would
argue that hand crafted things are essential for a humane society, but
modern culture does not have that value.
Our only hope is to help educate people about how important these
things are to a humane society. Before we can change our pocketbooks, we
have to change society's mind. I've always seen the making and using of
functional pottery as being a subversive endeavor, because it runs counter
to a consumption driven, throw-away society. To me, this is way it is
important not to pander to the high art crowd mentioned in the article Tony
shared with us, because it is primarily consumption driven. The MingeiSota
approach (poo-pooed in the same article) is all about educating people about
the importance of craft and creativity in every day life.
--
Lee in Mashiko
"The intuitive mind is a sacred gift and the rational mind is a faithful
servant. We have created a society that honors the servant and has
forgotten the gift." -- Albert Einstein
http://Mashiko.us
Web Log (click on recent date):
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clennell on mon 22 dec 03
kat wrote wondering if $5,000 a month includes teaching and is that a
realistic figure for a potter. We live in The Golden Horseshoe of Ontario.
The most populated area of Canada. A crack house in Toronto would cost ya
minimum $250,000. To own and operate a house and studio you need at least
that kind of coin. It also means there are millions of people within an
hours drive of your door. In my Golden years i can sell my property and live
elsewhere. But for the next 10 years i want to have a plumbers wage.
My son went back to school to be a Paramedic. Starting wage including
overtime $1000/week. Shouldn't a potter (actually there are two of us)
expect that kind of wage???
I am always pleased to see a Steven Hill workshop advertised. he charges
$1800US for a weekend. he's busy doing workshops. A weekend is more like
4-5 days so he figures he needs $4-500 a day to leave the workshop. The
equivalent of some casseroles, teapots and cups being made in the studio. He
does the profession some good. The ones working for airfare are killing the
studio potter.
It's hard work to make and complete that number of pots per month.
cheers,
Tony
Lee Love on tue 23 dec 03
----- Original Message -----
From: "Lee Love"
> to a consumption driven, throw-away society. To me, this is way it is
> important not to pander to the high art crowd mentioned in the article
Tony
> shared with us, because it is primarily consumption driven. The
MingeiSota
> approach (poo-pooed in the same article) is all about educating people
about
> the importance of craft and creativity in every day life.
I thought of something while I was throwing pitchers this morning.
There is an aspect here in Japan that helps bring functional craft,
especially pottery, more into "the realm of necessity," and that is tea
ceremony. Things like tea here are studied not as a luxury, but
traditionally, as something that educated people learned to improve the
quality of their lives. This is true of flower arranging, bonsai,
calligraphy, painting and woodblock printing. There is an aspect of this
and the arts in the West, but I think we can see it developed to its highest
level in tea.
Currently, with a large educated middle class, it isn't necessarily
just wealthy people who buy expensive tea related craft. Your post man,
truck driver or gas station attendant just might be a connoisseur. It is
interesting, but here in Japan, it is very possible to find someone making
$7.00 to $10.00 an hour who might spend several hundred dollars on a piece
of pottery, whereas, back home, in the States, your mechanic or plumber
making almost 10 times more an hour is very unlikely to do the same.
I don't know if we can ever make tea ceremony mainstream in N.
America, but I do think we can promote the making and use of hand-crafted
things for their ability to enrich our everyday lives. We could even
promote art this way. But for art to be "every day", we might expect the
makers to make the wages of mechanics or plumbers rather than that of movie
or sports stars. Of course, the "best of the best" might, but more modest
gains would be a more realistic goal for your average craftsperson.
--
Lee in Mashiko
"The intuitive mind is a sacred gift and the rational mind is a faithful
servant. We have created a society that honors the servant and has
forgotten the gift." -- Albert Einstein
http://Mashiko.org
Web Log (click on recent date):
http://www.livejournal.com/users/togeika/calendar
Lee Love on tue 23 dec 03
----- Original Message -----
From: "clennell"
> My son went back to school to be a Paramedic. Starting wage including
> overtime $1000/week. Shouldn't a potter (actually there are two of us)
> expect that kind of wage???
Wasn't car mechanic and plumber mention previously? I would
like to see potters making a decent wage too. You know the main
difference between the mechanic, plumber and paramedic on one hand and
potters on the other? Our society sees the former occupations as
essential. Toilets have to flush, our cars gotta run and if you wreck them,
somebody has to take you to ER. But it is easy to replace pottery with
paper and plastic.
Because, in the mind of society, the essential need for
pottery has been replaced by functional objects made in other ways, pottery
is pretty much seen as a luxury, and not essential. Of course, I would
argue that hand crafted things are essential for a humane society, but
modern culture does not have that value.
Our only hope is to help educate people about how important these
things are to a humane society. Before we can change our pocketbooks, we
have to change society's mind. I've always seen the making and using of
functional pottery as being a subversive endeavor, because it runs counter
to a consumption driven, throw-away society. To me, this is way it is
important not to pander to the high art crowd mentioned in the article Tony
shared with us, because it is primarily consumption driven. The MingeiSota
approach (poo-pooed in the same article) is all about educating people about
the importance of craft and creativity in every day life.
--
Lee in Mashiko
"The intuitive mind is a sacred gift and the rational mind is a faithful
servant. We have created a society that honors the servant and has
forgotten the gift." -- Albert Einstein
http://Mashiko.us
Web Log (click on recent date):
http://www.livejournal.com/users/togeika/calendar
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