Wes Rolley on thu 15 apr 04
Since I viewed the Noguchi exhibit I have been thinking more about the role
of tradition as it relates to potting. In his most recent post, Lee Love
begins by quoting Hamada.
As Hamada said about tradition and the studio potter,( a class of artist he
helped invent), the way you change a tradition is "by completely digesting
it and then creating something new."
I often quote the Japanese calligrapher, restaurateur, potter, editor,
Rosanjin in his reaction to tradition.
My aims as a potter are all drawn from studying superlative works of
antiquity. My inspiration comes mainly from Korean and Japanese works of
the fourteenth to the seventeenth centuries - not to speak of the superb
Ming blue-and white porcelain and red overglaze enamel works of China. But
I do not try to imitate them in any superficial way. I try to go straight
to their inner value, their essence and spirit.
I discovered that Honoho Geijutsu, a leading Japanese Ceramics magazine,
published in 2001 the results of a poll concerning the most important
Japanese Potters of the 20th Century. Those polled were divided into 3
groups: curators and critics; gallery owners; other readers of the
magazines. At the same time, they also asked which were the most
popular. I believe that the results of this poll will surprise many in the
West whose view of Japanese Ceramics is that of the Mingei tradition built
on the philosophies of Yanagi and transmitted to the rest of us through the
Hamada - Leach connection and spread in the United States by Mackenzie and
his students. Even the Ohara Museum of Folk Art in Kurashiki devotes one
floor of a small building to the works of Hamada, Tomimoto Kenichi, Kawai
Kanjiro and Leach.
You can view the poll results online at Robert Yellin's E-Yakimono site:
http://www.e-yakimono.net/html/honoho-rankings.html
I find particularly interesting the status (#2) given to Yagi Kazuo. Yagi
is not nearly as well known in the West as Hamada and the other Mingei
potters. Along with Suzuki Osamu (b. 1926 to differentiate him from another
of the same name who was designated a living national treasure for shino)
and Yamada Hiraku, Yagi started a unique potters organization called
Sodeisha and which became a nexus for the development of sculputral,
non-functional ceramic art in Japan. This was in 1948 and the association
lasted until the late 1990's.
Yagi, as I learned from reading Louise Allison Cort's lecture at Alfred
University
(http://ceramicsmuseum.alfred.edu/perkins_lect_series/cort/corttalk.html),
wrote about as much as Yagi and was highly critical of the entire system of
transmission of culture through imitation. In particular, he aimed this
criticism at Arakawa and Kaneshige, two who gained Living National Treasure
status through their work in the Mino-Seto and Bizen traditions.
It should also be noted that this survey listed Hamada as the least
important of the Mingei group potters, after Tomimoto Kenichi and Kawai,
though his influence in the West is far greater. Many potters in the west
found the influence of Hamada and Leach to be liberating and challenging,
showing a new way for the potter to work without having to consider
themselves an artist. Yet, in Japan, this method of re-examining tradition
was the very thing that Yagi and his associates was rebelling against. In
this context, I think that the quote from Rosanjin in my signature is quite
pertinent.
Wesley C. Rolley
17211 Quail Court
Morgan Hill, CA 95037
(408)778-3024
"Why should we not be able to do what others have done before us? The
answer must be that art is created not by human wisdom or intellect, but by
human character as it is shaped by the times." Kitaoji Rosanjin.
Lee Love on fri 16 apr 04
Wes, I am still loading the kiln, so only a short reply:
One of the reasons Hamada is known in the West and the other
potters you mention, except for Rosanjin, are mostly unknown, is
probably because Hamada was strongly influenced by the West, the English
Crafts Movement, and his time in England. Someone who might also be
seen in this "cosmopolitan category" is Akira Kurosawa, whose work
is loved in the West but is thought to be "Too Western" by many
Japanese. Both Kurosawa and Hamada were working on modern man's
existential dilemma. I think they solved this problem through their
work.
As one of the first studio potters, Hamada was able to transcend
his culture and be a living example of someone who is aware of world
culture as was able to integrate it into his life. How Hamada's work
effected his life is more important to me than the objects he made.
His life, his work, his philosophy were integrated well. I respect
Warren MacKenzie for the very same reason.
While I like Rosanjin's work, from what I have read about him
peripherally, in my reading about Noguchi, I don't think I would have
wanted to spend any time around him.
Lee In Mashiko
Hank Murrow on fri 16 apr 04
On Apr 16, 2004, at 7:19 AM, Lee Love wrote:
> As one of the first studio potters, Hamada was able to transcend
> his culture and be a living example of someone who is aware of world
> culture as was able to integrate it into his life. How Hamada's
> work
> effected his life is more important to me than the objects he made.
> His life, his work, his philosophy were integrated well. I respect
> Warren MacKenzie for the very same reason.
One of my enduring memories is seeing Hamada in Charles Eames' studio
in Venice CA, looking at (or 'eating' as he put it) chairs. I am
certain that Hamada's collection of chairs is one of the most eclectic
and yet beautiful to be seen. I wonder if they are all there in Mashiko
still?
Thanks for the reminder,
Hank
Janet Kaiser on mon 19 apr 04
It naturally helps that Hamada spent time in the west and had
influential friends there promoting him and his work. I believe
his relative popularity or celebrity was more, because he spoke
and could communicate well in English, rather than being
anglophile, which is not necessarily to someone's advantage! It
does not matter what line of business one is in either. Look at
politicians... All those "taken seriously" are English speakers
as a conversation with a friend who just visited Berlin
illustrates. She said she could not have named a German
chancellor off the top of her head since Willy Brandt and Helmut
Schmidt. Guess who were the last to be English speakers? Yes.
Both gentlemen. Another reason why the current German Foriegn
Minister, Joschka Fischer is higher profile in the
English-speaking world than his own chancellor and hence listed
as in the top 100 most influential people in the world today
(according to TIME magazine).
The "English influence" on Hamada was not really the happiest
either IMHO... Have you ever seen his tea cups with handles??!!
TC would surely giggle! And incidentally they are one of the
reasons I would never presume to make tea bowls or chawan... The
subtle nuances and differences between pleasing and downright
crap are invisible to an untrained eye, most specifically in
other cultures.
Then there is the film footage of Hamada throwing way back, when
there were very few illustrated books, let alone "media coverage"
of potters. That report had HUGE impact on those of us around
then, believe me! I can still remember watching him turning a
wheel with a stick at 80 or so years of age and being utterly
amazed... A wheel but no pedal? Let alone an electric wheel? That
was prime time TV viewing too! For all our advances, it is hard
to remember the impact such "primitive" methods had at a time
when we were all techno-crazy and looking to the future with man
breaking records and coming up with the most amazing inventions
all the time... Sound barrier, 4 minute mile, dog in space, man
on the moon... But here was an old man pushing a rotating piece
of clay with a stick, "manufacturing" in the most primitive of
ways??!?!?! Hardly what 20th century man was supposed to be doing
in the dawn of an age when robots would soon be doing all the
irksome work previously done by workers!
But the main reason for certain foreigners being remembered more
than others of equal worth or stature is quite simple... The name
by which they are known. Hamada definitely sounds masculine, also
slightly "European", somewhat lyrical / melodic with its
alliteration and simple syllabic structure... ha-ma-da as in a
baby language or ham-ma-da, which actually sounds as though it
should mean something, like the "put the ham over there". It is
therefore memorable for westerners, even those who merely skim
names when reading, never pronouncing them as words or speaking
out loud, so they have a chance of retaining such a "simple" name
in comparison.
Just the one name... Also a great advantage, just like Beethoven
or Mozart! Akira Kurosawa, on the other hand, is definitely just
"sound bites" unless one has been to a lecture, listened to the
name repeated often or have been introduced in person... The sex
is also not apparent from the name, which I consider a real
disadvantage when it comes to unfamiliar names! It saves one from
embarrassing "mistaken identity" and showing one's ignorance...
Sincerely
Janet Kaiser - On a lovely sunny day following a pretty lively
storm yesterday.
*** IN REPLY TO THE FOLLOWING MAIL:
>One of the reasons Hamada is known in the West and the other
>potters you mention, except for Rosanjin, are mostly unknown, is
>probably because Hamada was strongly influenced by the West, the
English
>Crafts Movement, and his time in England. Someone who might also
be
>seen in this "cosmopolitan category" is Akira Kurosawa, whose
work
>is loved in the West but is thought to be "Too Western" by many
>Japanese.
*** THE MAIL FROM Lee Love ENDS HERE ***
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