terry sullivan on tue 16 nov 04
My view is that the ceramic scene here in the USA, and around the world
for that matter, is healthy and thriving.
There are hundreds of high schools, colleges, universities, ceramic
guilds, craft centers, and private arts orgs teaching ceramics in the
USA. We have NCECA growing in attendance each year and now the
regional Potters Council conferences. There are several high quality
ceramics magazines like Ceramics Monthly, Clay Times, Pottery Making
Illustrated, and on and on.
The volume of ceramic shows around the country seems to be increasing
and the workshop scene is far larger than just five years ago ( check
the CM workshop issue five years ago verses now ).
There are more classes, more galleries, more shows, more conferences,
more quality publications, more workshops, more everything with ceramics
than five to ten years ago.
Go to an ACC show and see the fantastic ceramists featured there.
For sure the Wall Mart mentality seems to be on the rise, but folks shop
at Wall Mart for basic stuff and they are simply fulfilling a need.
Inexpensive stuff we all use.
But the folks who do appreciate hand made functional ceramics and
sculptural ceramics are not the Wall Mart crowd. We may buy basic stuff
at Wall Mart but we still have appreciation for art. We attend gallery
openings, we go to potters sales , and we buy the good stuff.
Just because the merchandising of companies like Wall Mart is so
effective, does not mean that artisans making hand made craft and art
are suffering. Two different things.
We as a group, ceramic artisans, are stronger than ever I think. If
that wasn't true, than why are there more shows , more galleries, more
conferences, and more quality publications on clay than just ten years
ago ? Just check out the workshop edition of CM for say, 1998, and
compare that to the 2004 issue.
We are on the rise my friends, but we are not a major artistic
factor in the culture of the USA like it is in Japan. This is not a
problem. We are on the rise in spreading our message and aesthetic.
So don't lament. Clay is doing better now than before. Just keep
making and selling.
yours,
Terry Sullivan
Nottingham Center for the Arts
San Marcos, CA ( in no. San Diego, CA )
reply personaly to: tsullivan@nottinghamarts.org
Lee Love on wed 17 nov 04
John Jensen wrote:
>Recently in CM, Don Pilcher noted that he was not "hopeful about the future
>of handmade pottery in America. In his opinion, the culture is becoming more
>and more disconnected with things that really count. Things that are urgent,
>rather than important, drive us. People's attention span have become
>hopelessly short. The population is no longer reflective. It's reactive".
>Frustratingly, these are words that apply to art, Walmart and every thing
>that we do.
>
You know, if there is a culture that promotes the
consumer/throw-way mentality more rigorously than ours, it's gotta be
Japan. ( It is really an "art form" here.) But there is a really
important difference: they still offer art classes in the schools.
Not only that, in the after school mandatory clubs which all students
are required to participate in, right next to sports, including
baseball, tennis and soccer, is the pottery club, the photography
club or various music programs. Can you imagine pottery being
supported right there with the football team? (yes, I know, sports are
being cut out in many places in the U.S.A. too.)
Culture isn't passed on by accident. It requires society's
support. I am a little more optimistic about the situation in
America than Don is. I have seen what Warren MacKenzie has done to
help educate the public about handmade things in Minnesota. It is all
a matter of what we value and what we are willing to support.
--
Lee in Mashiko, Japan http://mashiko.org
http://www.livejournal.com/users/togeika/ WEB LOG
http://public.fotki.com/togeika/ Photos!
terry sullivan on fri 19 nov 04
Gosh, our Vince Pitelka is right on the mark here.
We have a treamendous influx of well made stuff from China etc. via Wall
Mart, Cost Plus, etc. It is all better than most stuff but it is not
"hand made ceramics".
I think we see the plethora of the mechanized production and despair
about the future of personaly produced objects like hand made ceramics.
But I think the reality is quite different. I see more shows, more
gallery openings, more potters doing their own studio sales, and lots
more quality publications devoted to ceramics.
What I am seeing is that the places like Wall Mart are doing quite well
in what they do; so are the individual ceramists. Like there is no
conflict here. Two very different markets.
There is a very large market for those who make functional ceramics. One
must market their work to that public who want hand crafted work. It
isn't the same public who shop at Wall Mart.
Terry Sullivan
Nottingham Arts
San Marcos, CA
www.nottinghamarts.org
Stephen on fri 19 nov 04
Considering the pottery show I rescently participated in for its second
incredibly successful year, Perspectives, at least in Ga., apotter can
remain optomistic. 50 potters participated just from Ga. and there were
buying crowds for three weekends in a row. Weather they bought them to use
or look at is another question as is the question of the continuation of a
petrol driven economy as a whole.
Vince Pitelka on fri 19 nov 04
Can I play the devil's advocate here and say "My god, what a ridiculous
question!" Of COURSE handmade pots will survive and thrive. This is a
growing market. Ruskin and the Pre-Raphaelites and William Morris had it
right when they launched the Arts and Crafts Movement in Europe 150 year
ago, and Walmart is a tiny and insignificant force in comparison to the
force of handmade craft and the desire that people have for fine handmade
goods. Walmart offers some great deals, especially for those who live in
remote rural circumstances, as David Hendley has pointed out. Of course
there are people who can walk into their local Walmart and be seduced by the
amazing prices on Chinese ceramic products, but is it possible that ANYONE
with DISCERNING TASTE could be fooled into thinking that Walmart offers an
alternative to handmade fine craft?
I give people a hell of a lot more credit than that. May I grandstand my
eternal optimism and say that handmade fine craft offers ONE of the paths to
the salvation of the human race?. Surrounding yourself with functional art
is one way to make sense out of this INCREDIBLY DEPRESSING situation that we
have all found ourselves in. I think that the public-at-large is looking to
enrich their lives, ESPECIALLY NOW, and they can find that in art.
Functional art offers a special enrichment, by introducing fine art into the
every-day ritual of utilitarian objects.
People are always searching for the meaning of life, and I certainly have no
definitive answers, but we are generally on-the-mark searching for meaning
in art. As Garth Clark said "Fine Craft reconnects art and life." Objects
of utilitarian fine craft make life worth living, even in the face of such
depressing circumstances.
Love and kisses -
- Vince
Vince Pitelka
Appalachian Center for Craft, Tennessee Technological University
Smithville TN 37166, 615/597-6801 x111
vpitelka@dtccom.net, wpitelka@tntech.edu
http://iweb.tntech.edu/wpitelka/
http://www.tntech.edu/craftcenter/
karen gringhuis on sat 20 nov 04
Garth Clark's recent book "Shards" incl. two chapters
concerning The Future of Functional Pottery. Thought
provoking as always.
=====
Karen Gringhuis
KG Pottery
Box 607 Alfred NY 14802
__________________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
The all-new My Yahoo! - Get yours free!
http://my.yahoo.com
| |
|
