bill edwards on sat 4 jun 05
I have enjoyed most all the comments each have made on
the theft of designs regarding their work. There's
been a great amount to learn from all this, progress
is being made.
I had my recipe book stolen intentionally at one point
and started seeing my glazes being produced in bulk. I
also retained an attorney, got my recipes handed back
to me but that didn't stop the mass production that
already had started because of swift minor changes
made to my formulations. I am sure copies were made as
well! My thoughts was how weak minded could a person
be not to work for their own collection of recipes but
instead steal a person's life's work and attempt to
use that as their own. I especially didn't like the
fact that many were lab tested and my time and effort
wasn't free to them for personal or commercial use.
One of the reasons I never published the book I was
working on was because of this on-going litigation and
potential suit I was milling over with my attorneys at
the time.
We share lots on here, formulations and designs. I
think in terms of most all here who have offered their
opinions, trying not to dig too hard one way or the
other but I reserve an argumentive edge to part of it.
I protect my things now in multiple ways and I invite
copying of some things and will fight the fight
against down-right theft on others to the end. Artist
are paid mostly for their creativity, the skills, the
educational or non-trained methods of work and one of
a kind pieces. When you have something worthy of
protecting and others just assume they have a right to
pick it off, it does become a problem. It removes
money and time spent by the originating artist and not
all collectors are keen on understanding the
differences, they just like what they see and buy it.
Ron and John got into this a few weeks back in a
semi-circle where people were beginning to publish
their glazes. There is a way of discerning and making
rational decisions, some just don't use that rational
reasoning as often as others. I refused to buy their
book for awhile even though I have a space retained
just for that book, why? Because I did not want any
published material I read to become entrenched in my
mind while I work on my own formulations and 'we' as
writers and formulators do think on similar terms when
it comes to safety and durability and it would be easy
to forget why and where I started and would likely
blend into what I already have been doing. I also note
that we or rather I am seeing a bunch of potters doing
pottery using those glazes and have been able to spot
them at trade shows and craft fairs, I also ask
questions. This is great for those learning, its good
that they are turning to methods that may be safer
than before, its not good to see 10 booths with
basically similar glazes and artists telling customers
it's safe because so and so wrote the book on it. We
don't know that, we assume that, because we hope they
followed the recipe and firing to a tee. How it
effects the consumer is by marketing it to them as
being safe and that’s why I continue to speak out on
lab testing the variables based on colorant exchanges
or minor differences made in formulating or heat work
before someone decides to make a critical change that
interupts the purpose of the material while stating it
came or originated from certain context. The challenge
would be to learn more from it and tackle various ways
of producing pieces that reach beyond the boundaries
of one book while understanding the value of that
books worth as a tool in your education. With that
said: I believe firmly that the good out-weighs the
bad and the learning curve approaches a better end
results and some skills are picked up. But with
recipes, designs, there should be reasonable thought
put into this prior to trying to sell wares as being
of particular value because of this or that. A good
potter knows their work well, they understand their
chemistry well and they produce work off the cuff
often using countless ends and means of experience
garnered in bits and pieces, not exactly duplicating
anyone in particular and it takes lots of time to get
there, not something done in a day. The pattern to
being a great potter may have been already cut by
others in the past but the better potter today would
be the one of invention that moved beyond the known
parameters and their work can easily be pulled aside
from others at any show due to differences seen
through the eye's of someone educated in art or has a
grasp on the tech side of things as well as aesthetic.
(I hate seeing certain pieces I know are poorly
formed, poorly glazed and set in galleries where
unsuspecting consumers shell out hundreds of dollars
for a 10 dollar bowl just because so and so said this
or that) There's not that many great collectors to go
around to discern all this that may be your customer.
So know your customers, provide them something great
as often as possible and understand that someone out
there is simply going to do whatever they can to rip
off your work and make a quick nickel whenever
possibleif they see the above happening, they want to
make money too. Be a smarter potter and move past
those who seem to have nothing left in them other than
to copy, they all eventually learn a valuable lesson
one way or another! More often than not I am tight
lipped these days but offer suggestions and will open
up to the right person(s) but learned a valuable
lesson along the way. What’s vital to me, stays close
to me and I am protective of things that I consider
vital to my survival and well being. It should be
everyone's goal to achieve their end by learning but
never abusing another’s right of way without
permission or mention. I still ask that recipes be
attributed 'when known' to those who produce them as
often as possible and their art as well. I also do
consulting in a specialized field now but I get paid
for that effort, there's plenty of room for
individuals willing to go outside the norm and still
can be done more safely than ever before. I liked the
horses on the web, I wouldn't mimic them however
because I feel they belong on that farm instead of
mine. Would I make a horse? Of course, if I wanted to
and I would try not to pull any of the designs
mechanisms from what I saw. I would want my own herd
because copying wouldn't give me anything different
than what I have already learned even though they
might be some similarities, that person has done their
work and earned it. After all, you can only do so much
in one life-time and often you repeat your mistakes
even if you try hard not to! But I would not copy,
steal or remove that right of dignity or ownership
from a person if I were to accidentally move into a
direction I thought was my own and found out latter my
work was too similar to another’s. Good reason for me
to hold off buying a book but a great reason I would
recommend it to others. I believe in the authors
ability because I have watched them, emailed Ron back
and forth over the years and read Johns works as often
as possible and gained trust in their ability to
produce what seems 'magical' work through their
research and ability to arrange it in words and ways
that reach beyond the norm's of what we understood 3-4
years ago for many people. My next trip to Atlanta
will provide me that book for my library I hope, I am
certain I will have lots of fun reading it and
exploring it. Now when's my next trip???
The most I have ever learned in my life have been from
un-trained people who's fresh approach to art reaches
out and touches me in some way. It excites me to see
their lives/art transforming before my eyes and
becoming solidified through their careful work and
exploring. Mimicking never has and never will impress
me much at all! I would use it as a teaching tool but
try and imprint unto them a passage of their own. A
good student would throw 100's of cups or bowls that
would look like the teacher, eventually they would
invent their own out of necessity or just out of
boredom.
Bill Edwards
Edmar Studio and Gallery
__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around
http://mail.yahoo.com
Elizabeth Copan on mon 6 jun 05
Thank you for all of your comments/advice about design and recipe theft.
I was absolutely crushed when I discovered that my glaze notebook had been
stolen out of my studio at the Cleveland Institute of Art.
There is one recipe in particular that I am devastated over: it is an
incredibly plastic porcelain casting slip which fires to cone 6. I think
it was "Lyndsey's Porcelain Casting Slip"....if anyone has this recipe, or
one similar to it, I would greatly appreciate if you could pass it on.
I am an undergrad ceramics major, not a studio potter, so I am not trying
to make a profit from anyone's hard work....I just need some help
recovering some of the recipes I lost.
Thank you very much,
Elizabeth M Copan
Lee Love on tue 7 jun 05
Elizabeth Copan wrote:
>I was absolutely crushed when I discovered that my glaze notebook had been
>stolen out of my studio at the Cleveland Institute of Art.
>
Elizabeth,
Give your recipes to as many people as possible. That way, if your book
gets lost, you will have many places to go to get them.
If you post them here, you can always find them in the archives.
--
李 Lee Love 大
愛　　 　　 鱗
in Mashiko, Japan http://mashiko.org
http://hankos.blogspot.com/ Visual Bookmarks
http://ikiru.blogspot.com/ Zen and Craft
"With Humans it's what's here (he points to his heart) that makes the difference. If you don't have it in the heart, nothing you make will make a difference." ~~Bernard Leach~~ (As told to Dean Schwarz)
| |
|
