mel jacobson on sat 9 jul 05
from what i can gather, the folks at cranbrook, alfred, los angeles school
of art, or kansas city do not teach hump throwing, japanese throwing,
china painting or anything else that has to do with traditional japanese
ceramics in 2005. my guess is that anyone trying to teach that would be driven
out of the department.
it is a new world. `smart art`
can you imagine the kid with pins in his nose, tattoos all over....
making a set of clay skulls from molds...worrying about hamada/leach
philosophy?
i think not. they may be assigned a reading or two...get something in an
off hand book or lecture....but to study it? not.
look at the work that comes from those places.
metaphor. story telling. whatever.
more written words than work...in fact, often no work at all....all words.
concept art.
it is their right to teach whatever they want...study what they want.
we do not get to vote on that subject. it is, what it is.
i can write, lecture....torment myself about what should be done.
but i cannot change what is. it is their show.
so to have even the slightest thought that clay education still has at
its core...the hamada/leach legacy, is absurd. it is an old, worn out
philosophy. it does not mean that it was wrong, invalid...but it is gone.
clay education in america has never lead with that philosophy...yes of
course...warren kept it alive with minnesota mingai, but ken ferguson
coined `minnesota mingai` as a put down...he told me that from his
own lips....he called it foolishness. he loved warren, but the mingai
stuff he thought was silly. american ceramics has been forging its own
legacy. good or bad, right or wrong...it does belong to those doing it.
most do not want old bernard telling them how to make pots. in many ways
americans would rather listen to old north carolina potters. it is closer
to our
traditions.
from mel/minnetonka.mn.usa
website: http://www.pclink.com/melpots
http://home.comcast.net/~figglywig/clayart.htm
for gail's year book.
Snail Scott on mon 11 jul 05
At 01:02 PM 7/9/2005 -0500, you wrote:
>can you imagine the kid with pins in his nose, tattoos all over....
>making a set of clay skulls from molds...worrying about hamada/leach
>philosophy?
>i think not...
Watch out for those kids with the body piercings - they
might become your competition. When I was a college
studio monitor, the the hardest-working kid in ceramics
(and the only one seriously interested in functional
pottery) was a spike-haired, pierced, tattooed punk.
He gave attitude to everyone around him, and signed his
pots with the same graffiti tag that he spray-painted
in the stairwells, but he did hundreds of glaze tests
(not required or assigned) in between spending every
spare minute on the wheel. If he ever got around to
reading Hamada, I doubt he'd have bought into the whole
philisophy, but he was more likely to put it to use
than most of his better-behaved, assignment-oriented
classmates.
-Snail
Lee Love on wed 13 jul 05
mel jacobson wrote:
> but ken ferguson coined `minnesota mingai` as a put down..
Actually, a student of Ferguson's coined the term "MingeiSota" as a put
down. Warren embraced it and that act took it out of Ferguson's hands.
MacKenzie made it a living tradition. There are several generations
building the foundation on several continents.
People always confuse Mingei with "mingei influenced." Mingei has
nothing to do with 10 year art fads. It is the antithesis of the typical
art fad. One good example of its actual practice is when Yanagi and
Hamada were told about Okinawan Funeral Urns being bulldozed in Okinawa,
to make way for an air base there. They single-handedly rescued these
urns and we have many examples of them due to their preservation work.
You can see a photo of one of these Okinawan spirit houses here:
http://photos1.blogger.com/img/278/2103/1024/image020.jpg
You can read more about what Mingei actually is here:
http://www.blueandwhiteamerica.com/mingei.html
Short excerpt:
"Before the modern era, production of handmade goods flourished
throughout Japan, suiting the needs of the general population. But by
the late 19th century Japanese regional craftswork began to disappear as
the government encouraged mass production and standardization for more
economical goods, which were easily produced and less expensive than
handmade items. Concerned with this rapid Western Industrialization in
the 1920's, Yanagi sought a return and recognition of the beauty of
traditional Japanese craftwork..."
..."What are typical examples of Mingei?
There is no strict definition of what qualifies as Mingei; it can take
almost any form. Mingei products include both old and contemporary
examples. Common Mingei objects include many ceramics, lacquer products,
wood objects, baskets, and textiles. Mingei can be seen more as a style;
often adjectives such as simple and unaffected are used to describe
Mingei items. Elements are usually kept to a minimum, and form generally
follows function."
I was thinking the other day about the special relationship
America and Japan has, ever since Admiral Perry's Black Ships opened up
Japan to the world. The founders of the Meiji Restoration like Sakamoto
Ryoma, were greatly influenced by American culture. So much so, that in
that time, many Japanese households had photos of George Washington in
their homes. Then occupation after the war made our relationship to
Japan have some similarities to England's relationship with India. And
of course, we share a Pacific rim culture too.
Also, when you work in a medium, such as high fire stoneware and
porcelain, you will look to examples where these mediums and techniques
have reached their highest levels. If you pay attention to process and
materials, often, you will arrive at the same place as people who used
similar means. At the UofMN, in the first handbuilding class I took, we
were given earthenware, colored engobes and a clear glaze to work with.
I made sculpture and decorated it brightly with the engobes. One of my
first objects was a full sized copy of my favorite Hawaiian shirt. My
professor enjoyed it and I think saw similarities to his figurative work
in clay. My next class was a throwing class. We were given stoneware and
were allowed to mix our own glazes up. I filled my book with Shino
recipes. It was the studio where American Shinos were first created. I
made korean and Japanese inspired functional work and my first professor
asked me why my work changed so much. I explained to him that it was
important for me to pay careful attention to the materials I use. The
earthenware and engobes lent themselves to one kind of work. While the
stoneware and shino lent themselves to another kind. What made me admire
him, was that he kept supporting me, even though my work was no longer
like his work.
> in many ways americans would rather listen to old north carolina potters.
Yeah, that is why they are all building groundhogs at the farm.
America and Japan both seem to be become more insular and less
cosmopolitan as far as functional pottery goes. I believe the best work
has come out of the coming together of cultures. We need to get rid of
the blinders and not be afraid to take in the world that we have better
access to than any civilization before us.
--
Lee Love
in Mashiko, Japan http://mashiko.org
http://seisokuro.blogspot.com/ My Photo Logs
"We are such stuff
As dreams are made on; and our little life
Is rounded with a sleep."
-- Prospero The Tempest
Shakespeare
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