Elizabeth Priddy on sun 7 may 06
In chinese philosphy of art, the literati method of
painting, which is applied to other artforms as well,
tight and loose are integral components of any given
piece of work.
Work that is all loose has unbounded chi, or chaos.
Work that is all tight has no freedom to include the
viewer, and so is dead.
A good piece will be perhaps machined in order to get
the vessel, or trimmed within an millimeters of
precision, and then painted or glazed with wild loose
painting, or a painting that tells a story.
Those ming and song dynasty vases that look so tight
have some very lively activity within the
illustration. And remember that these pieces were at
their peak when photography was not in existence. So
if you were going to see a scene of palace life, next
tothe summer palace with swans and the jade boat, you
might see it in a vase or on a scroll, but if you were
not there you could only hear bout it or see it on a
vase in a local dignitary's house, who might even be
in the image itself.
You have to put art within the context of history.
Imagine your life with no media based images. If you
have never skied or seen snow, if you have only heard
about storms and have to trust the native fishermen
when they come in early and tell you that the "devil
was loose uto the sea and we have to leave NOW". Or
life in a village of poor people who have never seen a
glamorous woman. Betty Grable wasn't much by today's
standards, but at the time, WOW! Or if the 100 people
you associate with daily and regularly were the only
people you EVER saw. Or if the music you played or
performed was the only music you heard.
Now look at those vases again with a less jaundiced
eye and see how lively and exotic and fantastic thos
paintings on giant jars that you don't even "see" in
your local chinese restaurant are.
If you apply this thinking to greek vases, american
indian art, indian art, tribal art, renaissance
paintings [religious and secular].
Dirty little secret of Degas, by the way. He and his
friends Monet, Manet, et al. were part of a new school
of painting that had access to Japanese block prints
and PHOTOGRAPHY. How did he get those forms captured
just at the moment she tied her shoe, just
so...because he could work from a photograph, one of
the first artists ever to do so. Monet's train
station paintings with steam rising, several
renditions with steam at various amounts of clarity,
photographs. And did they make it widely known? Hell
no. and why should they? photography was not
considered art until the last 100 years, probably with
Ansel Adams taking the lead. There is a great debate
as to whether each of these artists used photographs,
but there is anecdotal evidence that several "group
paintings" where each did a view of the same scene
were done while certain members wer out of the
country. So unless it was a psychic reading,
photography.
Which brings back the subject of tight and loose. If
Monet used a photograph of a flower garden, which
would certainly be tight, and then applied his unique
vision of it, loosening up to capture the actual
moment in his mind, his emotional response, then that
is the essence of chinese painting.
And how I learned. I painted tight, copying my
teacher as tightly as I could. And when I could do
that, I was free to explore things that cannot be
taught, my own respnse to the world.
So the whole tight versus loose didactic is mainly an
american thing, a western art thing. There are people
reading this thread who think we are out of our minds
to argue about such a non-issue.
And I might be one of them. Because I look at pots
that are sloppy and loose as hell and see garbage, and
I look at cast ceramic blanks with white glaze and see
garbage {or restaurant utility ware, destined to be
broken, so why bother making it special}. I look at a
tightly thrown work and a soft running mesmerizing
glaze and I see perfection. And the same perfection
in a loose crazy form with no glaze and then tiny dots
of color all over the whole thing.
Sorry that was so long and dry, but this subject is
very close to my heart and is an essential element to
my psyche. Even with my kids, I go there. I make
wild free children make tight pots and leave them
wanting more. When you believe in something deeply,
it touches your whole life.
E
It
Elizabeth Priddy
Beaufort, NC - USA
http://www.elizabethpriddy.com
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