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artist's statement to vince, david, et al

updated fri 6 oct 06

 

Lili Krakowski on thu 5 oct 06


I agree with everyone who says it is important to write well and clearly. I
agree with everyone that schools should teach people to write well and
clearly.

Where I strongly disagree is with the notion--ever more popular--that a
POTTER has to be able to write at all. Or that weaver, or silversmith, or
cabinet maker, or glassblower....

Clay is a voice,a language, a means of communication. Of course if you
want to be bilingual and write about your pottery, do it.
But more and more the written message, statement is becoming a requirement,
just as within living memory, slides became a requirement... Now, if I read
David correctly, web-sites seem edging up there as requirements.

I think we should think carefully about what influence extraneous
demands--slides, statements, webpages--have on the community of potters.
Where does Maria Martinez fit into all this? Where do the many--yeah, even
on this list--who are self-taught, work alone, are terrifically good--but
for a diversity of reasons cannot and do not communicate well in writing?

I argue that there should be one criterion and one voice in pottery: the
voice of the clay.












Lili Krakowski
Be of good courage