Vince Pitelka on fri 29 mar 96
Gail -
Do you happen to know the context in which Cornelius made this statement? I
like his pots/art, and I'd love to know. Does anyone out there know him? If
so, please ask him and report back to us. I suspect it's one of those
statements which was intended to incite rant and rage. It fits right along
with the statement "Those who can't do, teach." It completely depends on the
context. In some cases both statements may be true, and in others both are
ridiculous trivializations of serious issues, and an insult to those who
struggle with teaching and making art. In terms of real enduring art,
you can't make it without the necessary visual/technical fluency. In terms of
teaching, you can't do it WELL without the necessary visual/technical fluency.
I never met a good art teacher that wasn't also an accomplished artist.
Face it. It takes courage to be a self-supporting functional potter, and it
takes courage to make something non-functional that may or may not stand up as
art, and it takes courage to do a good job of teaching. I was a studio potter
for ten years, and I have been a potter/artist for 27 years, and nothing I have
ever done takes more courage and commitment than teaching. Doesn't mean it's
true of all teachers, but it's certainly been my experience.
Besides, Cornelius's statement may be irrelevant, because fine pots are fine
art. That's based on 12,000 years of human history. Arguing otherwise just
validates the tragic separation of art and craft (and therefore art and life)
which occured as a result of the Industrial Revolution. Western industrialized
culture is the only one where art and craft are separated to such a degree and
for such arbitrary and artificial reasons.
I didn't mean to ramble so.
Vince Pitelka - wkp0067@tntech.edu
Appalachian Center for Crafts - Tennessee Technological University
Gail Nichols on fri 29 mar 96
Vince (and anyone else who's interested in this),
Phil Cornelius made the statement "If you can't make pots, make art" when he
was in Australia last year for an international sculpture/woodfiring event
called Claysculpt Gulgong. It was in the context of describing how he had
briefly flirted with the idea of satisfying the "art" dealers"....making
pots into pieces of sculpture (one item that comes to mind was a set of cups
in a molded plastic tray). He apparently got a good response, but the
dealers kept asking what clever idea he would come up with next. He decided
the "art world" was not for him and went back to making what he loved. Not
that all his pots are that functional, mind you. The difference seemed to
be that he was satisfying something in himself instead of thinking up clever
ideas that would satisfy someone else. And he certainly didn't see this as a
step backward.
Actually, a few days later he was very humbled by the firing of a large
terracotta arch by Nina Hole and Jorgen Hansen from Denmark, (and everyone
was pretty exhausted by that stage too), and in awe of it all, he actually
reworded his statement to "if you can't make art, make pots". The next
morning, however, he unpacked his charcoal firing and his strength was back.
Holding a large and very beautiful "whiskey cup" in his hand, he said with
the greatest confidence, "If you can't make pots, make art."
He was a great teacher, and gave us a lot to think about.
_________________________________
Gail Nichols
Sydney, Australia
gail@matra.com.au
http://www.matra.com.au/~gail/
LBlos72758@aol.com on thu 4 apr 96
Hi Vince,
I agree that it takes commitment to teach. However, I'm trying to
understand why it takes courage to teach. Please elaborate on this point.
This may be a difference between teaching college and teaching first grade.
(first was my favorite grade to teach).
Linda
Ithaca, NY
Lee Love on fri 31 oct 03
On Fri, 29 Mar 1996 10:21:01 EST, Vince Pitelka wrote:
I took a look back at the archives...
>----------------------------Original message----------------------------
>Besides, Cornelius's statement may be irrelevant, because fine pots are
>fineart. That's based on 12,000 years of human history.
They have pushed the date of Jomon pots back to around 15,000 years ago.
I saw a show of Jomon and Yayoi pots at the national museum at Ueno park a
few years back. These are the first pots ever made by a human being.
There is no way to say these are not art.
> Western industrialized culture is the only one where art and
>craft are separated to such a degree and for such arbitrary
>and artificial reasons.
I agree.
--
Lee In Mashiko, Japan
http://Mashiko.org
Web Log (click on recent date):
http://www.livejournal.com/users/togeika/calendar
Hendrix, Taylor J. on sun 2 nov 03
Hey Lee,
They're pots too, right? :)
Taylor, in Waco
-----Original Message-----
From: Lee Love [mailto:Lee@MASHIKO.ORG]=20
Sent: Friday, October 31, 2003 8:42 AM
To: CLAYART@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG
Subject: Re: "If you can't make pots, make art."
...
They have pushed the date of Jomon pots back to around 15,000 years ago.
...
There is no way to say these are not art.
...
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