Jonathan Kaplan on mon 15 dec 97
I'm not sure I've been following this signing thread with utmost diligence,
but I don't understand what the issues are. Perhaps I am not seeing the
crux of the issue but...
For me, the issue is not how you sign it or what techniques you use to
enable you to put a mark on the piece. Or if your choose not to sign it at
all as some do. I have always held that my work is an extension of me, it
is my gift to others, and yes, I do choose to sign all my work in a variety
of ways. Signing my work be it my studio lines or my art work gives further
validity to the work and to myself as an artist and a craftsperson.
If ever noticed, mostly all factory ceramic work is "signed." The
difference is that it is basically generic. I think that as the designer
and maker of my pots, my signature, my chop, my stamps, any dating or other
information I place on the piece enhances, validates, and affirms my work
as my own and no one else's.
And these choices are only a few of the hundreds, if not thousands of
choices both aesthetic, spriritual, emotional, and intellectual that we
make as artists and crafspeople. Ascribing function and beauty to everyday
objects and in our everyday worlds is, IMHO, part of the incredible gift
that we have as visual people and makers of objects. So if the choice is to
place your mark on the piece, for me, it is further enhancement of the
work. If not, it is again a statement about the work that enhances its
quality also.
I started signing and dating my work when I started making pots in 1967
with a simple scrawl in the wet clay. Now, my work is still either signed
and dated by me or stamped "handmade CDG 1997" with small metal stamps. In
fact, I received a notice in 1989 that some of my early work had shown up
at an estate auction in Pennsylvania. The autction notice indicated
"assorted handmade ceramics, Jonathan Kaplan Stoneware circa 1978-1980." I
was told that the entire lot was purchased by a collector. So go figure!!
Jonathan
Jonathan Kaplan http://www.sni.net/ceramicdesign/
http://www.ceramicsoftware.com/education/clay/kaplan1.htm
jonathan@csn.net
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Bryan Hannis on tue 16 dec 97
Hi Folks
If we were flat artists we would not be having this discussion. If you
want to sign your pots sign them and tell others to stuff it, this is
your pot and your creation and no one has any right to tell u what to do
with it.
Bryan
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