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jap. aesthetics

updated tue 15 jun 99

 

elise pincu on mon 14 jun 99

Hi Ray and all watching...

Ray, you completely misunderstood my point. I by no
means think Americans should take on Japanese
aethetics and i by no means think Japanese aesthetics
are better than ours. Like i said, we cannot have
thier aesthetics without much study because we were
not raised in their culture. What I am saying is that
the Japanese people seem to care about having art in
their daily lives more than most Americans. At each
meal both hand-made and mass-produced ceramics are
used, (and as someone posted in a previous message,
the ceramic dishes are held up to the mouth rather
than untouched like in America.)

I think we should educate ourselves and our fellow
Americans about using art in daily living. From
having a group of ceramic wares for the kitchen table,
both mass-produced and hand-made, to taking time to
wrap our lunches with love and care.

Selling ceramics is finding an audience. Everyone has
their own style or may choose to fit a certain craft
style such as Mingei. Just think what could come of
having all of America as an audience of various
ceramic art styles rather than what we have now with a
few Americans as our audience.


(snip)

>
>Japanese aesthetics is something we as Americans can
>study, and perhaps understand individually. However,
>we did not grow up in their culture and so their
>aesthetics don't come naturally to us. It is not
that
>AMericans should study Japanese aesthetics to have
>them. But we should study the importance that the
>Japanese put on objects used everyday. From wrapping
>a cookie with love to show the specialness of that
>cookie to choosing a specific ceramic dish for a
>specific food. This part of their culture is
>something I believe we all should learn. And if
>Americans had this quality, we potter's would be
>respected more like Japanese potters. And sales
would
>climb sky high!!!
>
>

But would this then mean that American potters would
also have to adopt
Japanese styles in order to sell? It's my
understanding that few
American
potters are held in high regard in Japan.

Frankly, I prefer the best American potters' work to
that of the best
Japanese potters. Does that mean that my esthetic is
therefore
inferior to
the typical Japanese person's?

Just wondering.

Ray

===
Pincu Pottery
Funktional Ceramic Art
http://www.basic-learning.com/pincupottery/
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