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art or craft

updated thu 9 jun 05

 

Harrington on mon 30 sep 02


I'm trained as a sculptor, and have been watching the art/craft
discussion, and often go over it with my husband, trained as a painter.
I was taught that anything not made of bronze is craft, and therefore
not art. Well, now that I've started making pottery, things have
changed. I think your piece is art, but then again, I now think that
anytime anyone makes anything and puts his/her heart/self/time/skill
into it is making art. My pots are art to me, because I am an artist in
my heart. My husband disagrees, but we have plenty of time to work on him!

Lisa

BVCuma wrote:
>
> Work in progress...
>
> http://www.geocities.com/bvcuma/index10.html?1033413294140
>
> ______________________________________________________________________________
> Send postings to clayart@lsv.ceramics.org
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BVCuma on tue 1 oct 02


Work in progress...

http://www.geocities.com/bvcuma/index10.html?1033413294140

Philip Poburka on wed 2 oct 02


Brilliant!

Oh...wow...

"Yes"!

I had missed it the other day...

Very cool...

Twangs several things in me...

I may say...to me, among which, there is a reminescence in
the apprehension of this Work...of the negotiations afoot as
when one elect the womb of impending host(ess) for
realization (so to speak) of one's Human Form...

The negotiation 'from above', to thence circle as one
may...and there is the reciprocal 'deal' as is
reached...how-so-ever Honored afterwards...some more wan or
more vigourous or more tender or sublime or even
exuberant...than others.

This one...strong and vigourous...strong chatacters each...a
'serious' of 'deal'!

For me...that got 'twanged'...

Glad you let me see these!

I like them very much.

Phil
Las Vegas






----- Original Message -----
From: "BVCuma"
To:
Sent: Monday, September 30, 2002 12:21 PM
Subject: Art or Craft


Work in progress...

http://www.geocities.com/bvcuma/index10.html?1033413294140

____________________________________________________________
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Brooke Fine on wed 8 jun 05


Even the Wall Street Journal has an opinion on this. Here is an article
from the WSJ.
The World of Ceramics Is
Being Reshaped

By KAREN MAZURKEWICH
June 8, 2005

Icheon, South Korea

Swiss ceramicist Philippe Barde wanted to make a statement about asymmetry
of the face. By fusing together similar, but distinctly different porcelain
bowls, he wanted to show that the duality of human nature lies in the fact
that right and left profiles are not simply mirror images. The jurors of the=

3rd World Ceramic Biennale 2005 Korea, which runs through June 19, were
unanimous in their decision to award his installation the Grand Prize;
however, by doing so, they inadvertently reignited a debate that has long
obsessed ceramicists: Is it art or is it craft?

The world of ceramics is being reshaped -- literally. Countries with little
tradition in the craft -- Switzerland, Norway, Belgium and Finland -- are
moving into territory once dominated by Japan, Germany and the U.S. Nowhere
is this more evident than in Icheon, where the world's largest ceramic
exposition is now being held. But this globalization trend is also
polarizing the ceramic world as traditionalists move away from functional
ware -- such as teapots and bowls -- and embrace sculpture. By entering his
expressionist piece into the functional ware category in the biennale, Mr.
Barde was taunting jurors and visitors alike to question whether conceptual
ceramicists should be lumped together with potters.
[At the 3rd World Ceramic Biennale 2005 Shida Kuo's untitled work shows that=

traditionalists are turning from functional ware and using the medium to
produce sculpture.]
At the 3rd World Ceramic Biennale 2005 Shida Kuo's untitled work shows that
traditionalists are turning from functional ware and using the medium to
produce sculpture.



The level of debate here did not surprise British artist and curator Edmund
de Waal. "Ceramicists have a massive insecurity complex," he says. "The
anxiety comes because they want to be taken seriously by fine-art critics."

Gallery owner Garth Clark blames founders of the contemporary movement in
the West -- people like Bernard Leach, who priced his ceramics so low they
were competing with industrial dinnerware. While artists with the stature of=

Pablo Picasso and Joan Mir=F3 created sculptural works in clay during the
1940s and 1950s, the best works by American masters Ken Price and Peter
Voulkos, who emerged in the 1960s and 1970s, sell for just $180,000 -- a
fraction of the prices achieved by contemporary painters like Jeff Koons.
Even art institutes seem embarrassed by the medium. Take the American Craft
Museum in New York. Three years ago, it changed its name to the Museum of
Arts and Design -- a signal that it wanted to distance itself from a label
that's often associated with hippies.

But the story is different in South Korea. Instead of shedding its past, the=

nation is bent on reclaiming its place as the epicenter of ceramic
production -- a position it lost after years of Japanese colonization and
military dictatorships. Over six years, the government has invested $85
million to build three new museums and injected millions more -- including
$12 million in 2005 -- to host this biennale. This year, the competitive
portion of the exposition features 190 artists from 32 countries and offers
total cash prizes of $216,000. But its influence is not only due to its
size; it's the scope that matters.

When the biennale was launched six years ago, visitors were shocked at the
inclusion of abstract sculpture, says curator Kang Jae Young. "They asked:
'Ceramics is not just about vessels?'" But now they've come to expect more
difficult expressionist work, she says.

Given its druthers, the South Korean government would have probably focused
on promoting its traditionalists -- artists like Huh Sang Wook, who is
devoted to tweaking the 500-year-old white glazing tradition known as
Puchong ware. But to their credit, Ms. Kang and others pushed the envelope
this year by showcasing innovative works from countries with no history in
the ceramics field -- only a great tradition of design. Take Finnish artist
Kim Simonsson. He's not looking to the Ming dynasty for inspiration.
Instead, his bone-white sculptures are heavily influenced by comics and
animation -- the characters look like they've stepped out of an anime action=

series from Japan. Also featured is Denmark's Claus Domine Hansen with an
eerie installation titled "Fossils." The piece shows how everyday objects,
such as a key ring and computer mouse, can look like fossilized remains when=

recreated in porcelain. It's a spooky insight into how an archaeologist
might view our culture 1,000 years from now.

THE 3RD WORLD CERAMIC
BIENNALE 2005 KOREA
Icheon, South Korea
Through June 19




"The fact that [Norway] has no tradition in ceramics is a great starting
point," says Norwegian ceramicist Ole Lislerud, who was giving a lecture at
the biennale. "I think ceramic art will blossom this century, but it will be=

large outdoor sculptures and architecture that will make the breakthrough,"
he says. Definitely not pots.

Mr. Lislerud became a local celebrity of sorts for a sculpture that now
graces the Supreme Court in Oslo -- the Norwegian and old Norse law codes
and the constitution etched into tall columns -- and his controversial "God
Is a Woman" installation now decorating the entrance of the Faculty of
Divinity at Oslo University. He thinks curators need to be more courageous
when selecting art for prestigious shows: "There should be no discussion at
all that the pot is art."

Mr. Lislerud has found an unlikely ally in South Korea, where artists
steeped in tradition are starting to shrug off the past. Shin Sangho spent
years crafting beautiful celadon ware before switching to making totemic
sculptures. Now he's trying to create a form of durable "fired painting"
tile that will be used to encase the exterior of a new ceramics museum under=

construction in the South Korean city of Gimhae -- a project that will "help=

bring architecture and ceramics together," he says. Mr. Shin also believes
the future is in buildings, not bowls.

"Now architects are trying to find new building materials to work with,"
says Mr. Shin. "This is our chance to find an avenue where ceramics can grow=
."

But the salvation for this craft may simply fall to market forces.
Contemporary painting is now so prohibitively expensive that collectors are
turning to more-affordable art forms. "If you look back 30-40 years,
photographers were in the same jam as ceramics is now," says Mr. de Waal.
"It was a world based on insider knowledge and technique. But now
photography is part of the fine-art world...and if we work hard there's no
reason we can't be in the same place."

Lee Love on thu 9 jun 05


Brooke Fine wrote:

>Even the Wall Street Journal has an opinion on this. Here is an article
>from the WSJ.
>The World of Ceramics Is
>Being Reshaped
>
>

Doesn't it make sense that the Wall Street Journal judges art by the
price tag and not aesthetics?

I hope were are simply in a "Blip" as Vince mentioned. But I wouldn't
put any money on it. The future may be in the hands of other cultures.

--
李 Lee Love 大
愛      鱗
in Mashiko, Japan http://mashiko.org
http://hankos.blogspot.com/ Visual Bookmarks
http://ikiru.blogspot.com/ Zen and Craft

"With Humans it's what's here (he points to his heart) that makes the difference. If you don't have it in the heart, nothing you make will make a difference." ~~Bernard Leach~~ (As told to Dean Schwarz)