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clarification requested for 2005 calendar entries

updated tue 2 dec 03

 

Stephani Stephenson on sat 29 nov 03


L.P.Skeen wrote
"The only things I won't accept are mold-formed ware."

Lisa,
can you please clarify your statement, for those of us who approach
work in a variety of ways .

Can a piece have ANY mold formed components? such as press or sprig
molded parts attached to a handbuilt or wheel thrown piece?
Does this exclusion include pieces which have touched a mold in anyway ?
or does it refer to pieces which are entirely formed from a single mold?
Are you referring to slip cast pieces only?
What about pieces composed of parts pressed into slump or hump molds,
then cut and reassembled?
What about extruded pieces?
Is exclusion for 100% mold made? less than 50%?, 20%, 10%????

Of course I'd love it if you could entertain the idea of accepting
entry's from all of the group, not just some of the group, and select
pieces on individual merits of the piece. I think there is a lot of
work out here which cuts across boundaries, and is worthy of the
calendar. This seems like an old bias, an unnecessary wall, to me, in
the midst of the CLAYART community and it does single handedly
eliminate many of us from participating.
Real people create work using molds as part of the building process,
just as real people throw pots.

But it is your project, you do the work, and you do it well, so it is,
as you have said, and which I respect, your call.
But I would appreciate it if you could clarify, since some of us work
with a combination of forming methods.
sincerely
Stephani Stephenson
steph@alchemiestudio.com

L. P. Skeen on sun 30 nov 03


> But it is your project, you do the work, and you do it well, so it is, as
you have said, and which I respect, your call. But I would appreciate it if
you could clarify, since some of us work with a combination of forming
methods.

Thank you. Yes, it is my project, and the molded work bias is my personal
prejudice. I did put out the idea of doing a specialty calendar, ie: "I
love shino" calendar or "I love teapots" calendar. "I love molded ceramics"
could be a calendar too. Not many people seemed to like the idea of a
specialty calendar tho.

I will not get into an argument with anyone over what constitutes
hand-formed work. Again, this is my opinion. I prefer original, handbuilt
or wheel-thrown work. Molded and mass produced items are not what I want in
my calendar, and so I ask that folks who make moldware and jiggered forms
not to apply for inclusion.

There was one piece with sprigging on it in this year's calendar. It was a
collaboration between Don Goodrich and a friend of his. While I realize
that sprigs are made from molds, they are usually small decorative parts of
a larger piece, and if the larger piece was not mold formed or mass
produced, I don't consider the piece to be molded.

L

=?iso-8859-1?q?Marilu=20Tejero?= on sun 30 nov 03


Lisa, my work is handbuilt from paperclay I prepare myself, glazed and multifired. Each piece is unique. To obtain these results I combined techniques I learned in Textile Design and applied them to create an array of plaster moulds.

Please have a look at my site, specially the PIMACHI series.

This award winning piece was made last year in Santa Fe, NM.

http://www.ceramicleaguemiami.org/gallery










www.geocities.com/SoHo/Exhibit/3051/








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Bobbruch1@AOL.COM on mon 1 dec 03


I guess I can understand not wanting jiggered or slip cast production work,
although that rule against slip casting might eliminate a Notkin or Warishima
quality artist, which I think would be unfortunate. However, I have to agree
with Barbara, so I feel that if press molded pieces are not included, neither
should extruded or slab rolled pieces. Especially since most people, other
than David Hendley and one or two others on the list are not even making their
own extruders and dyes. And I doubt that many are building their own slab
rollers. So you are excluding work done with the aid of an artist produced tool
(press mold) in favor or tools that are purchased from a catalogue. Seems to be a
puzzling logic.

I am presently in a show with Pete Scherzer, a young and upcoming and very
talented thrower who was recently featured in CM. Pete is throwing some very
intricate plates & platters and adding a few cast parts. It would be a shame to
exclude people of that caliber from any venue. People under 30 may not have the
"purist" bias that those of us over 40 seem to have, going back to the 60's
when the only "real and pure" clay work was either 100 percent coil built, slab
constructed or thrown.

Bob Bruch


<<<<< Barbara Kobler
<<<<when I saw her posting felt I should. What do you mean by "I won't accept...
mold-formed ware". I use many different kinds of molds to supply support while
manipulating slabs. Sometimes I press or slip various parts or all of a mold to
alter and reassemble later. Sometimes I make my own molds. Sometimes I use a
commercial mold ordered from a catalog. Sometimes I have someone make a
custom mold for me from my own original art. Sometimes I use a bamboo curtain or
poly styrofoam or rubber latex or concrete and aggregate or a sand mold.
Sometimes even plain ol' plaster. Sometimes I even have works of art that have no
mold components at all. Like Stephani I am somewhat perplexed by the
restriction when the calendar is all encompassing. I don't see how mold formed
components are of a lesser value than those which are not. Could you visit my
website and tell me, based upon your restriction, which pieces would not be
acceptable? If the restriction was limited to a particular type of clay work for
example: only wheel thrown or only raku pit and saggar, or handbuilt, or bowls
or functional, etc. I could unders

tand. But this restriction just sounds denigrating to any clay artist who
uses a mold no matter how it is used. If this post sounds like I'm a little
ticked off it's cause I am. I just didn't expect that type of prejudging
condemnation of a person's work. Barbara

-----------------------------

L. P. Skeen on mon 1 dec 03


People under 30 may not have the "purist" bias that those of us over 40 seem
to have, going back to the 60's
> when the only "real and pure" clay work was either 100 percent coil built,
slab constructed or thrown.

Hehheh....are you saying I"m showing my age?

L

Snail Scott on mon 1 dec 03


At 11:35 AM 11/30/03 -0500, you wrote:
>Molded and mass produced items are not what I want in
>my calendar...


We did go through this last time, but while I do
respect Lisa's right to control her own project,
I feel a need to point out that mold-formed and
mass-produced are far from synonymous concepts.
Molds may be used to produce unique, original,
one-off pieces. Throwing, slab-forming, coil-
building, etc, are all useful fabrication methods,
but when slip-casting and press-molding are added
to that repertoire, the range of possible forms
is greatly expanded.

I presume that when most people say 'molded', they
are thinking of work made from purchased slip-
casting molds, perhaps executed with a personal
twist or two, but still essentially producing a
form conceived of by others.

This is a far cry from mold-made work in which the
mold is taken from the artists's own pattern, NOT
to replicate an existing finished piece, but as a
tool to produce work that would be impracticable
by other means.

Surely such work is more 'original' by any standard
than a piece of production pottery which is thrown
(by hand) to duplicate hundreds of other pots, and
designed to follow a long-standing traditional form.
Now that IS mass-production, no? And could it truly
be termed 'original'?

Hand-forming from scratch is no guarantee of
originality or uniqueness, any more than mold-
forming is proof of its opposite.

To say that work made from molds is not capable of
originality and uniqueness is to cleave to a very
narrow vision of how molds may be used. Both Adrian
Saxe and Nan Smith use molds as an integral part of
their working method, but each piece they make is
unique, original, and not truly reproducible even
if they desired to.

I am not arguing with Lisa's decision; it is her
prerogative to define her own project. But, I
don't wish for the implied equivalency of mold-
forming and mass-production to go unconsidered.

-Snail

L. P. Skeen on mon 1 dec 03


----- Original Message -----
From: "Marie Gibbons"

> i think maybe too much information gets too complicated. original works in
clay, functional, non-functional, non production work You are the juror,
there are only so many spots, you are not charging an
> entry fee correct?
> so, as the juror you then curate the 'show'

Thanks Marie,
No, there's no entry fee at all. As I told mel, this debate of handmade vs.
mold made comes up at least once a year; it's come up once this year
already, and it will come up again every year when I publish the calendar
guidelines. C'est la vie.

L

Barbara Kobler on mon 1 dec 03


I am echoing Stephani's request. I wasn't going to say anything but when I saw her posting felt I should. What do you mean by "I won't accept... mold-formed ware". I use many different kinds of molds to supply support while manipulating slabs. Sometimes I press or slip various parts or all of a mold to alter and reassemble later. Sometimes I make my own molds. Sometimes I use a commercial mold ordered from a catalog. Sometimes I have someone make a custom mold for me from my own original art. Sometimes I use a bamboo curtain or poly styrofoam or rubber latex or concrete and aggregate or a sand mold. Sometimes even plain ol' plaster. Sometimes I even have works of art that have no mold components at all. Like Stephani I am somewhat perplexed by the restriction when the calendar is all encompassing. I don't see how mold formed components are of a lesser value than those which are not. Could you visit my website and tell me, based upon your restriction, which pieces would not be acceptable? If the restriction was limited to a particular type of clay work for example: only wheel thrown or only raku pit and saggar, or handbuilt, or bowls or functional, etc. I could unders

tand. But this restriction just sounds denigrating to any clay artist who uses a mold no matter how it is used. If this post sounds like I'm a little ticked off it's cause I am. I just didn't expect that type of prejudging condemnation of a person's work. Barbara