I fired the kiln yesterday, a very full load and a combination of functional and sculptural wares. I’m not sure how much I’ll end up liking by the time finishes are applied. I had some problems with the terra sig flaking off of a number of the pieces. I’m guessing this was on account of the very tight surface of the clay, Steve’s White, I’ve been using. This occurred on all of the 10 cups in the firing which I had high hopes for. I’ll redo them in a few weeks, after which time I hope to have built my very own kickwheel.

I’ve been thinking about building a wheel for a while now, but couldn’t figure out how to make the flywheel. For some reason I assumed these were fabricated out of stone. I finally found some instructions online, from 1970, saying to cast it out of concrete. Why I didn’t think of this earlier is beyond me; just last month I cast a small base of concrete for a future wood sculpture.

I also retain high hopes for these little guys:

They will be glazed on the bottom (not in the photo) and smoked on their sides. I don’t yet know exactly how they will be displayed, but they are intended to hang from something, somewhere. I call them funnels only because I followed them up with some tornadic forms — although neither of the forms were consciously meant to represent tornadoes when I began them, curiously enough.

Some mild frustration beset me this afternoon as I unloaded the kiln and commenced work on some line blends. This relates back to the very limited time I have to be pursuing ceramics, although I have more hours now than six months ago. When I graduated with my BFA in studio art, I figured I’d make a living as a graphic artist. Actually pursuing sculpture or pottery as a career wasn’t on my radar. Over the last couple of years I’ve warmed, perhaps I’ve been divinely wooed into considering this more.

But it’s a tricky step of faith, living off of proceeds from your artwork — when you’ve never really sold any of it up to now. My ideal life at this point in time would be to work half-time for the mission mobilizing ministry I’ve been with for almost five years now (I’m really enjoying the new project we’re working on), and be half-time in pursuing ceramics. I don’t know how this can happen financially though.

One idea that’s worth looking into a little further attempts to combine and monetize both my and my wife’s creative interests. This notion involves some kind of storefront, will probably require start-up capital we don’t have and would only work financially in the long-term if we were able to live and work out of the same space.

We’ll see where that goes, if anywhere.

It revolves, but I wouldn’t refer to it as revolutionary.

Florence based architect David Fisher’s novel idea for a skyscraper leaves me scratching my scalp. The structure will be constructed by factories in Italy, already gearing up for the project, as pods which will be transported to Dubai. Authorities in Dubai haven’t yet signed off on the deal according to The Independent, nor has financing been firmed up. Says the architect:

Today’s life is dynamic, so the space we are living in should be dynamic as well. Buildings will follow rhythms of nature. They will change direction and shape from spring to summer, from sunrise to sunset, and adjust themselves to the weather. In other words, buildings will be alive.

I admire the man’s desire to think outside of the box, but this project isn’t anything more than gimmicky in my opinion. I like it as sculpture, but as a building it seems to placate an impatient, technology saturated culture. Actually living in the thing — it’s being built as condos — seems impractical.

For instance, what happens if I want to watch the sunset from my 40th floor home? Will I have to walk along the outside wall as my floor turns in order to see the clouds change colors? What if there are interior walls that go clear to the exterior wall and I can’t stroll along like I want to? Can I turn the revolving feature off?

One idea I like in this project is the plan to put wind driven turbines in between each floor to generate energy. I’m worried about possible noise from such a feature, but a self-sufficient building is a good design to pursue on this scale. Solar panels will also be used on the “roof,” although I can’t tell where the roof is on the morphing tower.

I suppose, however, I’m not the target market for this kind of dwelling anyway. I’m confident it will be way out of my budget, and moving to the desert isn’t something I plan to do on purpose either.

After my last clarifying post, I hesitate to use the phrase “Abstract Answer” in my title. But since this is continuing the same series I’m going to roll with it for now. I may change all of the titles, if I decide how, for this series in the future.

From the discourse between Tim Jones and myself this week, “I think the problem is not that the abstractionists think too highly of decorative art, but that they think of it not near highly enough.” Interestingly enough, I was having very similar thoughts in relationship to our banter.

What is decorative art?
In one of the later comments from this week, the Old World Swine author gives the basis for his understanding of decoration:

“decor… 1897, from Fr. décor, from L. decor “beauty, elegance,” from decere (see decorate).”

Above from the Online Etymology Dictionary, etymonline.com

In my post in this series titled Baseline banter I charted out how some different tactile arts fall along the lines of the art vs. craft debate. Wikipedia — and yes, I still respect this resource even though they didn’t get it right with the abstract vs. non-representational understanding — describes decorative art almost exactly like my graph defines the crafts. This was a bit of a surprise to me at first glance, but after a few seconds it seemed reasonable.

Jones now firmly believes that all non-representational artwork should be classified as decorative art. The following points examine this idea.

Labeling
There is a problem, off-hand, with labeling non-representational artists’ work as decorative. It implies, whether intended or not, that they are not as serious as other artists. This is a complex issue I probably don’t have the time or room to get into fully, but it’s there. It harkens back to the eternally elusive definition of art itself. For instance, where does one, along the above graph, begin referring to something as a craft instead of as an art? Do the arts/crafts in the middle of the chart get called both? Are all of them both to a certain degree so that it doesn’t matter what we call them?

In truth each of the above contains both art and craft, and the more I think about these things the less I care about what things are called, despite my keen and continuing interest in this conversation. Some people create beautiful and meaningful paintings, some create beautiful and functional furniture. My hope is that each of these craftsman thoroughly enjoy what they are presently involved with.

I may be a bit of an oddball anyway. I enjoy designing and building furniture or sketching floor plans as much as I enjoy attempting to be a part of the gallery art world. Hence, this blog aims to examine this same range of tactility.

Intention
This may be a trickier point still, and one that hits a little closer to home for me. Jones says the following in a comment on Aesthetic Escalator: (more…)

Er, clarification, let’s hope.

Let me clarify something I previously mentioned in this series. There has been some semantic confusion between Jones and I in the midst of our banter. This may be largely my fault, as I often use the terms abstract and non-representational interchangeably. Such goes against my own intention to communicate as clearly as possible. It’s little surprise that I do this, however; even Wikipedia and Dictionary.com are confused on this point, equating “abstract” and “non-representational.” Connotatively, abstract in the context of art means the same thing as non-representational.

With this in mind, a better definition for the clearest possible conversation among artists is the following from Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary:

The act or process of leaving out of consideration one or more properties of a complex object so as to attend to others . . .

To further complicate matters, Jones refers to non-representational artwork as “non-objective.” They are essentially synonyms, but the latter isn’t a word I knew of until we began (more than a year ago now) this discourse. He explained his use of the phrase non-objective to me at some point in the past, but I was not remembering the explanation when I needed to this week.

I will now provide an example of an abstract work of art:

And an example of a non-representational, or non-objective, work of art:

Koons’ sculpture still looks like tulips, even though they are highly stylized, and sans stems. It is abstracted. Fujimura’s painting does not contain any recognizable objects and is therefore non-representational or non-objective.

Abstract and non-representational are different. They need to be kept different if we, as a culture, are going to be able to speak intelligently and clearly about the arts.

Yesterday I also decided I should be tracking with a few ceramic blogs, so I nosed around for these via Google as well. I already read Conscious, and occasionally organized, ramblings written by a ceramics professor at Wheaton University in Illinois.

In the midst of looking for other such blogs I found Emily Murphy’s blog. Murphy authored four posts specifically about other clay blogs:

Tour of blogs about pottery & ceramics
Tour of blogs about pottery & ceramics (Part 2)
Tour of blogs about pottery & ceramics (Part 3)
A semi-complete tour of ceramics blogs (Part 4)

Parts one through three are easier to stomach. The lists are shorter and include a brief description with photo. Part four is just one looooong list. I’ve looked through each post, but up to this point haven’t come across any new reading material just yet. I’m searching specifically for blogs that talk about, at least some of the time, sculptural ceramics as opposed to just pottery. A few have been interesting regardless. One posted a number of glaze recipes; another talked about barrel firing. But up to this point, no current, regularly posted on site appears to deal mostly with sculptural work.

I’ll keep looking. As I recall, Murphy lists in all 63 different websites. I might have opened twelve of them so far. I’ll add too that Emily’s own blog, while focusing (from what I tell at a quick glance) on pots, is as interesting as any of them. From what I can tell she lives in Colorado and does a lot of soda firing. Her finishes are wonderful, and there is a section in her gallery called “wall pieces.” The link to that page is broken, but I found a recent post with new work including some of these hanging sculptures.

I ended the Semantic shakedown with a paragraph noting that “I’ve come to realize that part of the misunderstanding between Jones and I lies in the very different physical qualities and historical aspects of the media we work in.” Of course, he may not think this, but he doesn’t have to for it to be true on my end.

As I thought about this more, I devised a graph that elaborates on one part of these differences, their relationship to function, or craft.

This image makes use, in part, of my own knowledge of historical aspects of these art forms. This chart is by no means concrete or comprehensive, but it helped me along in my consideration of differing baselines among artists.

With respect to historical qualities
Painting is usually the finest of the fine arts in the context of the art world. Sculpture may be more elite, in a sense, but I’ve put it closer to “Craft” on the above graph because it isn’t usually as accessible to the general public as works that hang on a wall. Further, some of the materials used in sculpture are more closely tied to functional applications.

Ceramics is farther down the the list, being strongly rooted in the crafts. Sure, clay has been used as a sculptural medium for millennia, but when people think of it they think of thrown vessels: Water pots, beer steins and rice bowls. I am undoubtedly drawn towards clay over paint, to three-dimensional media over two-dimensional (which is why, when I do dabble with the brush — or knife, as it were — and board, my strokes emulate those of Wayne Thiebaud). The history that comes along with my three-dimensional media of choice, clay, absolutely plays a role in how I approach my work and think about the arts.

With respect to physical qualities
It goes without saying that paint and clay are very different materials. The differing palpable qualities of common artistic media, I’ve realized this week, probably play a significant role in an artist’s work and philosophy. Yes, I’ve used a brush and canvas, but I’m naturally drawn to three-dimensional materials such as clay and wood. Something in my brain is predisposed to working with my hands in this way, working around a medium.

Another observation, carving on wood or modeling clay us usually a more physical act than mixing and applying paint. When I’m working with clay I’m kneading, pounding and rolling before getting into the details. Cajoling blocks of wood or stone into new forms is even more muscular. This is part of what I enjoy about these media though. I’ve always been a pretty active bloke, and these kinds of physical exertion are more important after sitting behind a desk at my “day job.”

Process over product
One final note which may be a bit tangential to baselines, but is in my notes.

I first heard the phrase “Process over product” some 10 years ago as an art student. Where it was cited back then, the quote was attributed to da Vinci. It resonated with me immediately. Perhaps this was, at least in part, related to my position as a student, where part of the job of learning in the arts is exploring a variety of media. But the desire to see how things work, to see how far I can push something and to explore new techniques sticks with me.

This is not to say that I’m uninterested in the finished product. I am very interested in creating bodies of work that are significant in relationship to my own personal and artistic philosophies. But if I have to throw a few things in the garbage along the way I’m not going to cry about it. I value the process.

In essence, two-dimensional and three-dimensional artists probably work from very different physical and mental baselines. Each media, if an artist works mainly with a particular one, contains a unique history as well as modern connotative “baggage,” so to speak, that influences how an artist approaches his or her pieces. This may be conscious or subconscious; it may bear a positive or negative result in a painting or print or sculpture.

But it’s there.

This is a bit different wall-hanging. I like it, but am not exactly excited about it’s similarity to the cliched images of a sun. The circle is roughly eight inches in circumference. The center is a brownstone clay with terra sig and a celadon glaze.

Some older news items, but still worth noting.

“Blessed are the peacemakers.” Two of the top dogs in Al-Qaida disagree on the use of jihad. One of them, an architect of the terrorist group’s present incarnation, recently changed his stance on the use of force.

I don’t know much about her, but Rachel Ray is not a terrorist. And Dunkn’ Donuts should be ashamed of themselves for pulling this ad based on such tangential circumstances. Heard this first on ABC World News, saw it again today on Iconia.

London rejects donation of $2.5 million sculpture. Apparently they “felt there were no suitable sites currently available for such a large and dominating sculpture.” I would generally encourage creation of suitable sites for respectable, donated artworks. Couldn’t the Westminster Council have found a generous land-owner to donate a parcel for a park to place the behemoth upon? I’m not personally that fond of the angular steel piece, but it seems to be worth considering.

I finished up a number of small works this weekend. Here’s a gallery of the works; as before, click on the thumbnails for larger images.

I’m satisfied with the way most of these turned out. I’ve been waffling on how to mount and present these small ceramic works since firing them. Part of me wants them to stand alone — and some of them will — but at the same time a number of them just don’t seem comfortable or finished to me by themselves. This may also be a subconscious desire to mix media. Contrast is a significant interest of mine and I do this in part through the mixing of media.

The one small piece, it’s about 5-6 inches tall, that I’m not sure of is the orange one mounted on a rock that I found in an alley. On the two darkest wall-hung works the thickly applied acrylic paint on the board bubbled as it dried. I usually do this with oils and have no problem. I used acrylic from my small box of paints because it dries so much more quickly and the colors were more like what I was after.

To reiterate, these forms are inspired by my years of observing storm clouds on the prairie. I’m also working with an idea of creating a modern icon, an idea that’s been simmering in my mind in some form or fashion for nearly a decade now but has yet to put down roots. Thirdly, as always, I’m aiming for what seems to me beautiful forms and surfaces. I don’t feel the need to infuse meaning, symbolism, irony — although these are all good things — into every sculpture.

I’m jonesing to actually go photographing storms. There have been a few decent ones nearby in the last week, but I was without a car and there are just so few good places in these hills and trees to observe them. I’d like to do some ink and brush drawings en plein air as well if I can catch a good thunderstorm this summer, and being able to sculpt while watching one would be even better.

We’ll see if I can make that happen.

Heinz is trying to breed sweeter tomato. Even though I don’t really like tomatoes, as an amateur foodie this story interests me. The rising cost of corn syrup prompted this ketchup producer to aim for a sweeter tomato. Um, ever heard of sugar Heinz, or sugar-free? Corn syrup isn’t really good for us anyway. And, in truth, the best foods are always corn syrup free.

The Denver International Airport finally installed a sculpture it’s been waiting for for more than ten years. ParentDish appropriately labeled the beast an apocalyptic My Little Pony. The large blue mustang has red eyes that light up at night. The delayed installation is partly on account of the artist being killed by a section of the sculpture as he was creating it. Apocalyptic indeed.