Canadian Clay Symposium Diversity in Clay Clary Mien tart continwed Trilling's book, The Language af Orna- ment and found in it his comprehensive list of paired qualities which can serve as a starting point for discussing the layers of visual information in omament. With some adaptation to make them appli- cable to ceramics, here they are: move- Men Versus Stasis, prace Versus strength, simplicity versus complexity, stylization versus literalism, virtuosity versus trath to materials, and integration of the parts ver- sus domination of the parts. He alse lists pairs, which have to do with context by which he means the cultural pressures, which create the history of a craft. These Pairs are: tradition versus innovation, in- novahion versus utility, and the maker's fulfillment versus market demands. Asking how tenstons between these pairs of opposites are resolved in any given ceramic object can begin to peel back the layers of information and the relationships of the layers one to another. [ doubt, how- ever, that they can act as @ formula for success for the potter alone in his or her studio with a wedged lump of clay. They are the questions, not the answers, Moder potters have the advantage of look- ing back through the whole history of ceramics and the entire production of their peers forimspiration, Our technical knowl- edge and the availability of dependable materials enable us to get up on our feet and running toward @ viable career in cerumics in fairly short order. Burt these advantages also are the source of our great est challenge — that of authenticity — a grounded expression that comes from a deeper place than facile recombinations of formal clements and passing fads, This 1s an aside, but | would like to suggest that the maker's intentions are only one layer of the visual information in a pot It's dicey teritory because it requires know!l- edge of cultural context for interpretation and judgement. But surely, scale, volume, and utilitarian features such as spouts, handles and the proffered volume c#n in- vite or repel use, and let the viewer know how the pot isto be placed relative to other objects of similar kind. A mug tells a different story from a china teacup and saucer, or from a cup form used as a springboard for a modem art message. Tn her short but provocative book entitled On Beauty and Being Just Elaine Scary has chosen to meet the issue of beauty head on, but she discussed only the half of the study of aesthetics which deals with the psychological response to beaury. She says, “Beauty brings copies of itself into being. We want to replicate it, to trace it over and over again with mind, hand, and word.” Surely all potters have experienced this desire, We are, after all, only craftspeople, and can indulge ourselves by responding with faithful copies, or with throwing matched shapes. According to Scary, beauty “prompts the mind to move chronologically back in the search for precedents and parallels, to move forward into new acts of creation, to move conceptually over, to bring things int relation.” [n other words, beauty starts the impulse to education and shows the way to proceed towards its expression. It is hard to keep in mind the difference between beauty or excellence as attributes in the mind and beauty or excellence as attributes adhering out there in the things of the world. We want to say thet one implies the other and that is where we get into trouble. What about the time when we feel the psychological impact of beauty. but we are wrong? The person, who is having a moving moment with a piece of kitsch, is probably feeling it mo less than the connoisseur of a Sung Dynasty pot. Scary deals with this, pointing towards confusions of logical class. One can expe- nence beauty and offer explanations forits affect instance by instance, not as a class. Furthermore, cultural context trains us to construct notions about the class of beauty as a whole and then compare individual objects with that construct. In this way we erect a acreen berween ourselves and ex- perience and consequently commit errors of both omission and inclusion. Our job as people who work with clay is to be entirely present, preparing ourselves for the Gao Lian moment when the “heart beats faster and the imagination soars.” Clary [Mian Potters Guild of British Columbia Newsletter Fired Up! Contemporary Works in Clay Saturday May 25 and Sunday May 26 10:(MAM-5:00PM Eighteenth annual exhibition and sale by fourteen of Canada’s finest potters, high- lighting original works by Larry Aguilar, Alan Burgess, Meg Burgess, Mary Fox, Mas Puno, Sue Hara, Gordon Hutchens, Glenys Marshall-Inman, Cathi Jefferson, Susan LePoidevin, D’Any Margessom, Meira Matheson, Kinichi Shigeno, and Pat Webber. Susan LePoidevin Kilnewatr Chapel! D001 sawdust-fired sculpture mix The feature this year is Lip & Conting with work by four of Emily Carr Institute's graduating students. Metchosin Commu- nity Hall, 4401 William Head Road, Vie- toria, BC. Admission is free. Information 250.474, 3991, Glenys Marshall. Inman Fantastical Bind 200] smoked earthenware with metal additeons A Western Ceramic Experience Rocky Min foothills, Alberta, Canada 6-day intensive course. July 28-August 3. Fire a 3-chamber Japanese climbing kiln. Isolation, wildlife, beauty, woodsmoke. John Chalke: Ceramic Modernism Lucie Rie, Hans Coper & their Legacy Gardiner Museum of Ceramic Ant May 23-Sept 2 Symposium, May 26 Information contact Gardiner Museum in Toronte, May 2002