[Clayart] the art scene

[Vince Pitelka]

Gregg Lindsey wrote:
If you are after making art, it seems to me you are after fame and maybe money. All things of the ego.  Look at me! Aren't I great!  Good art is ego-less, it appears, it attracts, and it has duration. It needs no introduction or explanation, and it is instantly recognizable, sometimes centuries after completion.

Dear Gregg - 
AAARRRGGGHHH!  This just muddies the water.  Why must we so often add to the confusion rather than adding to the clarity when it comes to the understanding of art and craft?  There is no distinction except that one is functional, used in our everyday lives (or at least has the potential to be).  Why not set out to make art?  What could possibly be wrong with that?  There is nothing special or lofty about making fine art.  You set out to do it, and either you succeed or you don't.  Everyone should try.  It's good for the mind and body.  And of course it is good for the ego if you succeed, but in the process it is usually an incredibly humbling experience.  The ones who are cursed with excess of ego are the ones who make bad art and think they have made really good art.  There are plenty of those out there in the world, and it is up to each of us to determine what is good art and what is bad.  It is a purely subjective individual choice, and don't ever let anyone else tell you what is good art and what is bad.  Sure, learn a lot about art of the past and present, because it is fascinating stuff, and it helps us to be more discerning in deciding what is good art and what is bad.  

Oh yeah, I could go on and on with this.
- Vince

Vince Pitelka, 
Professor Emeritus, Appalachian Center for Craft, 
School of Art, Craft & Design, Tennessee Tech University, 
Now residing Chapel Hill, NC 27516, 
vpitelka at dtccom.net, 
www.vincepitelka.com


-----Original Message-----
From: Clayart [mailto:clayart-bounces at lists.clayartworld.com] On Behalf Of Gregg Lindsley
Sent: Tuesday, September 24, 2019 12:57 PM
To: Clayart <clayart at lists.clayartworld.com>
Subject: [Clayart] the art scene

daivd! I am with you. I make a very good living making and selling functional pots.
As to sculpture and making a living,  the factors involved in having some one purchase your art are as numerous as the stars in the sky.  If you are making art, sales depend upon a whole host of factors, few of which are in your control. Time, place and circumstance play a large part of what people will pay for. there is no accounting for taste, as taste is individual and irrational. Often makers will catch fire with an item, a sculpture, (a song), and it will go great guns until the market is saturated for it and/or tastes change. A small measure of time as time goes. Then you are done.  no more income, no one cares.
if you are after making art, it seems to me you are after fame and maybe money. all things of the ego.  Look at me! aren't i great!  Good art is ego-less, it appears, it attracts, and it has duration. It needs no introduction or explanation, and it is instantly recognizable, sometimes centuries after completion.
Other people define what is art, it is pointed to and declared art. Others accept it, if they say so, it must be right.  If enough people say it is, it becomes so.
   I was part of the NY city modern art painting scene in the early 70's.
at that time, huge canvases were being painted, 20 x 30 feet, with $30 worth of paint. A 25 page manifesto was created by the artist to explain it. they were declared great art!  sold like hotcakes for awhile. It was the manifesto that sold the painting to those with money, I knew it wasn't art, it was mercenary hucksterism. I knew the artists, they laughed all the way to the bank. You can see one on the wall at the San Francisco Museum of Modern art if you like. Takes up the whole wall.
  For me, make what you want, and let the idea of being an 'artist' go.
When others call you an artist because of your work, there you go.
  I combine function and beauty.  cone 6, ox. been working in this medium for years, and have some spectacular glazes and good forms.  they fly off the shelves. Thanks to jon and ron, and christie at georgies in Portland, who have put up with my endless questions, (and others),  I have a stable of six glazes that are the backbone of the beauty. I desire neither fame or fortune, my reward is when a customer comes up and says, I use your mug every morning.  And thousands do.  It is a good life.
--
Gregg Lindsley
Earth and Fire Pottery
10325 Brookside Drive
Middletown, Ca. 95461
707-490-7168
Function and Beauty
in the Mingei  and
Bauhaus traditions
www.earthandfirepottery.net
'At home among the lost and found'
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