Going to Pieces!

I have dabbled with this idea, but now I am trying something a bit more ambitious. Hopefully I have learned from my mistakes, and this will work. Here are some images as I wanted to document a before and after on this one.

3 Pieces to Glaze That Aren't Mine

Here are the three pieces I got from our finish-each-others-work exchange. I keep staring at them, but only have limited ideas so far. Maybe something will come to me soon...

Can your best foot forward be too good?

    This week we got to see some images from the graduate applicants here at EUP. While discussing them with various people I heard some comments from people who had seen mine when I applied, and they referenced comments other people made at that time. I guess there was some discussion about whether or not the images had been doctored, or digitally manipulated, and if the work was therefore called into question.

    I found this topic of interest because I've seen applications that state that if images have been modified, they will automatically be thrown out of consideration. So how can we tell if images have been modified? Digital files actually will say that if they have been modified, and on what date. So were my images modified? Yes they were. Unfortunately, images will say they have been modified even if the modifications were simple things such as cropping, and changing image sizes/resolutions, some of which (size specs) are in fact often required. I also adjusted the levels a bit, to get whiter whites. On a side note, just about everything you can do in photoshop you can do with film in the dark room.

    Here are two images, one has only been changed in size to fit easily online, otherwise it is just how it was in my camera. The other is my "doctored" image I used to apply to grad school. I chose a piece that I have brought in to school and many of you have seen with your own eyes so I could get feedback.

    I bring this up because I am wondering if sometimes putting your best foot forward isn't the best thing to do. I thought I was simply putting forth the best images of my work as I could get, never dreaming that someone might think I had done anything wrong. As you can see the changes are minimal, and by and large the image was created the way it is "in camera."
  
    I would like to relate that the Professor who taught me to take product photography worked for a well-known online store. His job was to take items for sale, and make them look good. He was good at this, so good in fact that after a while he was told to tone it down due to a higher rate of returns. People had bought things based on his images, and were then disappointed when the actual item arrived. So is it wrong to use good photography? Should I "tone it down" in the future? I would appreciate honest opinions.

Passive Aggressive Anger Release Machine

Stumbled across this while researching conceptual ceramic art for John's class. I thought you guys might enjoy it. Here is a link to the website - LINK


‘Passive Aggressive Anger Release Machine’ is an interactive sculpture by Yarisal and Kublitz. Experience the most satisfying feeling when a piece of China breaks into million pieces . All you have to do is insert a coin, and a piece of China will Slowly move forwards and fall into the bottom of the machine, breaking, and leaving you happy and relieved of anger.

Awesome!!!

Incorporating Ikebana...

    As some of you know, I'm putting on a show in the Bates Gallery with Hiromi (a painting grad who works in eastern styles) at the end of this semester. The idea is to intertwine eastern and western approaches to art. She will be making paintings in traditional eastern styles that focus on a personal east/west confrontation, and I will be making sculptures that function as Ikebana vases, thus approaching a very traditional eastern art from a western background.

    I wanted to share a link about Ikebana for those of you who are less familiar so you will know where I'm coming from with much of my work this semester. Here is a link to a good rundown on the subject. I recommend you do a google images search on Ikebana as well, there are some beautiful works out there.

A Balancing Act

    I am beginning to feel that everything in my life is a balancing act, but for now I'll just talk about my work. After having clarified (for me) the focal points in my work last week, I have been talking to people about such, and have realized how easily my work could be read in other ways.

    This has not deterred me from my focus, but has made me ask questions regarding the importance of others viewing my work. Just how important is it to me that others "get" what I'm doing? If they read it another way should I alter my plans to accommodate their views? Do I make art for me, or for everyone else? I don't have easy answers for these questions, as I believe that most of the time the truth lies in the grey area between the two possibilities. I do know that until I have worked through some of the ideas I have, I will be making my art for the pursuit of those ideas. Until I'm satisfied with that progress I guess I only marginally care what anyone else thinks. There is something there, something important to me. Maybe it has been said before, maybe it isn't worth being said at all to some people, but for whatever reason, I need to say it.

    I feel that there are many things to balance within each piece, and marvel that such trouble can come from so little clay. I guess they don't stem from the clay so much as from me... the clay does what it always does, take whatever form I give it - and show me what I'm made of.