M3

I have been thinking about posting periodically on my blog, a feature that in some respects I would consider a museum display conjured from my own mind, pots curated for their significance for this museum mentis meae (M3). Before you think I have gone completely daffy, what I have become curious about is of the pots that I handle and have pictures sent to me, which ones would actually be museum worthy and to what level, a large national venue or a smaller, more regional location, certainly a fair number qualify for gallery shows of a particular potter or as a link within a retrospective show irrespective of the venue. Together with this odd idea, rather than be totally left in the dust regarding AI, I can now in some small measure put this idea to the test, creating AI generated images using actual photos that I have access to, the bulk of which I have taken myself. I have debated for some time doing this, fearing it seems either naïve or even childish but since these social media posts are really more for me than the audience, I concluded, why not, post a few and see where that goes and where it may lead.          

For my first entry*, here is a wonderful ash and Shino tokkuri by Kowari Tetsuya. This piece belongs to a European collector but I decided to use this picture because of Kowari’s work, this form and surface are simply stellar and classic, indicative to a time-period from the mid-2010s to present. The articulated form, Kowari’s rather idiosyncratic construction of the tokkuri, speak to the very highest level of his work and when placed in this AI museum environment, the piece simply looks at home. To my eye, there are no real questions as to it belonging on display, it represents the top level of the work as I would judge a pot; concept, form, surface and gesture/posture. Once those hurdles are met, to my mind, it is clear that the pot differs significantly than a great majority of extant work and earns its place among the upper percentages of a body of work. Is this all just some exhaustive exercise and am I in any position to make any of these determinations? Maybe you would disagree but in my mind museum, this Kowari Tetsuya is perpetually on display and this isolated and uncluttered photo is exactly how I see it whenever I care to bring it to mind.    

(*This picture contains an actual image of a pot or pots in an AI generated background or scenario)

SOME LEVEL

I keep working on my saffron, iron yellow glaze, trying to get some level of consistency and dependability from it. This is one of those yunomi tests, thick kushime combed slip with the iron yellow glaze over. On this particular test, one of a half dozen, the glaze was used a bit thinner than normal and this was the results, it had still run mostly off the upper half and collected around the apron of the piece, running diagonally and building up. I think at the end of all this, the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel and success at some level, these results will just tell me, this surface is going to be whatever it wants, work however it wants and as long as it stays on the pot, who am I to argue. 

RECENT ARRIVAL

I first saw this salt fired henko quite some while ago on Facebook and after discussing it with a fellow collector across the pond, I decided it should be rehomed at its earliest convenience. I was initially struck by the sheer simplicity of the form and surface, it would seem to be devoid of any superfluous detail or additions relying on a strong form, a few lines of slip and cobalt and a fine sheen of salt to breathe life and movement into its clay. This was made by Susukida Koji (1945-2015) and fits well within his body of slipped work and salt fired pottery. As you can see in this sunlit picture, the salt has created a soft, pebbly texture over the applied decoration which reminds me of lyrical, even poetic calligraphy. In fact, I have begun referring to this bottle as the ‘getsu-henko”, the moon vase as the way the decoration appears on each side reminds me of the kanji for moon, getsu/ tsuki and though I am sure others will see what they will on this scroll (kakejiku) like planes, I see a casual mastery of calligraphy spelled out in liquid clay and cobalt brushwork.

PINE BARK & RAIN

Illustrated is a rather well fired Shigaraki chawan by Minagawa Takashi, son of Kiyotaka and pupil of Komori Shoan. The bowl is broad and the lift makes it appear a bit like it is floating just off the surface which adds a nice touch to the visual. The bowl was thrown and then a Matsukawa-hada style texture was impressed or beaten into the surface giving the bowl a lot of visual and actual texture that has an immediacy to it. This bowl wants to be held, fondled even to fill in any and all blanks you may have from the encounter which is typical of much of Minagawa Takashi’s work. As you can see, much of the bowls exterior has a perpetually wet sheen baked into the all-natural ash surface which in my book is a plus, the interior shows a dazzling pool of ash and lends itself quite enthusiastically to use. The lip may look a bit blunt, it is perfectly formed for use with tea or any other liquid you can impress into service and the foot makes for a simple, effective and ideal pedestal made for stability and another enjoyable feature while resting in the hand.     

This chawan was photographed a short while back while it seemed like there would never be any sunlight again. I took a number of the “Hollywood back drop” style photos of which this is one of them. It occurs to me that without some context, the background may be a bit iffy to figure out and so a degree of explanation is in order. During a torrential downpour during last spring, I opened the side window and decided to shoot the rain using the fastest shutter speed possible on my primitive and outdated camera and of the photos, this particular shot intrigued me the most and I decided to use it as a backdrop moving forward. It may seem a bit odd but I have noticed that it tends to make pots, chawan mostly look a bit like they are quite three dimensional so, not such a random photo after all, I hope you agree. 

A FEW OF MY FAVORITE THINGS

This is another pot from a while back, a double lidded Oribe style slipware jar which makes lid throwing just a bit more complicated. Thrown out of stoneware, applied black and then white slip before combing the decoration. There isn’t anything too complicated here; simple covered jar, two lids but it is the combination of a few of my favorite things that makes it all the more interesting, Oribe and slipware. Over quite a few years of making pots, the bulk of my English slipware inspired pottery has been based on terra cotta clay but moving up in temperature to involve any number of my Oribe glazes together with another traditionally based style of work like combed or trailed slipware has been a real enjoyable adventure and honestly has probably prolonged my level of patience before I normally just go, well, enough of that!           

For what it’s worth, here is one of my favorite quotes as it applies here; “Enjoy the small things in life because one day you’ll look back and realize they were the big things.”  Kurt Vonnegut

HARMONY

I know I use the term classic rather frequently but I think it certainly applies to this Kawai-mon covered box by Kawai Takeichi. Building off the Mingei movement, this molded covered box form has been thoughtfully designed for use with the top of the piece projecting out over the walls making it easy to use and pick up, a bit like a hidden, ergonomic handle. Made of a porous stoneware clay, the pot is covered in a white glaze that has a slightly pearl effect across the surface and is classically decorated using iron, cobalt and copper to articulate the top of the box and center of each side panel with just the right amount of design. This flower design was commonly used by Takeichi on plates, bowls, vases and boxes where less is more and strikes the perfect balance between the (Kyoto) aesthetic and utilitarian form. Though the Kawai school steps just outside the stricter guidance of the Mingei movement, it is clear that like his mentor, Kawai Takeichi took the maxim, “beauty born of use” quite literally in his need to secure function, form and decoration acting in harmony. 

THE PROCESS IS CONTINUOUS

 

Though slightly on the small size, every chance encounter with the Hishoku Nanban-yaki pottery of Sakauchi Ensen is an enjoyable encounter. This vase is based on a classic, old school wooden kinuta, mallet and the proportions of neck to base work well and are well suited for any impressed use from fan holder to traditional flower vase. Among Sakauchi’s fancifully painted landscapes, this particular piece, well the firing stands out as a bit more unusual as there is a significant array of rich, deep iron red on one side, with rivulets of color running down the base of the piece as well as around 60% of the flattish lip area at the very top, the remainder flanked in green. Though I don’t necessarily consider this effect rare, it is surely serendipity when it occurs. These variations add a visual punch to an already intriguing and unusual landscape painted from carefully chosen clay, varying woods and what must have been a less than simple firing schedule. If possible, I would love to hear the explanation of each milestone toward this surface and exactly how he got there, one firing heaped on top of another, as 3rd Force maintains, “the process is continuous”.

BASIC

I was trying to figure out the best way to describe this bowl and the word basic came to mind and though I don’t think of the term basic with any negative connotation, I realize some may. What I mean is that this bowl is pretty much built for use with some nods to aesthetics thrown in for good measure from the banding, stamping and the rich, green Oribe surface. I think that despite the stamping and banding, this is a simple bowl in form and execution finding its inspiration from the fundamentals I learned a long time ago now. In point of fact, this simple teabowl was intended as a companion for an Oribe waterjar, finished in similar stamping, banding and glaze and together I think they both are cut for simplicity with just enough bells and whistles to get by and let’s not forget that rich, deep green.

 

THE PAST

Illustrated is a low flat Hachi style Iga mizusashi flanked by and reflecting the moon in the background. Made by Konishi Heinai II and prominently marked with the Taiko-gama seal, this was potted a bit on the heavy side, slightly deformed while wet and had a series of rough gouged decoration articulated around the form. The interior of this mizusashi holds an intriguing surprise, there is a pearlescent glaze with drifting strokes of gold representing grasses which much look like some old Rimpa design when filled with water. Added to this one surprise, there is another detail that I find quite appealing, the base, the bottom of the pot has an impressed wood pattern design, likely from where the wet pot was placed becoming part of the overall antique sensibility tying the mizusashi to feudal pots of a different time. 

Konishi Heinai II who specialized in Raku and Iga pottery had quite the skill for filling his clay works with a sense of timeless where they appear far older than they are. Was he a potter born out of time or a potter determined to forward an aesthetic that time cannot and should not abandon at a time when modernity and art stylings seem to prevail? I am perpetually thankful that there are potters who see the past as an adventure to explore everyday moving forward.

FRAGRANCE

Keeping on the koro theme to end the week, here is a simple and very Chinese influenced Jun style koro by Kimura Morinobu. The form is classic, resting on a tripod configuration and puffing out to express the fullest volume possible in a pot you can hold in the palm of your hand. My suspicion is that the glaze was engineered out of some wood ash or another and visually, the koro has three distinct bands of coloration; the pale blue seiji at the base, the wildly textured purple at the top of the form completed by a rich, dark wood pierced and carved lid with a dramatic carnelian knob.      

What one can take away from Morinobu’s koro is the sense of purpose, where function is paramount and the intent visually is rooted in the allusion of fragrance where a small amount of clay, ash and fire build a bridge between the physical and emotional realms. I many respects, I would expect nothing less from Kimura Morinobu where potter and pottery look to Kyoto aesthetics, then skillfully infused this vocabulary into much of his work.

A butterfly poised
On a tender orchid,
How sweetly the incense
Burns on its wings      Matsuo Bashō