Now I realize in a
previous post, I have covered the potential pitfalls of discussing an object as
cool. Does the discussion itself, negate the cool factor or do some things just
transcend any taint from the intellectual excercise, to just be cool. Tooling
around the web, including the omnipresent Wikipedia, cool has a wide variety of
meanings, mostly subjective, but the general concensus is that it is a description
of a visual, attitude or style that is held by many as an appreciated attribute
and in many instances a sign or creation of a moment in time. From my
perspective cool is about the presented attitude and posture, in this instance,
a pot pocesses and conveys to a viewer. I am not talking about gimics, but an
honesty and character that has something more than its initial visual impact to
say to us. There are a number of such pots that spring to mind from ancient
times to very contemporary pots, but few speak that language as well or as
fluently as the works of Colin Pearson (1923-2007).
Illustrated is the
epitome of cool, from my perspective, a teapot by Colin Pearson from the early
90's. Despite its somewhat unconventional form, it is a fully functional teapot,
one set of wings act as a handle while the other acts as a spout. Interestingly
enough, this teapot is illustrated in the book; THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF POTTERY
TECHNIQUES by Peter Cosentino in which it is an example of sculptural and
abstract form with this commentary; "the surface treatment demonstrates
the clay's texture, its malleable qualities and the immediacy of throwing as a
means of both production and shaping". Granted, it is a pot you must accommodate
yourself to, but it will function or can just sit idly by while you appreciate
it and drink it its attitude. In a way, that sounds just like Jack Nicholson!
"Cool is a
knowledge, a way of life." Lewis
MacAdams (b. 1944)
(Illustration used with the kind permission of a collector)
.JPG)