VOLUME II

Puffed up to the point of imminent danger, this tsubo is a simple statement regarding volume and how it can be explained and perceived. Created by traditional Mino specialist, Ando Hidetake this wood fired Ko-Mino style tsubo has the appearance of being inflated to the point to which the structure almost seems impaired. The edge of the shoulder and neck have  dipped into the form where the recess has gathered a pool of the glaze creating a darkened ring which further accentuates the tension between the pot and the volume it expresses. I have seen a number of brilliant tsubo over time and though there are certainly pots that are larger, rounder and fuller few capture this sense of spatial tautness and drama in which the piece becomes synonymous with a visual mass that appears on the brink of structural annihilation. I have seen quite a number of pots by Ando Hidetake that are infused with an impending narrative and drama of which this pot has in volumes as well.