by Carole Epp | May 30, 2007 | Uncategorized
The New Cartography of Craft: Charting a Course from Regional to Global
As part of Craft Year 2007, the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design University will be hosting the NeoCraft Conference, 23-25 November 2007. This conference has been designed “with the objective of further developing critical thinking, theory and history in relation to the crafts. It is the intention of NeoCraft to not only acknowledge the vital role the crafts play in our culture and economy and to challenge the position of craft by creating a forum for lively exchange and debate. Modern art has always been defined by the way it deals with material modernization. The next modern art will likewise address global modernization. As part of this process, the crafts need to continually rethink their position. NeoCraft, the conference, will explore the possibility of craft practice that engages with the modernizing world.” (Source: www.neocraft.ca)
This exhibition, The New Cartography of Craft: Charting a Course from Regional to Global, has been designed with the NeoCraft Conference in mind; the exhibition will be on public display concurrent with the Conference. The NSDCC seeks submissions of works that look beyond our geographic and/or cultural boundaries; works that consider global cultural influences and reflect those influences through the work, utilizing innovations in techniques, materials, designs and/or subject matter while still retaining the unique identity of the maker. Submitting artists are also asked to submit a brief explanation of each work and the cultural references that inspired its creation.
For more information, please contact the NSDCC office at 902.423.3837.
by Carole Epp | May 30, 2007 | Uncategorized
Being a new home owner I’ve caught the reno and decorating bug pretty bad, and although we’re working on a very limited budget (which has still allowed us to do amazing things) it’s always nice to dream bigger than life. But i suddenly find myself pouring over the house and renovation mags in the grocery line, scanning for ideas. Most mags have let me down in that they all seem too polished with houses looking a bit unlived in. But my husband and I finally found a mag that seemed to fit our aesthetic. Dwell is not only a great mag, but has a nice website too. Check out this piece by Agape Design. I’d have a hard time washing my dirty clay filled hands in this one.
And this bookshelf by BlankBlank is so wickedly clever. The piece is called Religion and the books on the shelf are copies of the main texts of the major world religions.
This wallpaper though is the kicker! I would so have some of this in my house if I could afford it. Maybe not a whole room though, just a bit for an accent.
You can find it here and it’s by designers Sofie Eliasson and Matt Duckett.
by Carole Epp | May 30, 2007 | Uncategorized
I’m so happy to know that now my awesome, super, fantastic artstar bud Mel Robson has set up a etsy site to sell her beautiful wares. You must go check it out! Click here for the website for her shop.
She also has a blog ~ feffakookan ~ definitely worth reading, with tons more pics of her work and great links to the work of other ceramic and craft artists.
by Carole Epp | May 30, 2007 | Uncategorized
Well after too many rants I figured that maybe it was time to post some more images of great and inspiring work. Just this morning I was flipping through my copy of Lark Books’ 500 teapots. You see i’m trying to mentally prepare for a week long teapot making workshop I’ve signed up to teach at the end of July. You’ve gotta love those lark books, they’re like porn for ceramic artists, full color glossy shots with close ups of glaze drips, hmmmm… I never seem to get tired of flipping through them to be inspired. And it’s always nice to look at the work of artists you know and to see them getting their work out there. One of my fellow grad students, one of the loveliest guys you’ll ever meet from Hawaii, Daven Hee, has a few images of his gorgeous teapots in the book. I’m lucky enough to have one of my own sitting in my living room, collecting dust due to it’s non-functional nature, but loved and appreciated none the less on a daily basis.
And while taking that shot right beside it was a piece of Avi Amesbury’s so I had to snap that as well. Avi is one of the lovely women that I got to hang out with in Australia and recently showed with at NCECA in Lousiville. Here are 2 of her beautiful nesting bowls, they have a celadon interior and the outside is stamped with delicate little markings highlighted by her use of the oxides she collects. She has a great website with tons of gorgeous art and information at avicam.com, definetly worth checking out. I think there is also a link to her personal site from there.
The teacup beside it is a sweet little piece that I picked up at the artisans market at the Gulgong conference in 2004(?) For the life of me I can’t remember the name of the artist, but I will promise to search it out and update. The same unfortunately goes for the last name of the artist who made the little white cup, her first name was Natalie and she was an undergrad student at the Canberra School of Art when I was there. I must get better at this memory thing!
and on a sad note i accidently broke the lid to a beautiful covered jar I picked up while in oz. It’s a Janet Mansfeild piece, and it’s a bit heartbreaking, but such is life in ceramics and it will live on in a glued-together-so-well-that-only-i-will-ever-know sorta way.
by Carole Epp | May 30, 2007 | Uncategorized
I think it’ll always be the question posed…what do you do with a degree, or even better 2 degrees in ceramics? It’s funny because I still run across people, particularly students while i’m teaching that ask what I went to school for. I’ve got a Masters in Ceramics, of which I’m damn proud, but i’m constantly finding people that are surprised that such a thing as a Masters in Mud actually exists (none the less a phd!)
But it is a question, a legitimate one, what do you do with a ceramics degree? the awnser is not necessarily teach. Of course if you want to follow the path of academia and teach at a college then the degree is a requirement, however I think that of all of the friends (and correct me if I’m wrong) that I have that have gone through and completed such degrees, teaching hasn’t been the sole or main goal. What ever happened to knowledge for knowledge sake. When did learning for the sake of greater awareness about the world become not enough? Why must everything have a monetary, 9 to 5, working towards the CEO position methodology behind it?
As an artist education to me was all about me and my practice, exploring and challenging myself, my technical skills, the scope of my research and my abilities as an artist to make relevant and thought provoking work. And none of this was for the sake of paying bills at the end of the month, but rather to feel fulfilled and contribute as an individual, as an artist, to the current debates, to the arts and cultural community, to altering the course of society as a whole through positive and proactive (and passionate) engagement with the world.
Don’t get me wrong though, teaching is an incredibly rewarding practice, I teach all the time, and love it, love my students, find it rewarding on so many levels and draw constant inspiration from it. But it is not the only thing we as artists, educated through universities and colleges are qualified to do. The ever widening scope of the arts and cultural field offers countless possibilities to artists to find work and to make work for themselves. The key thing that I’ve found so far is the idea of making work for myself. There is no 9 to 5, so find a way yourself to fill those hours, teach, work in administration, advocacy, write (even when writing isn’t your background – more writing about art – in particular craft – has to get out there!), work with different business and community groups as creative consultants, work with youth at risk groups, sigh… the list is endless, but it must be approached proactively. Work in partnership with organizations, schools, etc as an artist in residence, find ways of making work that intertwines with community involvement, not only does it get you out of the solitude of the studio, but gets your work and your name out there.
phewww. A rant for a wednesday afternoon. Obviously feeling a bit opinionated, or maybe trying to motivate myself out of my own quiet studio…
by Carole Epp | May 28, 2007 | Uncategorized
I recently returned to my old stomping grounds where I studied for my undergrad to do a gas firing of some pieces for a sale next month. I seem to be endlessly drawn back to the aesthetics of reduction firing, even though I’m in love with the results of electric highfire. It’s always an interesting debate to get into with people as I still often find that the ceramics community has its own share of elitists who would have you believe that electric firing is easy. In the 4 years that this has been my focus I have found that it is anything but. And in arguably I think that each method of firing has it’s own perks and pitfalls, but none is easier than another, less labor intensive…maybe. But while the firing of a wood kiln for 6 days, plus chopping all of the wood is exhausting, there is a reward in that the atmosphere of the kiln plays such a great role in resulting finish and aesthetic of the work. On the other hand, it is true that all I have to do is program my digital electric to do as I wish and then I’m off to do other things, but I believe that the skill and knowledge required to make electric fired work beautiful is difficult. The results are more under your control and your responsibility. Nothing is a given, there are great predictable firings, and then there are those that go horribly wrong with no explanation. While I don’t look favorably on the labor of long hours of firing into the night, breathing carbon filled air, I find it equivalent to the hours in studio researching and testing glazes for electric. I once fought with a glaze for over 4 month to get it to perform just right.
Personally I’m a sucker for anything and everything clay based, and have no elitist notions of which firing aesthetic is better, but I do take offense to the snubbed nose attitude I’ve seen from other artists who think that electric fired is a sub-aesthetic.
On a different note though I had an interesting encounter with an old prof, actually the one who had taught me to throw years ago. While working in the glaze room, preparing for this gas firing, the subject turned to pricing and sales of work. I had recently seen some of this prof’s work for sale at a local gallery and had been shocked at the cheapness of the prices. Not to name names, but this is an artist of high standing in the Canadian community and I guess I had just expected higher prices. So standing there in the glaze room, I called him on it, and asked why? The response I got to this day troubles me. And admittedly I’m not sure if it was meant with sarcasm or not, one can only hope. When asked why he sold his work for so little, he replied, “I am but a laborer”. To me this is the epitome of what is wrong in the craft discipline – the artists themselves devaluing their own skills, knowledge, artistic vision, disciplined craftsmanship, and researched and developed aesthetic. A laborer…sigh. Why not a highly skilled laborer? “But a laborer”? It seemed so negative. I truly hope that it was a comment intended to be sarcastic otherwise as a young artist trying to make a living and challenge myself in the craft medium of ceramics, I have more opposition that I thought, the opposition not only being outside of the field, but from within.
