East Tennessee State University Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University Electronic Theses and Dissertations Student Works 5-2004 Thematic Manifestations: an Aesthetic Journey. Jeff Kise East Tennessee State University Follow this and additional works at: https://dc.edu/etd Part of the Art and Design Commons Recommended Citation Kise, Jeff, "Thematic Manifestations: an Aesthetic Journey. Electronic Theses and Dissertations.edu/ etd/877 This Thesis - Open Access is brought to you for free and open access by the Student Works at Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University.
For more information, please contact digilib@etsu. Thematic Manifestations: an Aesthetic Journey ______________________ A thesis presented to the faculty of the Department of Art and Design East Tennessee State University ______________________ In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Fine Arts in Studio Art ______________________ by Jeff Kise May 2004 _____________________ Don Davis, Chair Anita DeAngelis Catherine Murray Keywords: Ceramics, Simplicity, Aesthetics, Saggar Firing, Flash Firing, Naked Raku ABSTRACT Thematic Manifestations: An Aesthetic Journey by Jeff Kise This thesis, in support of the Master of Fine Arts exhibition entitled Thematic Manifestations at East Tennessee State University, Carroll Reece Museum, Johnson City, Tennessee, March 2-12, 2004, describes in detail three aesthetic themes that are manifested in the work exhibited. The artist discusses his journey in establishing a “criterion of aesthetic values” whereby his work is conceptually developed. The three themes – The Paradox of Simplicity, The Decorative Power of Nature, and The Beauty of the Irregular – are founded on historical and contemporary influences and are further described in practical application of form and process.
2 DEDICATION For my daughter, Hannah Grace And my son, William Jeffrey: You have been perfect examples of joy, contentment, and happiness. 3 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to express appreciation to the members of my graduate committee: Don Davis, who has also knowledgeably critiqued my work these three years, Anita DeAngelis, and Catherine Murray. I am grateful for your time and thought. Thank you to Blair White and the Carroll Reece Museum for helping me pull together the details of my exhibition.
Thank you to my wife, Amy Ellen Kise, for sharing with me in all things. You are the only one essential to me. Your hidden beauty is the essence of shibui. Above all, I thank God who has carried me through.
4 CONTENTS Page ABSTRACT …………………………………………………………. 4 LIST OF FIGURES …………………………………………………. 7 A Discussion of Thematic Manifestations ………………. 7 The Paradox of Simplicity ……………………………….
8 The Decorative Power of Nature …………………………. 11 The Beauty of the Irregular ………………………………. 12 The Artist’s Journey ……………………………………… 13 2. 16 Japanese Ceramic Art …………………………………….
18 The Song Dynasty ………………………………………… 20 3. 23 The Japanese Folk Art Movement ………………………. 23 Contemporary Smoke Fired Potters ………………………. ANNOTATED CATALOG …………………………………… 32 CONCLUSION ……………………………………………………….
59 5 LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page 1. Thematic Manifestations, view 1 …………………………………. Thematic Manifestations, view 2 …………………………………. Thematic Manifestations, view 3 ………………………………….
Ring Lip Bowl ……………………………………………………. Saggar Vase with Gloss Resist …………………………………… 45 15. Tall Vase with Rings ……………………………………………. Concentric Circles Bowl ………………………………………….
Fallen Circle ……………………………………………………… 55 6 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION A Discussion of Thematic Manifestations “[The] average potter… without some standard of fitness and beauty derived from tradition cannot be expected to produce, not necessarily masterpieces, but even intrinsically sound work” (Leach 1). With this statement, Bernard Leach opens the first chapter of his classic for ceramists, A Potter’s Book. Likewise, with this statement, I begin this discussion of my aesthetic journey. In essence, Leach is urging aspiring potters to lay foundations for their perception of what is fit for enjoyment and what is beautiful for the soul.
Without a “criterion of aesthetic values” (Leach 1), an artist leaves his or her work to the whims of the untrained mind. Whether his or her art is a deliberation of conscious thinking or a product of the subconscious mind, it will be governed by the artist’s perception of aesthetics and beauty. In a philosophical journey to discover my own aesthetic criterion, I have mentally collected examples of beauty from historical and contemporary influences. These have worked together to build my individual concept of successful ceramic art.
Combined with these, a deeper vision guides my work. As each artist does, my soul has a perception of what is noble and praiseworthy. This perception is manifested through three major themes in my ceramic art: The Paradox of Simplicity, The Decorative Power of Nature, and The Beauty of the Irregular. In the following chapters, I will explore these themes as they occur in my work.
In the remaining portions of Chapter 1, I will expand on this introductory discussion of notable thematic manifestations and their contribution to my aesthetic journey. In 7 Chapter 2 I will present three historical influences that have contributed to these themes: Primitive Pottery, Japanese Ceramic Art, and the Song Dynasty of China. In Chapter 3 I will add my contemporary influences including the Japanese Folk Art Movement and several current smoke fired potters. In Chapter 4 I will discuss the technical considerations for my work, and then in Chapter 5 I will present an Annotated Catalog followed by my conclusion.
The Paradox of Simplicity I maintain that simplicity is a virtue. Allow me first to give support for the goodness of simplicity and then I will explain the paradox that whenever simplicity is found in nature, it is accompanied by complexity. What is the value in simplicity? Why leave behind a world of advancements? Henry David Thoreau explained, “Our life is frittered away by detail… Simplify, simplify, simplify!” (74). In this modern age, without a determined effort to hold on to a simple life we are swept into the rush of those around us.
But why is it worth holding on to simplicity? Peace and intentional goodness abide with simplicity. Beauty is found in simplicity. Lin Yutang describes the value of simplicity by saying, “I do not think that any civilization can be called complete until it has progressed from sophistication to unsophistication, and made a conscious return to simplicity of thinking and living” (13). In The Good Life, Helen and Scott Nearing discuss their Thoreau-like deliberate living.
In explaining their departure from city life to their self-sufficient farm in Vermont, the Nearings said: 8 We were seeking an affirmation – a way of conducting ourselves, of looking at the world and taking part in its activities that would provide at least a minimum of those values which we considered essential to the good life. As we saw it, such values must include: simplicity, freedom from anxiety or tension, an opportunity to be useful and to live harmoniously. Simplicity, serenity, utility and harmony are not the only values in life, but they are among the important ideals, objectives and concepts which a seeker after the good life might reasonably expect to develop in a satisfactory natural and social environment. As these things stand today, it is not this combination of values, but rather their opposite (that is, complexity, anxiety, waste, ugliness and uproar) which men associate with the urban centers of western civilization (14).
Simplicity is a virtue in that one is relieved, unfettered, and enabled to enjoy his daily life. Likewise in art, simplicity enhances natural form and beauty. A piece of artwork is simple when it has limited distractions and minimal decorations, when its silhouette is similar to the piece itself. The viewer is freed and fully able to entertain the inherent beauty of the work, whether it be form, color, movement, etc.
Some may argue that simple art serves no purpose. Some may assume that simplicity is easy for any artist. What could be its value? Alan Hovhanness, a twentieth century Armenian composer, describes his music by saying, “Things which are complicated tend to disappear and get lost. Simplicity is difficult, not easy.
Beauty is simple. All unnecessary elements are removed – only essence remains.” The simple is profoundly beautiful. For the artist, simplicity is a challenge to remove all distractive 9 elements, leaving behind an aesthetically pure, solid, virtuous work. The Japanese, unmatched masters of ceramic art, spend their lives on a journey.
They seek beauty, uninhibited beauty. In speaking on the artworks of the Japanese people Soetsu Yanagi, a world renowned leader in the modern Japanese Folk Art Movement, says: …they are simple and unassuming. Here the quality of extravagance that is always associated with expensive art objects is wholly absent, and any surplus of decorativeness is objectionable… Simplicity may be thought of as characteristic of cheap things, but it must be remembered that it is a quality that harmonizes well with beauty. That which is truly beautiful is often simple and restrained….
I am told that St. Francis of Assisi advocated what he called ‘Holy Poverty’. A thing possessed in some manner of the virtue of poverty has an indescribable beauty. Indeed, Beauty and Humility border upon each other.
What is so appealing about the art of the people is this very quality…beauty accompanied by the nobleness of poverty (Leach 8-9). In the same way that Japanese potters embark on a pursuit of ideal beauty, I have sought purity and simplicity in my work. However, as is manifested in my work, this theme of simplicity is accompanied by a corresponding complexity. In nature simplicity is paradoxically coupled with intricacy.
For example, an open field is seemingly simple. Long grasses wave in peace and serenity. Yet, upon closer look, battalions of ants march past in search of food. A chrysalis, symbolic of remarkable metamorphosis, hangs on a nearby branch.
Even the ground itself is warm with vitality as decomposition and growth simultaneously occur. The examples of this paradox of serenity and intricacy in nature 10 are innumerable: the bark on a tree with its bulges and hollows, a snowflake with its millions of ice crystals, a leaf with its network of veins and capillaries. These few examples illustrate how nature displays simplicity hand in hand with complexity. The Decorative Power of Nature In my work I have intended on giving nature the opportunity to manifest her paradoxical beauty.
I begin with forms that are organic, fluid, graceful, unassuming, and pure. My intention is that the form of each piece, whether handbuilt sculpture or wheel- thrown vessel, embodies the characteristics that I consider admirable in people, an idea first planted in my mind by reading Bernard Leach. I strive to make my forms honest, true, strong, subtle, and refined. With these simple forms I use the decorative power of nature, in my case fire, to transform the surface of the pot into a vivid display of her characteristic aesthetics.
The depth and simplicity, intricacy and serenity of the finished surface is beyond what an artist can create. Though an artist can manipulate conditions, the ultimate surface design is defined by the firing process. The surface decoration of my pots depends on the direct relationship between the clay and the firing process. I use smoke-firing processes that involve close contact between the vessel and smoke, fire, natural combustibles, or chemicals.
My purpose is to allow the firing process to decorate the piece. In explaining the art of the firing process itself, Tsugio Mikami states, “The art of ceramics is the art of clay, and its creations are a tangible and intimate part of our lives. At the same time we can call ceramics the art of fire. It would be better, however, to say that it is the art of creating new entities from the mingling and blending of clay and fire” (9).
By letting the smoke infiltrate the clay, I 11 allow the inherent beauty of nature to manifest herself. By using simple, organic forms I allow the observer to focus on the complex variation and natural beauty of fire.