Tokoname

On Thursday, a group of us went to visit Tokoname, a small town on the coast near the Nagoya airport. It is another one of the six well-known ceramics towns of Japan - the others include Echizen, Tamba, Bizen, Seto, and of course, Shigaraki. The ceramics tradition there is nearly 1000 years old, and there are a great number of old industrial-size kilns (some still in use) all around the city. We started the day with the INAX museum and gallery, and then followed the Yakimono Sampomichi (Pottery Path) to see the main sights of the town. How great to spend the day with other artists, seeing a town with such a long history of ceramics! There were so many workshops, kilns, shops, and galleries, and you can see evidence everywhere of how important pottery has been in the very structure of the town.

I probably took a couple hundred pictures, but I won't post all of them :)

It was a very foggy 6a.m. when we left Shigaraki.


Waiting for one of the many trains we took to get to Tokoname.


Walking into the INAX Tile Museum - very interesting... if you like tiles.


Some of the beautiful work on display at the INAX gallery.



Also on the INAX grounds there was a museum built around an old kiln. It was a neat idea, you could see the kiln, and you could see the artwork around it. And upstairs, they had displays of different kinds of ceramic toilets... how... fascinating?


"Watch your head!" (This may have been the first time in my life I've actually had to pay attention to a sign like this.)


The museum also showed a traditional rokuro (throwing wheel) setup. I would love to try one of these someday!


More really great work, on display in a small gallery at the "Tile Workshop" at INAX, where you could also peek in and see how they manufacture tiles.



"So, where are we going now?"
On the Pottery Path of course. So much to see!


A beautiful wall of glazed bricks.


Occasionally, when we were high enough, we could see the sea! Or ocean, rather.


From one vantage point, you could see at least 6 of the old kiln chimneys, if not more. I think if you look closely, 5 of them are visible in this picture.


There were little shops everywhere, and all kinds of neat pottery. I was particularly fond of this fountain (the teapot is maybe 2 or 3 feet in diameter!).


And I thought this was a particularly awesome fish tank.


A few shops were set up inside old kilns. Did I mention these are huge kilns?


You can see the years and years of buildup on the bricks inside. How better to show off pottery than where it was created!


Very very big kiln, little itty bitty kiln (well, as tall as me at least, if you want to call that a small kiln).


Another of the old kilns... They all seemed such a natural part of the environment.


Most of the sidewalks were a fun combination of pottery and concrete - very pleasant.


Another fun way of keeping goldfish. These large "fish bowls" were all over outside, lillypads and all.


I have a very strong urge to paint a little scene like this. So peaceful.


Actually, not only did most of the sidewalks have pottery embedded in them, most of the embankments were supported with some kind of ceramics. The guide map refers to some of the pots as "anti sulfuric acid bottles" and others are Shochu (a type of liquor) bottles. Bases from firing pipes and the pipes themselves are also commonly used.


Yes, those are normal-sized grapes. Little smaller than a bottle cap, maybe the size of the first joint of my thumb.
So no, that is certainly not a normal-sized bee. Why must this country have outrageously sized insects???


A closer look at a couple of the old chimneys.


This kiln is about the size of a very small house. Most of them are.
Actually, we thought this one might still be in use since it hasn't quite succumbed to its surroundings yet.


Tokoname boasts the largest Noborigama (climbing kiln) in Japan. As the guide map says, "It is only here in Japan that chimneys of 10 form a line."


I couldn't get far enough away to really show the scale of the whole thing, but maybe you get the idea.


Tile mosaics like this, made by local children, were pretty common. And quite cute.


Fun pottery-lined passageway. And perhaps proof that boys will be boys, no matter the place or the culture. Then again, I would've joined them, so maybe it's just human nature :)


Obligatory photo of myself, since there were a couple comments about such things :)


These little buddhist statues are pretty common throughout Japan. You just don't always see them with ceramic plates for hats.


Just to give you an idea of the scale...


...of the cat...


...on top of the very high wall, with cat sculptures displayed along the walkway at the bottom.


A little studio, a potter trimming his pot.


Wouldn't you like to have this lovely ceramic bathtub? For about 600000Y? $6000? Oh, maybe not.


The wall of cats, from a lower perspective. And the pretty tile mosaic at the end of it.


We finally headed back, after a long day of walking and pottery. And took a Shinkansen (Bullet Train) back so as not to miss the last bus to Shigaraki. In case you haven't seen the impressive 12 or so story Kyoto station, see above.


Before heading home, we stopped for dinner at one of Kyoto Station's many restaurants. Japan does amazing things with omlettes. In this case, a pile of rice, a large pancake-like egg, curry sauce, and ketchup... Sounds odd, tastes amazing.

So, thus ends a long and fantastic day!




P.S. Thank you all so much for the lovely birthday wishes. It was great day (see above!). And the kind people here had a little party for me last night. So nice to be in good company while away from home!

More Art Blogs!

If you're interested in reading more of this sort of thing, check out -

http://art-blogging.blogspot.com/

There's a great list of artist blogs to look through, and it's pretty interesting to see how art is merging with the online world.

Plans and Inspirations

Since I've been at Shigaraki about a week now, I suppose it's about time to mention just exactly what I'm working on here.

When I filled out the application back in February, my plan for my residency was essentially to take the idea from one of my other pieces, East / West, and develop it further. The original piece consists of two vessels, one smaller than the other, that are connected at the base, then separate and have pointed openings pulling in different directions (it's included in the slideshow to the left, if you watch for a bit you'll hopefully be able to pick it out). The larger vessel has a white crackle glaze on the outside and copper flash glaze on the inside, whereas the smaller one is reversed, with copper flash on the outside and white crackle inside. When I was creating East / West, I was thinking a good deal about my own influences from both America and the western art world, and my experiences in Japan and knowledge of Japanese arts. A parent/child relationship or the idea of pulling away from traditions were also concepts that I took into consideration. Since the two vessels are not pointing directly opposite of one another, and the same glazes are used on each piece, only in different ways, I wanted to express that even though two people or two cultures (or even influences within the same person) might be quite different and pull away from one another, there can actually also be some similarity between the two, and what is blatant on the surface of one might still exist somewhere inside the other.

That application was 8 months ago.

Since then, I've participated in a few art fairs, and for those, I've mostly been creating what I've deemed "Emergelings" - little non-functional raku vessels based on two of my other pieces, Emerge I and Emerge II. Repetitively exploring that particular form has been fruitful as far as new ideas are concerned, though at times a bit boring (I don't think I was ever meant to be a production potter. I can only make the same thing so many times without developing a deep, unsettling urge to scream.). Over the course of a few months, the openings evolved from consistently rounded, petal-like shapes, to abstracts of leaves, birds, flames, and even a few unrecognizable but quirky curves. What I also discovered with the multitude of Emergelings is that they are wont to converse with one anther. Many people had commented on this when Emerge I and Emerge II were displayed together - one seemed to be looking after the other, leaning over in a gently protective pose that I had not intended, but rejoiced in discovering. After having 20 or 30 Emergelings finished and sitting around together, I began to see the vast range of possibilities.

The art fairs, unfortunately, have also been a good place to develop new ideas - due to the rather poor economy, there has been plenty of idle time to sit surrounded by my creations, and to see their forms in a new (somewhat bored) light. Boredom can certainly be a great source of inspiration.

So, I arrived at Shigaraki with a sketchbook full of new ideas, new directions to follow... and I'd hardly looked at that original application letter in months. Fortunately, the old and the new merged quite well, and after a bit of contemplation and new sketching, I decided to utilize the expressiveness of the Emergelings combined with the inspiration and contemplation of my current surroundings to create a new body of work that will explore a variety of human relationships. I'm also hoping to learn as much as possible about Japanese raku traditions and processes, and to show some of that new knowledge in my work as well.

How about a tour?

Since I'm finally getting the pictures to show up in predictable places, let me show you Shigaraki.


My room (prior to the arrival of my suitcase) ---

Bed.


Desk, and various implements of destruction (aka toaster oven, water warmer, and falling-over lamp).


Table, chair, stuff. I sit here a lot, considering it's the only place in the room where there can be internet.


Fridge, bathroom.


Closet.

Various surroundings ---

The dormitory... I'm down the stairs, at the end of the hall.


Another room of the kitchen, with such important things as cabinets, refridgerators, and rice cookers. The stoves and sinks are off to the left through that doorway.


Pretty little garden. With pots in it, of course.


Kiln firing schedule. I'm not on here yet... but niether is the raku kiln.


Meeting room, with the big map & lists of all the residents who have worked here.
"At the end of2007fiscal year 690 ceramic artists from 42 countries have worked at the Institute of Ceramic Studies"


Photos of all the current residents... I think someone said there are 16 of us, so maybe there's a picture missing.


The kiln room. Huge kiln, with huge piece going into it.


The raku kiln, currently serving as a shelf.


Courtyard, big hill (the museum is that roundish building at the top).


The studio.


Some raku tea bowls from last weekend's workshop. I'll probably be using some glazes like these.


Also some interesting Jomon-style pots... not sure what those are from, but cool!


Small display window with work from some of the residents.


Studio! Mine is the shelf & table in the foreground there.


This is Nan. She's making a rather huge person (for the noborigama firing, I think).


The other studio room. I'll probably be moving in here today, since there's a huge (70 people or so) workshop starting tomorrow. And remember the big piece going into the big kiln? Since it's out of the studio, there's probably enough space for me to work :)