Saturday, June 4, 2011

Ken Matsuzaki

4 comments:

Unknown said...

Very nice! Thanks for posting. :) It makes me wish I had a kick wheel. *sigh* Someday. :)

carter gillies said...

Gwad almighty! Talk about your loose throwing.... I love that he breaks just about every 'rule' we usually try to teach beginning students- A perfect example of why the foundation required for a beginner can be very different from the things a more skilled thrower can get away with. Uneven clay distribution? He does it on purpose. Air bubbles? Great idea. Mastery means more than rigid control or domination. It also means harmonious interaction, growth, and acceptance. Suggesting rather than demanding. Discovering rather than dictating.

The relationship he has with the clay is so intuitive, and each pot is a unique exploration. It was great to see that in the 8 or 9 pots he showed us no two were made by the same exact process: Sometimes he used one tool, and other times he did not. It wasn't as much about the repetition or enforcing standardization as it was about the immediacy of this clay at this moment. This is kind of the idea I was getting at in my post about "The illusion of technique". I should go back and repost it with this video....

Thanks for posting this!

FetishGhost said...

Hey Carter,
Once again I really need to say thanks... everything in the video was a given, but the notion of explaining what we do as "suggesting rather than demanding" really was a nugget of gold.
Action happens... explaining what's behind the action succinctly still is a full time pursuit.
Thanks for another nugget.

Anonymous said...

I love watching Ken. Just wish I could afford some of his work!

Regards

Andy