Being a craftsman

Jewelry Discussion
21

Even though this thread is past, as it was, I had something in mind
to write that’s on another path, so I’ll write it while I’m waiting
for our afternoon pickup. This is certainly by way of starting a
conversation, again…

We went to a show of a young man we know a couple of weeks ago - one
of Jo-Ann’s students who had graduated. Musical instruments, she
said, and a recital, too. So, we went. He played the violin quite
well. His work was ~representations~ of instruments, but not one of
them actually was.

That is, they didn’t possess any acoustic properties, they were
sculptures of instruments. Nothing wrong with that… But I
remember thinking, looking at a violin-esque piece, how he could have
put that 50 hours into a real instrument, and sold it in minutes, I
expect. As it was it was a wall hanging.

Golf. I’ve never swung a golf club in my life, but watching some on
TV made me think of this thread. Make a golf club, hmmmm. Yeah, get a
piece of rosewood, carve it into a shape, put some metal work on it
and a shaft made out of ash or hickory. Purty.

But that’s not a golf club, it’s a representation of one. A golf club
is something that’s designed to hit a golf ball as far as possible.
In order to make one you will need to know all about what it takes to
do that - metals, woods, weights, densities, leverage, center of
gravity, rules of golf. Not only that, but in order to make the BEST
golf club, you’ll have to know all about the world of golf clubs as
it is today. You can’t make a better club than the other guy if you
don’t know what the other guy is doing, eh?

It’s easy to “deconstruct” a violin - “Yeah, I’ll make one out of
cardboard to represent the bourgeous sensibility.” It’s incredibly
difficult to craft a fine instrument, much less a world class one.
That is the place where art and design and engineering and craft
meet at a nexus. It’s easy to view things in two dimensions - the
violin is a box with holes cut into it and some strings. Gaining an
understanding of how a real violin, or a real golf club, actually
does what it does is not so simple. Tweaking those things to make it
your own while still being among the best is a rarefied place indeed.

Just a look at some of what makes it so darn interesting…

22 
I remember thinking, looking at a violin-esque piece, how he could
have put that 50 hours into a real instrument, and sold it in
minutes, I expect. As it was it was a wall hanging.

Maybe, maybe not.

As a potter for more than 20 years, I made a lot of teapots. A
teapot is considered to be the most challenging functional form in
pottery-- it has at least 4 separately-made and assembled parts that
must harmonize (body, lid, spout and handle, plus the handle on the
lid, usually) plus it should pour smoothly, not drip, be easy to
lift, and so on. But less functional, more decorative teapots (or
platters, which I made a lot of, too) sell for a LOT more than
functional ones.

Then, as a metalsmith, I have made (so far) two teapots, neither of
which would hold tea at all, and they each sold for more than every
ceramic teapot I ever made added up together and probably multiplied
by 10. The collectors who bought them did not want to make tea in
them. They were, however, each a commentary about tea and its
function in life. They didn’t need to be, though-- there are avid
collectors of teapots that collect ones whose design and decoration
have little or nothing to do with tea.

So, a person could build a violin, or create an artwork about
violins. Personally, I’m not prepared to say that the world needs
another functional violin more than it needs a thoughtfully or
thought-provoking commentary on violins or whatever they might
represent in society or the maker’s mind. And as for selling it,
well, I don’t know what violins go for, but I think it quite possible
that the artwork could bring in more, just like my teapots.

By the way, this is not really germain to the subject, but do you
know, there are artists who look with disdain on any artwork that
isn’t site-specific (I guess we jewelers don’t have to worry about
this-- an earlobe is a site, right?) They call it “plop art” because
you can plop it down anywhere. I guess we all have our preferences
and prejudices-- that’s one I never would have thought of!

Noel

23 
more than it needs a thoughtfully or thought-provoking commentary
on violins or whatever they might represent in society or the
maker's mind. And as for selling it, well, I don't know what
violins go for,

Well, Noel’s thoughts are true, and are her thoughts. A couple of
things to clarify, though: Our student friend wasn’t making
commentaries on violins, he was making musical instruments that
weren’t. If he WAS making some statement, I wouldn’t have commented
on it, but he wasn’t. He made “new” instruments - his inventions -
but they just didn’t work. He forgot that part, the sound part. Which
is the point of my essay - he just didn’t think it through, whether
conceptually or practically. They weren’t deep statements and they
weren’t musical, they were just things. I suspect Noel is thinking I
am against art as a statement about something, but I’m not - this
case wasn’t that, is all.

As for teapots, a somewhat interesting story. Vessels, and in
particular teapots, have long been a “target” for artists. That is,
as Noel says, they are played with in multitudes of ways and bought
by collectors, functional or not. There is a huge market for teapots,
there is not for non-functional musical instruments, BTW.

So, the story (somewhat interesting) is that Alias Wavefront made
Maya, the premiere 3d animation software (Toy Story, Cars, Indiana
Jones, Kung Fu Panda, etc…) and their test piece for their engine
was to make a teapot, for the reasons Noel also said. It’s a complex
shape with complex interactions. So, to this day, one of their
primitives is that teapot. Nobody much needs a teapot as a primitive,
it’s left there as a little secret memento of the company’s history
and heritage, like a souvenir.

So, yes, Noel’s thoughts are spot on, except that a teapot is to a
violin as a skateboard is to an F16. Art, craft, engineering, design

  • knowlege and understanding. Fuzzy lines, often times.
24

As many of us know there are many who call themselves a “craftsman”.
I won’t argue if someone is or isn’t because much of that is in the
mind of the crafter. It does bring to mind a sign I once saw at a
local crafts fair near Santa Anita, CA back in the early 80s. A man
who worked in wood had it up for all the other craftsmen walking
throughout the fair. It said “Sure you can make it, but will you?”

Mike DeBurgh, GJG
Alliance, OH

25 
...Well, Noel's thoughts are true, and are her thoughts. A couple
of things to clarify, though: Our student friend wasn't making
commentaries on violins, he was making musical instruments that
weren't. If he WAS making some statement, I wouldn't have commented
on it, but he wasn't. He made "new" instruments - his inventions -
but they just didn't work. He forgot that part, the sound part....

Really? Did you ask him? Did he say he forgot the sound part? Are
you sure you just “didn’t get” whatever it was he was trying to say
with the pieces?

Since you don’t say that he told you, one has to wonder how you
“know” what he intended.

It is entirely possible that these pieces were failed statements
rather than failed instruments.

Unless, of course, you actually asked him and he did say he was just
making an instrument and forgot about the sound part…

Just a thought.
Mary Ellin D’Agostino, PhD
www.medacreations.com

26 
It is entirely possible that these pieces were failed statements
rather than failed instruments.

Even that may be going too far. They aren’t necessarily failed as
statements because one person didn’t perceive the message. If they
omitted sound as one of their aspects, then it seems likely they were
intended as commentary, like my teapots that won’t hold water, let
alone tea.

Noel

27 
Really? Did you ask him? Did he *say* he forgot the sound part?
Are you sure you just "didn't get" whatever it was he was trying to
say with the pieces?

Well of course I asked him. Forgot is my word - didn’t want to
bother with it is more his words. No, I’m not a fool.

28 
Well of course I asked him. Forgot is my word - didn't want to
bother with it is more his words. No, I'm not a fool.

I was just asking. You wrote a lot of stuff about this guy’s
intentions and what he was thinking but did not say how you knew
what they were. You would be amazed at how many people who respond
that they “just know” when I ask them how they know for certain what
someone else was thinking…

I think there is a huge difference between “forgot” and “didn’t want
to bother with” as the latter is intentional and the former is not.

Mary Ellin D’Agostino, PhD
www.medacreations.com