gapingvoid lands a book deal...
"Work Hard. Keep at it. Live simply and quietly. Remain humble. Stay positive. Be nice. Be polite."
Hugh MacLeod.
I am printing this out in some pretty script and putting it on my wall. Thank you Hugh, and congrats. Hugh's manifesto.
Monday, April 07, 2008
Friday, April 04, 2008
Owning the Means of Production
There is a lot of talk around the web about NOT owning the means of production - in fact, it is a veritable tabu to own the place where things are made. I find this a perplexing idea. I own my studio. As an artist, owning my studio became more and more important as neighborhoods I contributed to the gentrification of became financially unavailable for the creatives who established them in the first (well, maybe 2nd or 3rd) place. Artists tend to live and work in edgy neighborhoods mostly because they are affordable. Then, well, those neighborhoods improve and the artists are forced out. Anyway, I bought my studio 8 years ago. Let's not even talk about real estate values in an insane economy.
Anyway, conceptual art, mid-60/70's made making; painting, actually sculpting etc. unnecessary. Thank you Sol Lewitt! But, life goes on and economics affects us all whether we follow the muse or the crowd. SO, making art is experiencing a resurgence; note the booming DIY movement and craft/art/design are all starting to bump elbows in the dark room of pre-new world discovery. High/low, democratic connectivity, the onslaught of being in touch- Takes my breath away.
I am a potter. I make things. I sell them (hopefully). I use the web to help show pictures of new work, to talk about new campaigns, be it here, or on my website, via email, etc. Not to mention Facebook, Twitter and now FriendFeed. I am trying to keep it simple. There are piles of other options for the tech obsessed.
Owning the means of production involves being on site of the place where stuff is produced. Not outsourcing. This thought may piss off the remote and inexpensive labor in our planet's fast growing economies, but there is a reverse kind of colonialism at hand. If I have my stuff produced cheaply in a developing country and I focus on designing new and novel products, well, I will end up with Phillipe Stark's karma. Ouch! Making stuff and selling it, this works for me. Simple, clean, efficient. Hard. Lots of work. But, I sleep well at night and I try my best.
Anyway, conceptual art, mid-60/70's made making; painting, actually sculpting etc. unnecessary. Thank you Sol Lewitt! But, life goes on and economics affects us all whether we follow the muse or the crowd. SO, making art is experiencing a resurgence; note the booming DIY movement and craft/art/design are all starting to bump elbows in the dark room of pre-new world discovery. High/low, democratic connectivity, the onslaught of being in touch- Takes my breath away.
I am a potter. I make things. I sell them (hopefully). I use the web to help show pictures of new work, to talk about new campaigns, be it here, or on my website, via email, etc. Not to mention Facebook, Twitter and now FriendFeed. I am trying to keep it simple. There are piles of other options for the tech obsessed.
Owning the means of production involves being on site of the place where stuff is produced. Not outsourcing. This thought may piss off the remote and inexpensive labor in our planet's fast growing economies, but there is a reverse kind of colonialism at hand. If I have my stuff produced cheaply in a developing country and I focus on designing new and novel products, well, I will end up with Phillipe Stark's karma. Ouch! Making stuff and selling it, this works for me. Simple, clean, efficient. Hard. Lots of work. But, I sleep well at night and I try my best.
Monday, March 17, 2008
Contemporary Persian Rug Designer
Ferdod and Karli are 2 rug designers and merchants I met last year at Dwell on Design. They were here in LA at CABoomV and we reconnected. Lovely people, beautiful rugs. Ferdod is of Persian descent with deep ties into that rug making tradition.
David Albert Design
Kirby and David Albert team up to run this very beautiful, handcrafted, soulful furniture studio. Exquisite.
Friday, March 14, 2008
I am in Santa Monica, California!
CABoom is this show I have been blogging about and putting on my Facebook and well just highly focused on for the past 5 weeks. I have made 100 sets of dishes which I packed and shipped out here last week and now the show is all set up and open to the public. Feels really good. Am here with Janet McKean and having a ball. Not to mention staying in a way cool hotel one block from the ocean.
I'll be blogging about more stuff at the show in the next few days. Totally psyched to be here-
Friday, March 07, 2008
New dinnerware and linens
Am working on some new color combos this spring, which will debut next week at CaBoom in Santa Monica, CA. Also, introducing some new cool linens. I have been dreaming of linens for years, finally have found a source.
technorati tags: davistudio, caboom, tablelinens
Wednesday, March 05, 2008
CaBoom
Crazy busy making lots of plates. Finishing packing tonight and will be going to west coast next week for CaBoom. Will blog more in coming days. Phew!!
technorati tags: handmade, fineporcelain, designshow, caboom
Monday, February 18, 2008
Spring Blossoms
It is still winter here in upstate New York, but in Queesland, Australia, the weather must be warming and beautiful. Potter Shannon Garson took up a wonderful project documenting an old magnolia tree and immortalized it in porcelain.
technorati tags: strangefragments, porcelain, australia
Monday, February 11, 2008
Valentine's Day
I love the prospect of a day dedicated to love. I am thinking after New Year's, the continuance of holiday feeling, red, pink and hearts are in order, culminating on Feb 14 - I made these cupcakes with recipe in the Magnolia Bakery cookbook- The red blotchy things on the cupcakes are candied rose petals....
technorati tags: magnoliabakery, cupcakes, valentinesday
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
HueChoose
Do you want to pick the color of the plates you eat dinner off of? Here's your chance. Give me a call or send me an email and let's make some pottery. Go here for more info- davistudio
technorati tags: handmade, fineporcelain, dinnerware
Sunday, January 06, 2008
Blogging 2008
OK, it is now January and I am studying, thinking, meditating, contemplating and a whole lot of reading; Twitter, Facebook, blogs etc. in re. to what or how I will continue to blog here. I am writing this post as a way to open (hopefully) some sort of conversation with readers here regarding where an artist should focus her attention in relation to online communication. I have written about a variety of subjects in the past 2 years of blogging, from peace activities to other potters to my own work. I have been admittedly undisciplined but keep coming back because there is something about this form of communication, a bit more than a message in a bottle, which is very appealing. My favorite thing is to post a photo and write something brief.
Seth said recently, writing about other people is more effective than writing about yourself, but that was in regards to authors. As a visual artist, a blog is a place to publish work that may not be seen in real time, in other words, as it is made. Artists often want an idea fleshed out before it is published. But is blogging really publishing? It depends. It depends on who sees what I have posted and what the response is. If I am avoiding the critique until I have fully formed the idea, then I may want to wait before I post an image. If I am interested in an open source development of a more universal or collective idea, well maybe the online process posting introduces other voices which lend creative influence to an idea's iteration.
Anyway, this is all a way of saying, I'm still here. I hope to post more often in the coming year. And, most of all, I look forward to participating as the blog and the web in general become a greater part of of our lives. I do believe quite profoundly that we find our way together, into this vast and exciting future.
Seth said recently, writing about other people is more effective than writing about yourself, but that was in regards to authors. As a visual artist, a blog is a place to publish work that may not be seen in real time, in other words, as it is made. Artists often want an idea fleshed out before it is published. But is blogging really publishing? It depends. It depends on who sees what I have posted and what the response is. If I am avoiding the critique until I have fully formed the idea, then I may want to wait before I post an image. If I am interested in an open source development of a more universal or collective idea, well maybe the online process posting introduces other voices which lend creative influence to an idea's iteration.
Anyway, this is all a way of saying, I'm still here. I hope to post more often in the coming year. And, most of all, I look forward to participating as the blog and the web in general become a greater part of of our lives. I do believe quite profoundly that we find our way together, into this vast and exciting future.
technorati tags: blogging, art, collaboration
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