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Marlow
Sport climber
OSLO
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Topic Author's Original Post - Aug 1, 2014 - 01:18pm PT
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Kintsukuroi or Kintsugi
Most people would like damages to their broken items to be concealed and hidden by repair making the object look like new. But the Japanese art of Kintsugi follows a different philosophy. Rather than disguising the breakage, kintsugi restores the broken item incorporating the damage into the aesthetic of the restored item, making it part of the object’s history. Kintsugi uses lacquer resin mixed with powdered gold, silver, platinum, copper or bronze, resulting into something more beautiful than the original.
Kintsugi is said to have originated in the 15th century when a Japanese shogun broke a favorite tea bowl and sent it back to China to be fixed. But the repair job, which was done with metal staples - being the standard for repair at that time - detracted from the beauty of the bowl. Disappointed, the shogun enlisted a Japanese craftsmen to come up with a more aesthetically pleasing solution, and kintsugi was born.
Collectors of kintsugi are so enamored of the art that some were accused of deliberately smashing valuable pottery so it could be repaired with the gold seams of kintsugi.
The basis for kintsugi is lacquer. Lacquer comes from the tree Toxicodendron vernicfluum, also known as the Chinese lacquer tree. Note the word “toxic” in the Latin name. The tree belongs to the same genus as poison oak and other plants that are skin irritants. It is a deciduous tree that’s indigenous to Japan, Korea, China and Southeast Asia and grows eight to 20 meters in height. The sap of the lacquer tree is gathered through a tap method and can be processed into lacquer. A single tree will produce about one cup of sap in six months. This low yield is one of the reasons the raw materials are so expensive.
Ninety-eight percent of the lacquer used today in Japan comes from Chinese sources. Japanese lacquer makes up only two percent of the use in Japan, but it is about four times more expensive.
The origin of the lacquer isn’t the only difference between the two. The contrast in the amount active ingredient in Japanese and Chinese lacquer is large. The composition of lacquer includes lacquer oil, water, gum and various sugars. Japanese lacquer contains about 60 to 70 percent active oil, whereas Chinese products contain only about 5 to 10 percent. The lacquer oil is what causes reaction in skin. Chinese lacquer will cause a poison-oak-type reaction that can last only a couple of days. Japanese lacquer, with six to seven times the amount of refined oil, will cause a much more severe reaction.
Lacquer is completely different from paint in the way it dries and cures. In lacquer, there is an enzyme that facilitates the reaction needed to drive off the water in the composition. The enzyme will only be active in an environment with more than 80 percent humidity and temperatures above 28 degrees Celsius, or 83 degrees Fahrenheit. These conditions have to be maintained for at least two weeks for the enzyme to drive off enough water to where the piece can be considered “dry.” In fact, the lacquer will continue to cure for longer periods—three years in some cases.
Just like kintsukuroi, we can look beyond seeing trash and instead behold the beautiful in the becoming. As Robert Bly said, “Where a man’s wound is, that is where his genius will be.” Simply put, rather than avoiding the pain of life, we will find the gold, or greater purpose, if we are willing to examine our wounds.
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Tony Puppo
climber
Bishop
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Marlow you have the best posts.
This one is so cool! I have a piece of art glass with a small crack, maybe a repair of this sort will enhance the beauty.
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Marlow
Sport climber
OSLO
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Topic Author's Reply - May 14, 2015 - 10:36am PT
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5 South Korean Ceramic And Pottery Master Craftsmen Show Off Their Skills.
[Click to View YouTube Video]
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Marlow
Sport climber
OSLO
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Topic Author's Reply - May 14, 2015 - 10:52am PT
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Cool stuff, Stahlbro. TFPU!
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feralfae
Boulder climber
in the midst of a metaphysical mystery
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May 16, 2015 - 07:24am PT
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Wow, Marlow, thank you for this thread and the excellent video. I am inspired. Well, I am not going back to using engobes, nor carving leather-hard clay, at least not right now, but I am still inspired.
If you ever get to Helena, I will take you out for a tour of the Bray, which is where I learned a LOT of what I know about pottery. What a gift to watch the visiting master artists at work and to spend time with them out at the Bray.
The making of the pieces in the video certainly shows how much work it is to create such beautiful art.
feralfae
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yedi
Trad climber
Stanwood,wa
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May 16, 2015 - 09:30am PT
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Marlow
Sport climber
OSLO
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Topic Author's Reply - May 16, 2015 - 09:33am PT
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Feralfae
I don't know much, but I know you're an artist. Where can the art be seen?
Yedi
A great work of art ... timeless... Thanks! Earthhandsfire: http://www.earthhandsfire.com/
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feralfae
Boulder climber
in the midst of a metaphysical mystery
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May 16, 2015 - 10:06am PT
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Yedi, that is a gorgeous piece!
My web site is down now. When Doug got sick, I sold all I had and then closed the web site. Then I got sick, but I am almost healed and well. Now I am working in a new, more translucent porcelain (Polar Ice from Western Clay in Medicine Hat), and hope to have new photos to post by the end of the year. All of this new series is already sold, though. But I will get some photos up when I have pieces to show off and the time to work on the web site, not my strong suit. And now I will check this thread often for new posts. Thank you.
Next, I hope to do another series to fire in an anagama, with lots of reduction, and of a slightly less translucent porcelain. And I will be doing more of my large art bowls.
Off to Saturday chores this cold and rainy day.
feralfae
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yedi
Trad climber
Stanwood,wa
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May 16, 2015 - 10:22am PT
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Thanks! and feralfae, sounds like some exciting stuff coming up. I'm in the process of building a new soda kiln. Hope to have burning mid summer!
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SC seagoat
Trad climber
Santa Cruz, Moab or In What Time Zone Am I?
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May 16, 2015 - 10:25am PT
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Thank you for this thread.
Pottery has always just swept me away.
From time to time I have gone to the wheel but could never satisfactorily achieve what I wanted.
I hope there will be many adds to this thread.
Susan
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Gnome Ofthe Diabase
climber
Out Of Bed
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May 16, 2015 - 10:47am PT
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I always loved to 'sculpt' n' pot, the things that super topo has got!
This is not as I feared a dead stop but a place like of old to show the best we got. . .
Thank you all for sharing
Art is great all art is great
Beautiful
Beauty is in the share
Share art and be
Beautiful
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neebee
Social climber
calif/texas
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May 16, 2015 - 10:56am PT
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hey there say, marlow... wow, this is great... really great... the best part of all, is the 'fixing'... :)
i love that idea... me, having fixed a lot of broken stuff, :))
well, nothing of much value, though, but the idea of fixing, instead of throwing away, seems so 'productive' and creative, to me...
say, i wrote one of my jake-stories about a broken bowl, and the way it was used to make a special day for a lot of friends...
also, wow, feralfae, i JUST got done reading about you email and pottery, and i too, can't wait to see it!!!!
happy good day, to all, am off to go babysit too, now...
*it is really neat to see that there actually is a whole craft, on these repairs to broken potter, marlow...
make it very sweet to the heart... and the history story was very good to see...
i also, like the story of the 'wounds' and being healed and how they applied this to mankind, etc... in the stuff that you shared...
ps:
feralfae... i used to want to make pottery, but, when one or two things that i did in school, exploded, verses the only two, that did not, and, having no other place to learn more about it... i just let it slip away...
:)
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feralfae
Boulder climber
in the midst of a metaphysical mystery
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May 16, 2015 - 02:32pm PT
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neebs,
you noticed how I posted about "drying for days so they don't explode in the kiln" in my email to you? They are so thin-walled, if one explodes, several are grenaded (can I use that as a verb?) and the one time that happened, on that first (bisque) firing, I lost several pieces.
When I have students or an apprentice here at my studio, the biggest lesson is patience: me with the students, them with the process.
Did you watch that beautiful video? I can feel their balanced, centered energy, can't you?
feralfae
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feralfae
Boulder climber
in the midst of a metaphysical mystery
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May 16, 2015 - 02:55pm PT
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Yedi, I visited your website. Your art is beautiful, and how fitting. I really, really love your taller pieces. Your work has, at the same time, beautiful harmony and active drama. Really lovely. Thank you for sharing the site.
Yedi, is it to be a gas or wood soda? Cat arch?
I don't do much work for soda, but one series I did and fired in the Bray's wood soda came out very beautiful. I think I sold them all, but I may have one piece around somewhere. I'll look.
MFM, that is a beautiful piece of the art of its age. Too bad it isn't where it could be turned into a planter, as it would make a lovely one.
ff
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yedi
Trad climber
Stanwood,wa
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May 17, 2015 - 01:32pm PT
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feralfae, here is a photo of the kiln I am building. It is a sprung arch kiln, propane fired with a trolly door.
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feralfae
Boulder climber
in the midst of a metaphysical mystery
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Jun 21, 2015 - 07:00am PT
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Wow, Mouse, thank you. That is a beautiful piece. I had not seen any done with resin in that fashion, and it adds deep and rich luster. I will check out her work.
Happy Father's Day to you, by the way!
ff
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