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Art or just a nice bowl

Very enlightening Richard but as I went thru the galleries that are selling their work some of it is unmistakably Art while other pieces just really nice bowls and yet they are selling them for thousands. So it would seem to me that it is more the artist than the work. I admit i'm not a cultered guy but some of the work I saw in the gallery here is nicer than some I saw in the high end Art Galleries.
 
All it takes is for one person to think it's art for it to be so......doesn't matter if everyone else disagrees, it's still art because there is at least one person who thinks it is!

😀

ooc
 
I am sure once someone has generated a reputation producing quality stuff they will find it easier to be seen as an artist but they still have to have the talent A bad turner is always going to make bad stuff. I am unfamiliar with the American market its one of the reasons I have just joined the AAW I am still finding my feet here but in the UK woodturning has no reputation to speak of Other woodturners know the names of the good turners but the public doesn't know it exists never mind as an art form or anything else. You seem to have a more open and educated general public who have access to top quality work until we get to that point in the UK we will be playing catch up! Don't get to worried about art just continue to make better and better bowls the art thing will take care of itself!

Richard
 
art

art, its just the nature of the species to try to perform at a high level

some of the earliest is recorded in cave paintings in france 15000 years ago,

😀:cool2:
 
Richard Kennedy said:
I am sure once someone has generated a reputation producing quality stuff they will find it easier to be seen as an artist but they still have to have the talent A bad turner is always going to make bad stuff. I am unfamiliar with the American market its one of the reasons I have just joined the AAW I am still finding my feet here but in the UK woodturning has no reputation to speak of Other woodturners know the names of the good turners but the public doesn't know it exists never mind as an art form or anything else. You seem to have a more open and educated general public who have access to top quality work until we get to that point in the UK we will be playing catch up! Don't get to worried about art just continue to make better and better bowls the art thing will take care of itself!

Richard
Click to expand...

You know, Richard........your comment that the public in the UK doesn't know woodturning exists really does surprise me! With all the great tools coming out of England, I would think the English public would be very aware of woodturning as an art form.

It's easy for turners in the USA to think our craft is a commonly held form of art.....but, most of us are not aware that outside of our little circles.....I believe it's pretty much as you see it there.....an unknown. I know that, in my little world, I'm looked upon as an "artist"......but, within the woodturning community, there are those that would debate that assumption. I suppose that's because I don't know very many woodturners personally, but I have my acquaintances, just like everyone else. If it weren't for this forum (my little circle of woodturning friends, if you will!), my turning efforts would go on largely as they did prior to finding it......pretty much a "loner" in this endeavour.

I guess the point I'm attempting to make is, because we are connected by a common interest, it's easy to think lathe turning is more popular than it is.....

......but, for me, it's still hard to believe woodturning in England isn't a highly respected, and "traditional" art form.

ooc
 
First, there's nothing wrong with something being "just" a nice bowl.🙂 Don't get bogged down in that question, just work on what you like and strive to get better.

Although the UK has fewer galleries and collectors that the US, it's hardly dead. Here's a nice collection just outside London, and while they have work from US and other turners, it's largely from UK makers. http://www.thedanielcollection.com/

John
 
John I am not suggesting that there are no artistic woodturners in the UK, far from it But the general public aren't that aware of what is available. The Daniel Collection is fabulous and contains some amazing work but other than them there are very few recognisable places that promote turned work I am not saying they don't exist but perhaps they don't advertise their interest enough Take a look at the UK's Craft council website directory there are hardly any woodturners in there even as a craft it is under represented

We all work in small circles but it seems that in the US there are more opportunities to approach a wider audience and when you do they are more understanding of what we do and better placed to accept it.

Richard
 
If you put crisps in it, it's a bowl. If you let it gather dust on a shelf it's art.

Advertising types always mention steak and sizzle, and tell you to sell the sizzle. Steak is food for the body. Sizzle pleases the nose and the eye. Craft and art, maybe. Though I personally think there's one other ingredient - ego.

The porterhouse in the diner by the stockyards is certainly nourishing, and sizzles satisfactorily, but it wasn't prepared by chef Schmuck, served on a linen-covered table surrounded by crystal, nor was an exorbitant price paid.

Identification of the turner, presence in a gallery, and the snobbery of conspicuous consumption are what make it art.
 
Mark Warden said:
Thanks for the replies everyone gives me something to ponder,MM what is crisps?🙂
Click to expand...

The reply to a UK type above, where "chips" are served with a piece of cod and flavored with malt vinegar.
 
Art or craft? Depends on who is buying it.

Another thought to consider, if you have mastered your craft, then you are an artist. But then again, a master knows that they still have much to learn.

robo hippy
 
Someone once said there is no such thing as Art there are only artists I think that may be the case. Anything can be seen as art if the person seeing it decides that's what they see it as. Look at some modern art now Tracy Emins unmade bed (Google it)

I think the best idea is to forget about words go make shavings but they have to be the very best shavings you can produce. Its quality we need to focus on. 🙂
 
Yes Richard you are rite I think the wood is the art and I just keep trying to find the best way to look at it. As far as shavings I think they can be beutifull also I have bags full I just can't bring myself to throw away.I think I might have problems🙂
 
“When you work with your hands, you are a laborer. When you work with your hands and your head, you are a craftsman. If you work with your hands, your head, your heart and your soul, you are an artist.â€
Saint Francis of Assisi
 
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