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A&D 242
Ceramics I
Instructor: Sigrid Zahner
Syllabus
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"The Turkish word for art is
sanat.
The artisans contrast it with
emek.
Their distinction between
sanat and
emek
is analogous to our division of art from craft, but the criteria
differ. We try to separate art from craft by medium, assuming
some deep, even universal validity in the conventional hierachy
of the late West, as though a textile or ceramic work, no matter
how fine, can only be craft, while a painting or sculpture, no
matter how dreadful, remains art. Or we try to divide by
function, assuming artifacts to be single in purpose, which they
never are, and that useful and beautiful objects belong, like
working and leisured people, in separate classes. Either way we
undermine artifactual complexity, stifle our own art with false
order, and thwart crosscultural study.
The Turkish artisan assumes art is
functional, always in some measure useful. It is used by its
creator to gain profit, and it will be used beneficially by it s
consumer, And art is not bound to this medium or that. It is a
potentiality within all media, from the humble craft of the
basketmaker to the lofty craft of the calligrapher. Medium is a
biographical accident. Some make axes, some make carpets. What
matters is how the individual handles the medium dealt by life.
Sanat
divides from emek,
not on the basis of medium or function, but in accord with the
commitment of the worker.
Emek is what you do to make a living. Sanat is also created to make a living - nothing wrong with that - but it is distinct in that it contains something more. That something more is dedication by the worker to the work itself, the gift into materials of the artist's being.
The artist's gift suffuses an object
with spirit. To the Turkish artisan, art cannot issue from a
mechanical performance. It must contain signs of spirited
volition. And yet art is identified with skill, with a trained
and disciplined mastery. These qualities do not seem to fit
easily together - spirit and master, expression and skill,
freedom and restraint - but both evince artistic commitment.
What I tepidly call commitment, the Turkish artist calls
aşk.
Aşk
is love, devotion, passion: the
passion of lovers separated and pining for each other, the
passion of the soul yearning for union with God. When artists
love, when they commit the wholeness of their being to their
work, when passion drives their actions, their product, whatever
the medium of function, will display the lift of their spirit,
the discipline of their hands. Art is the object that contains
love."
Glassie, Henry. Turkish traditional art today. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1993. |
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