Museum, Mirin & Artists

Artist drink, it could have been mirin, with the hope of having their work in a museum, but that is not our story, but we did do all of those things, just differently. Or as they say: same same, but different:

Been on the lam for a bit, basically a lack of wifi…don't worry, I'll catch up. Lack of wifi does not mean a lack of activity, au contraire

So it is back a few days, actually more like a week when we really began to pack it in: Visit to Museum in Gifu - the exhibit was good, the building was terrific. Well it was designed by Arata Isozake. It was beautiful, kind of a Japanese take on a Bertolucci set. But not to diminish it, very much it's own. 

Then we went to a distillery for Mirin - Hakusen Shuzou.. Mirin is part of the trinity of Japanese cooking: Mirin, Dashi and Soy sauce. Mirin is also a wine like sake and the tasting was quite tasty (fun). I learned that in Japanese culture that chopsticks lay horizontally at the table nearest the eater and acts as the 'line' between the eater and the food. Versusu China and other Asian countries where the chopsticks are vertical and to the left, as in knife and fork.

I found the distillery beautiful in it's forms. But I am looking at a lot of 'forms' here this trip. Kind of tea bowl'd over, you'll see in a moment and for a series of moments and entries:

Now onto the first studio tour: Goro Suzuki

He takes the classic forms and really mixes it up. The oribe form, the sake cups made out of stone and fired, imagery that was modern- taxis, electric lamps and naked women. His work is prolific, beautiful and he gets top prices for his wares. A sake cup, called guynomi  can be up to $1000, and not much below, $600 and a tea bowl, called a chawan are up to $6000. Serious prices for venerated artists.

Then onto Toboya Seiya. Our leader, guide and sendai in all this, Jeff Shapiro was an apprentice for him in his youth and has had a friendship with him since. He was a really tough guy to work for back then, but now he is a happy guy, but then again I am not his apprentice.

This kind of work is wood fired, how pottery was originally made. Long before gas or electricity.

We have seen work from centuries ago that are abstract and graphic, abstract expressionist long before that was an art term. It was just a way to do things. This is the 'back of the envelope' crib note version of the history of Japanese pottery. Despite my simplistic history I am with some formidable teachers on the subject. Besides the work is very beautiful, authentic and having these studio tours are amazing no matter how much you know (or can impart in a blog).