"Here you go son, can you use this in your art?" This was the question my dad asked me about the yellow vase. My first inclination was to say no, roll my eyes and dismiss it completely. Then I took a second look at the bird and the pale yellow and said "Yeah, let me have that."
I have been trying to research the history of this vase, its decoration and color for a few hours now with little success. What I did find out is that it probably came from Wal-Mart and that it is a second or third generation copy of Japanese vase painting. According to Terry Thacker, the bird and tree are probably Americanized and are a great example of kitsch. Terry and I talked about the watering down and blending of copies being very American. I see this in the mixture of culture through marriage, the copies of copies, and the evolution of story and tradition over time.
You take genuine Japanese culture, introduce that to Europeans, use it during the industrial revolution to re-produce a cheap copy for the average person, and ship the item and its concept to America. Once it is here you mix up the techniques, subject matter, the color, and then perfect the simulation and you have a true American. Does this simply cheapen the culture or transform it to something so complex, so layered, that it becomes impossible to trace its roots much like the web, much like globalization? But as complexity becomes common place and free, it becomes a hollow shell of a hand thrown, hand painted and hand glazed vase. Our relationships, much like this vase, enter hyper-reality.
Hello to all of my Facebook friends.
"Oops, I guess I need my Facebook friends to help me put this back together."
Thank you Facebook friends!
