Anthony D Merino

Whether due to his insight or influence, Foucault’s mixture of cynicism, paranoia and obsession with power mirrors our current cultural zeitgeist. His thoughts resonate on both thin edges of the American political thought. On the left, consider feminist law scholar Catharine MacKinnon who stated that men incarcerated for rape thinks it is stupid because “They were put into jail for something very little different from what most men do most of the time and they call it sex. The only difference is they got caught. It may also be right.”  On the right, there are those who believe that including homosexuality as a personal choice would lead to an epidemic of sodomy. In speaking of homosexuality, Pat Buchanan sees even mere acceptance as wrong.  While these ideas are clearly on the lip of the American political bell curve, it is an arc plotted on a Foucauldien graph. The X-axis is knowledge and the right axis is power.

It’s entirely possible that more emails and tapes will be discovered. They’ll be politician ready and willing to make fools of themselves in the future, but this comedic bout will never happen again. Jost, Che, Noah, Oliver, Bee, and Myers will tell funny topical jokes in the future, but it’s unimaginable that they’ll ever be given this gift again.

In 1635 Salem colony exiled Roger Williams for propagating “diverse, new and dangerous ideas.” This
started the ”lively experiment”of Rhode Island. Williams believed an institution's tolerance determines its
strength. Every institution needs people to question and reform it. This panel will present four speakers willing to
do just that.

Mined out of the earth's crust; the source of Takaezu's,
Wedgewoods, paint your own frogs and Fiesta
-
ware; is clay not
the base of all other materials
--
the most de-light full material?
The lightest of metals is contained in porcelain (crust made soft
made hard made light). Iron is making the red earthenware
made in to blocks with which we build gravity defying
buildings. The Unbearable Lightness of Ceramics present four
artists; Colby Parsons, Nel Bannier, Holly Hanessian and
Anthony Merino, lightness with ceramic's technical, political,
aesthetic and physical presence; ironies and insights bounce like
bingo balls in a hopper.

This logic has become a tenant of American
political discourse. Both poles of our social
politics reflect this belief. The far left asserts
that there can be no non-rape since every
sexual act occurs within a phallocentric patriarchy. The far right asserts that recognizing homosexuality as simply an alternative methodof sexual congress leads to more homosexuals. Each absurdity reflects either Foucault’s influence or insight. More importantly, their existence reflects the fact that there are con
stituencies who think like Foucault.

This year ‘Ist International Raku Education Program 2011’ was organized by Anadolu University, Faculty of Fine Arts, Ceramics Department between 22-27 May 2011. During this program traditional Japanese Raku technique, which has a different site with its materials, firing technique and glazes, was taught by means of theoretical and practical applications.

Using Bach to illuminate the work of Eva Zethraeus and vise versa.

Originally published in February 2019 issue of Ceramics Monthly, pages (insert page #s). http://www.ceramicsmonthly.org . Copyright, The American Ceramic Society. Reprinted with permission.

Many American potters tend to romanticize Japanese ceramics, and are most familiar with its wood-fired aesthetics and traditions, its connection to Zen Buddhism and the Japanese Tea Ceremony, a highly ritualized ceremony where matcha (a green tea) is prepared and served. Sharing a drink is an important social ritual in any culture. From the formality of toasting a bride and groom to the simple act of sharing a beer—people understand the significance.

"Originally published in February 2017 issue of Ceramics Monthly, pages (insert page #s). http://www.ceramicsmonthly.org . Copyright, The American Ceramic Society. Reprinted with permission."

In Daniel F. Cardone's new documentary, the stark, desert landscape of Palm Springs reflects the physical and psychological isolation some HIV-positive retirees experience there.

By Anthony Merino
DECEMBER 30 2015 6:12 PM EST

See full review on link below....

In her influential book The Second Sex, Simone de Beauvoir presented a radical notion that “one is not born a woman but becomes one” (Beauvoir, 1989, c1952, p. 283). In this essay, I explore how four artists—Klara Kristalova, Jessica Harrison, Chris Antemann, and Tip Toland—visually present in their ceramic work different nuances of Beauvoir’s thesis on
the social construction of women’s identity. From an analysis of the four artists’ work in the 2013-2014 exhibition, Body & Soul: New International Ceramics, held at the Museum of Arts and Design in New York, I tease out contemporary views on body and identity in selected ceramic work by four artists.

Welcome to Issue 16 of Interpreting Ceramics. In his article entitled ‘Dora Billington: From Arts and Crafts to Studio Pottery’, Marshall Coleman illuminates the early career of one of the most important figures in twentieth century studio pottery in Britain. Although the production of her own ceramics was not extensive, Billington influenced generations of potters through her inspirational teaching. Her career as Head of Department at the Central School of Arts and Crafts in London in the 1950s is well documented but details of her work in earlier decades have until now been harder to find. The author’s research enables us to understand more fully the development of Billington’s ideas and teaching methods. In contrast to the meticulous historical approach of Marshall Colman, Helen Doherty offers a more personal but no less intriguing account of a ceramics studio in South Africa which has proved to be as controversial as it has been successful. As a white woman of South African origin, the author positions herself within the story. She acknowledges difficult cultural and political issues as she gives a critical appreciation of the Ardmore Ceramics Studio and the people who have worked there, including the founder Fée Halsted and the first artist to work with her, Bonnie Ntshalintshali. In addition to these articles, this issue of Interpreting Ceramics is particularly rich in reviews, with a broad range of book and exhibition reviews as well as reports of the Taiwan Ceramics Biennale and the SITE: Situating Ceramics colloquium at the University of Sunderland, UK.

WATCH: Why You Should Watch HBO's Larry Kramer in Love & Anger Tonight
In this new documentary, the co-founder of GMHC and ACT UP remains uncompromising, unapologetic, and flawed, but also empathetic and incredibly persuasive.

Click on link to go to webpage...

Kageyama Kōyō (1907-1981) photographed people in Tokyo, Japan during the Shōwa imperial period (1926–1989). This tumultuous time in the country’s history spans 1923′s Great Kantō Earthquake, a depression, rapid militarization, near annihilation during World War II, and the challenges and triumphs generated by the prosperity of the post-war period. Kōyō succeeds at doing more than documenting the lives lived in a distinctive time and place. At their best, his photographs mingle the lyrical and the gritty, the imagined and the reportorial, the detached and the didactic

The assumptions Benjamin appropriated are dead on accurate. As uncannily prophetic his assumptions are -- his predictions are off. This comes down to a fundamental misunderstanding of human nature.

CLICK ON LINK TO READ THE REVIEW ON LINE AN SUBMIT COMMENTS.

Fuse Visual Arts Review: “Andy Warhol by the Book” — How to Read the King of Pop Art, (CLICK ON LINK FOR FULL REVIEW)

The strong connections between Andy Warhol’s early drawings and his later Pop-pieces become clear as you walk through the exhibition.

Warhol by the Book, at the Williams College Museum of Art, Williamstown, MA, through August 16.

A single passage from Rand’s book The Anthem, articulates how alien her ideas are to American Democracy. She states:
I am done with the monster of "We," the word of serfdom, of plunder, of misery, falsehood and shame.

And now I see the face of god, and I raise this god over the earth, this god whom men have sought since men came into being, this god who will grant them joy and peace and pride.

This god, this one word:

"I.”
There is no way to reconcile Rand’s plea of government of the person, by the person for the person with Lincoln’s government “of the people, by the people and for the people.

Tony Merino recibió su MFA (Maestría en Bellas Artes) en la Universidad de North Texas en 1992. Además de impartir clases ha desarrollado una intensa labor como comisario de exposiciones, dictando conferencias e impartiendo cursos, además de desarrollar su labor como ceramista.

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Se prohíbe el uso o reproducción del texto, que se publica en Infoceramica con permiso del autor. Las fotos han sido enviadas por el Independent Art Project de North Adams, Massachusetts, a quien agradecemos su colaboración. Este artículo se publica exclusivamente para la promoción de la exposición y la obra del artista, queda prohibida su reproducción sin permiso expreso del autor.

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From Sex Work to College Romance, Film Shows HIV is "Not Over" For Young People
A new documentary about HIV and AIDS around the globe, It's Not Over, shines when it looks through the eyes of kids impacted by the epidemic.
BY ANTHONY MERINO DECEMBER 01 2014 7:20 PM ET

Click on link for full review.

At their best, each artist leverages the power of abstraction to bewilder in playful ways that provoke compelling ideas and a variety of emotional reactions.

Anne Lilly and Carrie Seid at William Baczek Fine Arts, Northampton, MA, through December 13.

Sin-ying Ho dissects the complexity of human identity in two semi-monumental vases: Temptation: Life of Goods No.1 and One World, Many Peoples No. 2 exhibited at Independent Art Projects, North Adams, MA. Across the surfaces of the two vases are human forms in silhouette floating amidst a field of flowers, mimicking traditional blue and white floral patterns found in traditional Chinese porcelain imports. Ho uses the silhouette device to suggest that humans are vessels and within them are their identities. - See more at: http://artnewengland.com/blogs/sin-ying-ho/#sthash.mNbzJKjp.dpuf

Nick Cave sews, weaves and fastens together debris and fabrics to create fanciful suits of armor called Soundsuits (2004-2014). Fibrous multi-hue conglomerations explode out of these outfits’ torso. On the surface the pieces read as festive; like erudite Mardi Gras costumes. Held on the Tuesday before the Ash Wednesday, Mardi Gras is one last hedonistic ritual prior to the imposed  austerity of Lent. Both Cave’s Soundsuits and Mardi Gras costumes are flamboyant and overtly sexual. The carnival we know today is a mere fossil of its origin. In his introduction to Rabelais and His World, noted Russian literary theorist Mikhail Mikhailovich Bakhtin writes -- “[A]ll were considered equal during carnival. Here, in the town square, a special form of free and familiar contact reigned among people who were usually divided by the barriers of caste, property, profession, and age.” All shared characteristics: surface frivolity, an unreal quality and a subversive egalitarian intent are consistent with a distinctly American music form -- Funk..

A self-described visual-activist, Muholi has a clear intent to give a face to the marginalized GLBT communities in South Africa. The exhibition, Zanele Muholi at Williams College Museum of Art, 1 February through 27 April 2014, includes four videos and numerous photographs.

American ceramics has a PR problem. Mostly imposed but to some extent self-inflicted. The first ceramic art objects most people are exposed to are Precious Moments® figurines or Franklin Mint commemorative plates. Many clay artists siphon from this context to enhance their works, which often get ignored by the academy.  Instead—institutionalized cultural ceramics promote a slither out of a broad aesthetic spectrum.

Why read Foucault? His influence on contemporary thought and society is profound. His thought seeps through academic disciplines into popular culture. Intellectual paranoia permeates his writing. For Foucault the most insidious forms of domination are those guised as given. Foucault was also a serial inverter who constantly switched cause and effect. Foucault’s writings say nothing about making a ceramic pot. The process of making a pot can however, illuminate many of the more difficult theories Foucault promoted.

Canadian social critic marshall mcluhan coined the phrase “the media is the message”. This declaration is not as simple as it seems. The word media means so many things that trying to force it into single meaning is like carrying Jell-Otm with rubber bands. The plurality of meanings makes this phrase a conceptual master key for the two major movements of Modernism. Define media as the material from which objects are forged – the statement embodies the reductionism function: to deliver content to an audience. Their unique mechanics distinguish these media. The creation of objects for display in authoritative institutions (such as galleries and museums) is just another tradition. Jonathan Kaplan’s recent works of pottery, Nouveau Moche reflect this tradition. He merges his own cultural history with forms and motifs appropriated from Moche Pottery to create his art. In doing so, Kaplan illuminates the ramification of McLuhan’s statement.

Tony Merino received his MFA from the University of North Texas in 1992. Since then he has published and lectured internationally on contemporary ceramic art. Known for being erudite and irreverent, Merino's traditional ceramic forms can sometimes seem at odds with his writings.  Merino's artwork reflects the quintessential American art movement of Jazz. For Merino, it is the imperfections that make something or someone beautiful. Mastery comes from talent honed, skill and practice mixed, so that the skill is engrained. Mastery is not domination of the medium but the opposite...letting go, allowing the process to create. At his best, a swipe of Merino's brush is like a breath of Louis Armstrong pushed through a trumpet: spontaneous, immediate and unbridled. The result is a shadow of the sublime.

Happy or unhappy, families are all mysterious. We have only to imagine how differently we would be described-and will be, after our deaths-by each of the family members who believe they know us.


"Domestic Mysteries"
New Taipei City Yingge Ceramics Museum
8/11-9/24 2017

FUNK: American Dada on view at Manchester Craftsmen's Guild through March 30, 2018- featuring work by Sharif Bey,
David MacDonald, Yinka Orafidiya,
Kyle & Kelly Phelps, Angelica Pozo,
Janathel Shaw, Malcolm Mobutu Smith, Lydia Thompson, and James Watkins. Curated by Tony Merino. Come see it when CrossCurrents: Clay and Culture opens in Pittsburgh
#nceca2018 #mcgyouthandarts