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The Spaces of Ceramics (Spanish)

(Spanish) [The art of] ceramics has various spaces. I would say that ceramics is as much about use as it is about space, we might [even] say aesthetics and even more ritual. I also thought about [ceramics] as function because I began [my career] as a utilitarian ceramist; I began to spin [clay], to make objects of use on a very practical potter’s wheel, and with the decision to put aside music and philosophy, I was finally able to focus on pretty ceramic objects, not so much decorative but rather useful [objects], in order for people to make use of them and to preserve them in their homes. But besides [this,] I thought that I might be able to finance my musical studies, can you imagine? What happened to this financing? Even now I am unable to pay for voice classes, [for] singing classes with a good teacher! How one forgets, as well as in that parable, one searches and one forgets at times what one was looking for. But I am thinking that the two spaces are very important, [but also] very difficult for them to also be compatible, more than in [the space] that produces, in the reception. I would say that people have to think [about the object as] having a function, the object has less value than an object that does not have a function, except that it has a space of isolated layout, visual [in nature], almost like an aesthetic symbol of something, don’t you agree? I would say that the two spaces have important value; I would love for all ceramists or artists who make ceramics to have this possibility of understanding that one needs to travel between the two spaces and to pass through those two dimensions in order to better understand the art of ceramics.


Date: December 7, 2007

Location: Lima, Peru

Interviewer: Harumi Nako

Contributed by: Asociación Peruano Japonesa (APJ)

Interviewee Bio

Carlos Runcie Tanaka was born in 1958 in Lima, Peru. After studying philosophy he began to practice the art of ceramics. He also studied in Brazil, Italy, and Japan. He participates in group exhibitions both in Peru and abroad, particularly contemporary art exhibits. Tanaka’s work also has been exhibited in museums and private collections in various countries. He has shown his work since 1981 in Latin America, United States, Japan, and Italy. In the last few years he has been a visiting professor in several prestigious universities in the United States and Japan. In addition to his research and exhibits, Tanaka has maintained a ceramics workshop since 1979, employing local products and gas ovens for the firing (1300 C) of his objects, which are utilitarian and functional in nature. In November 2007 he exhibited the work “A Zen Parable and Ten Short Stories” in the Ryoichi Jinnai Gallery at the Japanese-Peruvian Cultural Center during the 35th Annual Japanese Cultural Week. At the same time, in December of 2007, he published his first book, also entitled A Zen Parable and Ten Short Stories, under the auspices of the Japanese Peruvian Association. (December 7, 2007)