What are the ingredients for the perfect weekend?
A good recipe might be: a group of people diverse in every sense, united by a passion for art and creativity that meets in a place full of suggestions to experiment with new techniques and know each other better.
Alba and Antonietta, our hosts opened the doors of this wonderful art studio, that, until recently, was the laboratory of an artist and philosopher, Giancarlo Scapin.
Christine Schmidt of the "Yellow owl workshop" has a personal theory about the borders among craft, art and design:
"Craft is the skill and tecnique used to create an object: the "how" something is made by hand with a specific medium. Design and art both use craft. Art and design are not separated but by an aim. Design conveys information. Art conveys emotion. Design's goal is functionality: to serve a purpose such as informing or performing a task. It is all about utility. Art has its own function: art's goal is to encourage contemplation."
A good recipe might be: a group of people diverse in every sense, united by a passion for art and creativity that meets in a place full of suggestions to experiment with new techniques and know each other better.
Alba and Antonietta, our hosts opened the doors of this wonderful art studio, that, until recently, was the laboratory of an artist and philosopher, Giancarlo Scapin.
Christine Schmidt of the "Yellow owl workshop" has a personal theory about the borders among craft, art and design:
"Craft is the skill and tecnique used to create an object: the "how" something is made by hand with a specific medium. Design and art both use craft. Art and design are not separated but by an aim. Design conveys information. Art conveys emotion. Design's goal is functionality: to serve a purpose such as informing or performing a task. It is all about utility. Art has its own function: art's goal is to encourage contemplation."
In this case, the beauty of the shapes and colors, the life and the movement contained in each piece, the emotion they provoked left no space for any doubt: it was art we were experiencing. It was evident in every single corner of the studio.
But as Schmidt says, art uses craft to reach its goal and and I think that sometimes beauty is clearly visible also in the process of creation of art.
I can not help but think that the way to achieve an art work is sometimes fascinating and worthy of note itself, especially if it is an entirely manual process, done with ancient instruments that carry a story with them.
And when the art involves a very physical medium like ceramics, this is even more true according to me.
I can not help but think that the way to achieve an art work is sometimes fascinating and worthy of note itself, especially if it is an entirely manual process, done with ancient instruments that carry a story with them.
And when the art involves a very physical medium like ceramics, this is even more true according to me.
The studio is housed in an old woollen mill, beautifully restored.
We could not have found a more suitable and inspiring context to free our creativity and follow together the traces of an ancient technique like making paper.
We could not have found a more suitable and inspiring context to free our creativity and follow together the traces of an ancient technique like making paper.
Needless to say, in a context that is so full of inspiration, even a meeting of new friends, a picnic lunch, or the afternoon coffee ritual is full of atmosphere, especially if the cups, glasses and plates, are glazed ceramic masterpieces realized by the master Scapin.
In this case, our goal was not of course to create works of art or to push anyone to meditation, but to focus on the "process of making" itself.
I think we all wanted to reach the roots of our passion for the art of origami, that brought us together.
And all the fun and the enthusiasm we found in slowly seeing our results coming out showed us that passion and creativity can definitely bring people together.
I think we all wanted to reach the roots of our passion for the art of origami, that brought us together.
And all the fun and the enthusiasm we found in slowly seeing our results coming out showed us that passion and creativity can definitely bring people together.
And when you breathe art, you just want to breathe some more. And Italy is the right place for that!
A walk in the streets of Vicenza was the perfect conclusion for an artsy weekend
A walk in the streets of Vicenza was the perfect conclusion for an artsy weekend