야기 가즈오와 가모다 쇼지 작품 비교 연구

Abstract

Yagi Kazuo (1918–79) and Kamoda Shoji (1933-1983) are two of the greatest names representing contemporary ceramic arts in Japan. Yagi Kazuo is considered the father of avant-garde ceramics, who coined ‘obuje-yaki (kiln-fired object),’ the Japanese term for non-functional ceramics. Kamoda Shoji is considered the artist who opened up a new horizon of ceramic arts by bringing two aspects of ceramics – utilitarian purpose and beauty – into perfect harmony. This paper seeks to compare the personal backgrounds, characteristics of works, and philosophies of art and life of these two most influential potters, Yagi Kazuo and Kamoda Shoji, and confirm the validity of evaluations on them by the Japanese ceramic art community today. Studies on the interrelationship between Yagi and Kamoda are based on papers by art critics and curators including Matsuhara Ryuichi, Kaneko Kenji, and Unagami Masaomi. The studies are summarized as follows: First, according to Matzuhara and Kaneko, both Yagi and Kamoda always understood the structural frames of their works and learned earlythat ceramic art was not simply an art of clay and fire. It is far more. Accordingly, Matzuhara and Kaneko assumed that the two potters shared common ideas about working with clay deep inside themselves. Second, Kaneko concluded that both Yagi and Kamoda were not interested in accidental effects or miraclesbrought by fire fluctuations in a kiln, which had long been sought after by Japanese potters, and such antithesis naturally followed as ‘logic for new shapes’. Third, Unagami found that the two potters are psychologically similar, based on case studies on ‘A Walk of Mr. Zamura’ by Yagi and ‘Jar’by Kamoda Shoji. Unagami related Yagi’s A Walk of Mr. Zamura to a novel by Franz Kafka, and found similarities between Kamoda’s Jar and a painting by Gustav Klimt. Based on the psychological states of the two potters, Unagami deduced correlations between their works. Yagi’s accomplishment can be recognized as bringing big changes in the thinking of the Japanese by breaking away from the entrenched perception of ceramics as only utilitarian vessels, while Kamoda made a great contribution to advancing the conventional thinking of the Japanese ceramic art community.