CHICAGO PIPE SHOW - May 2006
THE IMAGINATIVE
EVOLUTION OF HIROYUKI TOKOTOMI
Exhibit Page 6
THE EXHIBIT: Section by Section
3. Toku and Gotoh
New "Surfing" Pipes
from Tokutomi and Gotoh: Chicago, May 2006
(MORE POST-CHICAGO PHOTOS BELOW THE COMMENTARY)) The fascinating interplay between Tokutomi and Gotoh reached a new level in the run-up to this year’s Chicago show, as Kei continued the development of the "Sio-Yaki" theme and produced one of his most amazing, sculptural compositions while Toku re-imagined Kei’s theme into another "Stone-like" Cavalier. Kei’s new pipe contains a straight-forward compositional idea within its breath-taking mixture of planes, angles, long-lines, and brilliantly vivid grain. A couple of years ago, Kei developed an asymmetrical variation to his "Wagtail" bowl … and it is this "comma-like" form – slightly elongated – that Kei puts at the center of his composition.
The bowl appears to be surfing on a flat plane of briar (an idea that Teddy has long played around with, by the way). But given the Gotoh "Sio-Yaki" design, I think we can say that this plane represents an imaginative redesign of the bamboo spear. (Aficionados of Japanese pipe-makers may also recognize the x-shape formed by the tail of the bowl and the front of the "surf board" as a structure used by Takeo Arita in some of his strikingly modern compositions. And, indeed, the general elongation of stem, shank, and bowl – suggesting a sense of forward speed – also occurs frequently in Takeo’s work.) Toku also seems to have stretched out his familiar blowfish bowl slightly and made a narrow version of Kei’s original "Wagtail" bowl. In place of the "Sio-Yaki’s" spear, Toku uses (naturally enough) his reverse-curve Cavalier shank. These "briar sculptures" are challenging and arresting and require more study to fully appreciate. But they certainly suggest that the creative interplay between these two great artisans holds enormous promise to surprise and delight us in the years to come. ADDITIONAL NOTE: Admirers of Tokutomi and Gotoh aren't the only folks who are surprised by their interplay: the carvers themselves often amaze each other. While I was setting up the exhibit at the convention center, I learned from Toku and Gotoh that they had not known before they landed in Chicago that they had been working on such similar pipes. Uncharacteristically, they'd been out of touch for a few weeks and Toku and Kei saw their new pipes for the first time in their hotel rooms, shortly after their flight from Tokyo. They stared at the two "Surfers" in disbelief. At no time had they discussed this design with each other ... and yet here were two carvings obviously inspired by the same idea. How had this happened? They were as dumbfounded as everyone else. This episode seems to confirm my idea that however different their finished work may appear, Toku and Kei share a deep imaginative bond that links their creativity and feeds their inspiration. |
"DUELING SURFERS" -- FIRST PICTURES OF TWO EXTRAORDINARY CARVINGS
THE SURFERS WITH GOTOH'S ORIGINAL ASYMMETRICAL WAGTAIL
|
END OF EXHIBIT PAGE 6