CHICAGO PIPE SHOW - May 2006
THE IMAGINATIVE
EVOLUTION OF HIROYUKI TOKOTOMI
Exhibit Page 9
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... Toku and Todd Johnson |
Toku’s "homage à Todd"
Teaching is never a one-way street for Tokutomi, as his complex relationship with Kei Gotoh demonstrates. When visiting Todd Johnson, Toku was particularly intrigued to watch Todd make a long-shanked blowfish pipe, a shape that Todd has been developing for a while. (Toku worked very little on this piece, confining himself primarily to a few comments and suggestions.)
The asymmetrical stem of the pipe is especially distinctive. Not only does the mouthpiece curve sharply to continue the line of the shank, but Todd has placed the air-hole and button slightly off-center.
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Apparently Toku found the asymmetrical stem to be a fascinating idea. Barely a month after returning home, he created an asymmetrical, long-shanked blowfish, complete with off-centered stem ... though Toku handles the important detail of the air-hole and button quite differently from Todd.
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Toku centers the air-hole and carves a symmetrical button (left), while on Todd's pipe both elements are off-centered and asymmetric (right). |
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Todd Johnson and
Hiroyuki Tokutomi: |
TODD TOKU |
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BELOW: Todd's bowl has an angular and upright feel to it, while the top of Toku's bowl cants forward. This difference partly reflects differences in the two shanks: Toku's thick curve flows into the bowl with a sense of sweeping, continuous movement; Todd's thinner, sharper line hits the flat side of the bowl with a diminished sense of forward propulsion. |
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END OF EXHIBIT PAGE 9
