Segundo de un par de posts (el primero aquí) dedicados a la obra del artista uruguayo residente en España Ruben Cano Tetti, en los que disfrutaremos de un recorrido por su vida y obra a través de una amplia selección de imágenes y una interesante entrevista realizada por Shirley Rebuffo.
Texto en inglés al final del post, marcado con [*] en cada párrafo.
Second of a couple of posts (the first one here) dedicated to the work of Uruguayan artist based in Spain Ruben Cano Tetti, in which we will enjoy a tour of his life and work through a wide selection of images and an interesting interview by Shirley Rebuffo.
English text at the end of the post marked with [*] in each paragraph.
____________________________________________________
Ruben Cano Tetti
(Minas, Lavalleja, Uruguay, 1947-)
en / at Lluchmayor, Mallorca, Illes Balears / Islas Baleares, España / Balearic Islands, Spain
El artista con su obra "Cola" / The Artist With His Work "Tail"
Ruben Cano Tetti es un ceramista, dibujante y pintor uruguayo nacido el 25 de julio de 1947 en Minas, Lavalleja.
Continuamos con la entrevista cuya primera parte pueden leer en el post anterior.
Shirley Rebuffo: Háblame de tu propuesta estética.
Ruben Cano: Siempre quiero llegar al ideal de que la gente que contemple mis piezas las vaya descubriendo poco a poco. Que tenga varios perfiles y que en cada uno de ellos logre ver una obra distinta que quizás no están en mí sino en el observador que se detiene a descubrir qué más hay, que tenga el valor de quien la ve. Que les permita usar la imaginación como principal objetivo de experiencia propia. Por eso las texturas, las salpicaduras que caen en forma de chorro de los esmaltes, la diferencia entre hierro y barro hacen en su conjunto, a la hora de elaborar la pieza, que cada elemento permita contrastar los distintos sentidos que hay en ellas. Lo frío del hierro, así como lo liso y su color mezclado con la cerámica rústica, más cálida y en diferentes tonos y texturas, dan la estética que yo quiero. [1]
"Cua / Cola / Tail", gres chamotado con pigmento / firesand stoneware with pigment, 170 cm., 2018-19
"Tribal", gres chamotado con pigmento / firesand stoneware with pigment, 125 x 25 cm., 2018-19
SR: Háblame del Raku o de alguna otra técnica que te haya dado satisfacciones.
RC: La técnica del Raku, de origen coreana, trasladada al Japón, fue para mí una gran revelación porque me permitió salir a la calle con el horno. De esa forma es posible que la gente vea y experimente el horneado de la cerámica; sumado a que es una fiesta para trabajar con los alumnos y donde el espectador, la gente de fuera, que no ha hecho cerámica, puede intervenir.
Dentro de esta técnica se pueden aplicar otras, con paciencia y sorpresa, por ejemplo, la técnica “obvara” que consiste en que, después que la pieza sale del horno, con la temperatura en caliente, se pasa por una mezcla líquida fermentada por un par de días, de harina, levadura, azúcar y agua. Esta técnica, del siglo XII, es originaria de Europa del Este y fue usada para impermeabilizar las piezas. También, lo que he utilizado últimamente, es lo que se define como “carbonación” que se realiza en una tercera cocción. Al igual que las anteriores, se llega a la reducción (o sea se quita a la combustión el oxígeno) y el carbono que se crea busca el oxígeno en los esmaltes, para así formar el monóxido de carbono. Se logra así un acabado que cambia los metales de los esmaltes. De esa manera la magia de la cerámica te lleva a no predecir lo que pueda ocurrir y hace que te sorprendas del resultado. [2]
"Jarritas / Small cups", raku obvara, 16 x 10 cm., 13 x 10 cm., 13 x 10 cm.
"KL-8", gres / stoneware, 1260º C, 45 x 21 x 30 cm., 2008
SR: ¿Hay algo nuevo con lo que te gustaría experimentar o realizar y aún no has tenido oportunidad? O quizás, ¿hay algo nuevo que hayas hecho recientemente?
RC: La cerámica en cada momento va dando lugar a nuevos descubrimientos. Cuando yo me conecté con la cerámica ingenuamente pensé que era sencillo, ya que se componía de tres elementos: barro, esmalte y horno. A medida que me fui adentrando en la esencia de la actividad, aprendí que había más de un tipo de barro (rojo, blanco, chamotado, mezclados entre ellos, rojo-blanco, etc.) y que cada uno lo puedo trabajar distinto. A su vez exigen distintas temperaturas para su horneado y por consiguiente distintos esmaltes para las diferentes graduaciones de cocción. Todo eso es lo genial de ese noble material, tan flexible y a su vez tan delicado que la experimentación es lo que te hace mantener un interés constante y te lleva a investigar, con pruebas de acierto/error continuo y los resultados dejan siempre lugar para la sorpresa. Es un material tan dúctil, usado desde tiempos prehistóricos, que te lleva desde lo utilitario hasta la creación de una pieza de arte única. [3]
"Cabeza / Head", gres / stoneware, 1260 ºC, 52 x 31 x 31 cm., 2010
"Cabeza de hombre / Head of a Man", chamotado / firesand 1260 ºC, 2000
SR: ¿Te gusta enseñar?
RC: Por supuesto que sí, e intento dar todo lo que he aprendido. De esta manera logro que los alumnos ya partan de una base sólida de conocimiento, experimentada por mí. Es tanto el camino a recorrer, dejando de lado todo el “secretismo” que lleva hace años asentado, dando lugar a que el estudiante construya su propio camino, sabiendo que su profesor (en este caso yo) dio todo para que él más adelante lo dé a sus propios alumnos sin egoísmo, si decide enseñar, o lo aplique en sus piezas creativas. Siempre he pensado que cuando yo doy la fórmula de un esmalte, por ejemplo, la persona que lo aplique seguro lo hará diferente a mí, pudiendo ser autónomo en su experimentación. De esta manera se habilita a que fluya su personalidad como creación propia. Esto pasa porque los ceramistas tenemos que hacer nuestras propias combinaciones de productos para el logro de cada color, no nos viene pronta del supermercado, hay diferentes propiedades químicas que debemos complementar para lograr nuestros propios colores. En Uruguay incluso debemos confeccionar nuestro propio barro. Por tal motivo mi postura al enseñar es dar todo y después dejar libertad para la experimentación. [4]
"Pirámide tribal / Tribal Pyramid"
Gres chamotado y pigmentos / firesand stoneware and pigments, 1260 ºC, 2004
"Tribal", gres chamotado con carbonación / firesand stoneware with carbonation, 130 x 50 x 10 cm., 2018
SR: ¿Puedes contar cómo fue tu experiencia al trabajar enseñando en una prisión?
RC: La experiencia en la prisión fue sumamente positiva. Me encontré con gente muy ávida de conocimientos. Fueron muy receptivos a la hora de aprender. Mi participación consistía en ir todos los días. Comencé las prácticas en el sector de los más jóvenes. En la prisión había una división de aproximadamente unos 10 módulos separados por su comportamiento dentro, y no por el “delito” cometido. Y hay una separación por el rango del delito, si son primarios están en un grupo, donde los más jóvenes están aparte. Al llegar a mí, mi primer trabajo era tratar de entusiasmarlos para que se comprometieran con el proceso de aprendizaje. Logrado eso, les hacía responsables de cumplir con dicha responsabilidad en los tiempos y horarios asignados. Para el educador eso implicaba que salieran del patio y ocuparan un lapso importante en algo útil a futuro. Por tal motivo los tiempos eran apremiantes, ellos necesitaban plasmar su creación de manera rápida, para después llevarla a sus familiares el día de visita, mostrándosela como un logro conseguido gracias a estar en algo que era “valioso” para la autoestima personal, y sintiéndose bien con sus progresos.
Por lo general, son personas con una autoestima escasa donde el nivel de logros, desde la propia construcción, se reconocen por los múltiples “fallos o errores” que han tenido en su vida, máxime a nivel familiar. Sienten que le han fallado a su padre, madre, hermanos, etc. En ese ámbito fue que descubrí lo terapéutico que era la cerámica para el ser humano en general. A pesar de los tiempos que implica el hacer cerámica, con la conveniente tolerancia y teniendo “paciencia”, lograron hornear, y hasta incluso me esperaban con el horno en marcha para empezar o terminar la obra por iniciativa propia. A continuación, ya con piezas realizadas, se pasó a participar en la “Fira del Fang de Maratxi” [Feria del barro] en Mallorca. Se logró que ellos, privados de libertad, salieran a montar la exposición e incluso, algún día, se ocupaban de atender el stand. Eso para ellos era uno de los logros más relevantes, salir a la calle gracias a la cerámica, les dio un lugar dentro de la prisión, e hizo ver a los otros detenidos que había posibilidades más notables. [5]
"KL23", chamotado con pigmentos / firesand with pigments, 1260 ºC, 64 x 18 x 5 cm., 2004
"Flecha / Arrow", chamotado con esmaltes / firesand with glazes 1260 ºC, 57 x 92 x 13 cm., 2003
«Dentro de esas etapas, más adelante, gracias al éxito de las clases, di clases en el módulo de mujeres, en el sector de psiquiatría y en los módulos llamados pozos, los sectores más duros del presidio.
Otra experiencia sumamente positiva fue cuando la Fundación en Mallorca del Pintor Joan Miró, nos invitó a que fuéramos con los internos a realizar un curso. Éste consistía en hacer un aporte con la perspectiva de que “todas las opiniones de las personas al observar un cuadro, aunque diversas, son válidas, no es necesario ser un experto en el tema para hacer un juicio”. Se realizó una selección en la prisión de la gente que quería asistir, había muchos que nunca habían escuchado hablar de Miró. Al llegar se les hizo un recorrido por el edificio. Debían, al observar las obras de Miró allí expuestas, identificarse con una de ellas. Pasados unos días se les pidió trajeran un objeto personal a la Fundación y a partir de ahí, con ambos elementos, la pintura elegida y el objeto, debían de manera libre y creativa elaborar una pieza. El resultado fue sorprendente, tanto para los internos como para mí como colaborador participando del mismo proyecto. El premio más valioso fue, para ellos, hacer una muestra de sus creaciones que pasaban desde el uso de palitos, piedras, disfraces, cerámica, cartón pintado, etc., con una la participación abierta a todo público y en especial a sus familiares.
En lo personal lo que más me movilizó, viendo el entusiasmo y adrenalina positiva que todo aquello les había generado, el no sentir, por un rato, la censura social, fue tener que decir “chicos, hay que desarmar los stands y terminar que debemos subir al ómnibus para volver a la prisión”, fue una gran congoja general. Como anécdota te cuento, uno de ellos me dijo: –“Ruben, ¿podré volver con mi familia en otro momento y mostrarles a mis hijos la Fundación?” Ellos sentían y asumían que por su condición de “delincuente” se les estaba negado ese privilegio, como tantos otros. Por eso también fue importante lograr que salieran de ese sentir y mostrarles un mundo nuevo y accesible para todos, siempre que actúes correctamente.» [6]
"Dona / Mujer / Woman"
Chamotado con pigmentos / firesand with pigments 1260 ºC, 87 x 40 x 31 cm., 2003
"Yelmo / Helmet", stoneware / gres 1260 ºC, 30 x 18 x 26 cm., 2018
SR: ¿Sentías que tú también aprendías al enseñar?
RC: Como enseñanza, gracias a estas vivencias tuve un crecimiento personal, y experimenté cosas tan fuertes como el comprender que poner límites dentro del espacio personal, para que se respetara al otro como a sí mismo, era tan importante para sobrevivir. Yo respetaba sus códigos y ellos los míos, de lo contrario no podían ser parte de la clase. Así logré llevar una trayectoria de 23 años facilitando la técnica de la cerámica. Con ellos aprendí y asimilé nuevos diseños para aplicar a mi cerámica, como los tribales, que eran dibujos que ellos se tatuaban y me mostraban, con la forma de “ola” que tiene el tribal, y que permite dar a la cerámica idea de movimiento. Por eso me gustó tanto la conexión con esos tatuajes.
SR: ¿Qué enseñanza te dejó esa experiencia?
RC: Cierto es que tuve que buscar un método, una estrategia para afrontar la temática, y que ellos tuvieran resultados a más corto plazo por los tiempos de que disponía. Ese fue mi primer aprendizaje.
Pero debo decir que lo más enriquecedor de todo esto es lo que aún me sigue sucediendo. Hace poco tiempo me encontraba en cierto lugar especial para mí por la situación que estaba viviendo, rodeado de mucha gente. De pronto se acerca un joven y me saluda: "–¡Hola, Ruben!" En un primer momento no lo reconocí; ya era todo un hombre en comparación con la última vez que lo había visto. Sin más, comienza a contarme quien era y me dice que hoy era capitán de barco. Yo aún seguía sin entender su acercamiento. Continúa entonces diciéndome que había sido mi alumno en la prisión y en qué lugar estaba hoy gracias a sus estudios. Su emoción al verme fue tanta que antes de irme, cuando nos volvimos a cruzar, me mostró con orgullo fotos en su móvil de la familia que tiene, mujer, hijos, etc. Esto me sorprendió y emocionó gratamente: sentir que había conseguido un nivel equilibrado de estima personal.
Esta anécdota no es la única, porque uno trabaja en pos de dar lo mejor de sí, no dando, a veces, real relevancia de lo que ello implica para los demás a futuro. Valoro también que hoy tengo un grupo de amigos de la prisión con el que nos reunimos y puedo contar con ellos en el momento que lo necesite, otra riqueza personal.
En fin, que a la experiencia de la prisión habría que dedicarle varias hojas, todo un libro. [7]
"KL21", chamotado con esmaltes / firesand with glazes 1260 ºC, 2010
Izq./ Left: "Columna / Column"
Barro rojo con esmalte mate / red clay with matte glazes 980 ºC, 162 x 35 x 17 cm., 1998
Der./ Right: "Columna / Column"
Barro rojo con esmalte mate / red clay with matte glazes 980 ºC, 174 x 32 x 17 cm., 1998
SR: Quiero ahora que me cuentes algo de tu experiencia en el taller de La Casa Encantada de la ciudad de Minas, Uruguay y de cómo funciona a pesar de tu ausencia por meses.
RC: Comenzamos hace un tiempo con un taller muy pequeño. Después del 5to. Encuentro de Ceramistas del Uruguay (que ya puede decirse que es internacional porque concurren ceramistas de América Latina y Europa), hubo que realizar otro taller con más capacidad, que incluso ahora ya requirió otra ampliación. Fue un trabajo en conjunto con los alumnos, que tienen una implicación total respecto a su mantenimiento y arreglo, funcionando como una cooperativa. Lo que más placer me da es que el taller sigue funcionando a pesar de que yo no esté allí, pero estamos en contacto permanente, inclusive con Alejandra, una alumna que se encarga de abrir, cerrar y realizar las rutinas propias del lugar y los que la técnica requiera. [8]
Video realizado en el taller de "La Casa Encantada", en la ciudad de Minas, en ocasión del 5to. Encuentro de Ceramistas del Uruguay.
Video made in the workshop of "The Haunted House", in the city of Minas, on the occasion of the 5th Encounter of Ceramists of Uruguay.
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SR: ¿Qué es el arte para ti?
RC: Una diversión en la que me meto cada día, en la cual voy creando y si no me gusta vuelvo a comenzar. Descubro, y como un niño, con curiosidad inagotable, investigo cada cosa que encuentro y miro como nueva, aunque no lo sea, para transformarla en la manera de expresarme como yo quiero y siento.
SR: ¿Cómo lo vives?
RC: Disfrutando de hacerlo. No hago cosas para el gusto de los demás, todo lo contrario; primero debe gustarme a mí. Soy el crítico más exigente y con eso me basta para crear dentro del disfrute de experimentar con aquello que vale la pena conocer. [9]
"Destral / Hacha / Axe"
Chamotado con esmaltes / firesand with glazes 1180 ºC, 23 x 32 x 9 cm., 2018-19
"Plato / Plate", chamotado con esmaltes / firesand with glazes 1180 ºC, 25 x 9 cm., 2019
SR: ¿Qué artistas entiendes que han aportado ideas a tu propia trayectoria creativa?
RC: Desde la observación de grandes artistas tengo del lado espiritual a Torres-García cuando relaciono esa frase suya: “sinceridad en el arte”. Otros como Picasso, Miró, Alceu Ribeiro, Casmiro Mota, Vladimir Collazo me aportaron su visión sobre el arte. El haber leído a gente que se detiene a mirar más allá de lo común para una persona, como Neruda, capaz de hablar sobre un tronco en descomposición y encontrar belleza en ello. Lo que más me llama la atención en ellos y otros es cómo crean su arte con cosas que salen de lo ya estipulado, desestructurando viejos paradigmas del arte. [10]
"Dona 1 / Mujer 1 / Woman 1", gres / stoneware, 46 x 16 x 10 cm., 2015
Nuestro agradecimiento a Joaquín Ragni por su ayuda /
Our thanks to Joaquín Ragni for his help
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Shirley Rebuffo es Licenciada en Bibliotecología y Archivología por la Escuela Universitaria de Bibliotecología y Ciencias Afines (Montevideo, Uruguay), Técnica en Museología por la Facultad de Humanidades y Ciencias (opción de Antropología), Objeto, símbolo y espacio en Curaduría. Museología Social – Conceptos, técnicas e prácticas (Campo Grande, BR), Coaching (Campo Grande, BR), Planeamiento Estratégico (Campo Grande, BR) y estudiante de arte y pintura con el maestro Eduardo Espino..
Shirley Rebuffo has a Degree in Library Science and a Degree in Archivology by the Universitary School of Library and Related Sciences (Montevideo, Uruguay), Technician in Museology by the Faculty of Humanities and Sciences (Anthropology option), Object, Symbol and Spance in Curatorship Social Museology - Concepts, Technics and Practice (Campo Grande, Brazil), Coaching (Campo Grande, Brazil), Strategic Planning (Campo Grande, Brazil), and Art and Painting student under Master Eduardo Espino.
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Texto en inglés / English Text
[1]
Ruben Cano Tetti is a Uruguayan ceramist, draftsman and painter born on July 25, 1947 in Minas, Lavalleja.
Let's continue with the Interview. The first part in the previous post.
Shirley Rebuffo: Tell me about your aesthetic proposal.
Ruben Cano: I always want to reach the ideal that people who look at my pieces discover them little by little. That I have several profiles and that in each one of them I manage to see a different work that perhaps isn't in me but in the observer who stops to discover what else there is, that has the value of whoever sees it. That allows them to use their imagination as the main objective of their own experience. That is why the textures, the splashes that fall as a jet from the glazes, the difference between iron and clay make, as a whole, when it comes to making the piece, each element allows the different senses in them to be contrasted. The cold of the iron, as well as the smooth and its color mixed with the rustic ceramics, warmer and in different tones and textures, give the aesthetic that I want.
[2]
SR: Tell me about Raku or some other technique that has given you satisfaction.
RC: The Raku technique, of Korean origin, transferred to Japan, was a great revelation for me because it allowed me to go out with the oven. That way it's possible for people to see and experience the baking of ceramics; plus it's a party to work with the students and where the spectator, people from outside, who haven't made ceramics, can intervene.
Within this technique, others can be applied, with patience and surprise, for example, the "obvara" technique which consists in, after the piece comes out of the oven, with the temperature in hot, passing it through a liquid mixture fermented for a couple of days, of flour, yeast, sugar and water. This technique, dating from the 12th century, originated in Eastern Europe and was used to waterproof the pieces. Also, what I have used lately, is what is defined as "carbonation" which is done in a third firing. As with the previous ones, the reduction is reached (that is, the oxygen is removed from the combustion) and the carbon that is created seeks the oxygen in the glazes, thus forming the carbon monoxide. This achieves a finish that changes the metals in the glazes. In this way the magic of ceramics leads you not to predict what might happen and makes you wonder about the result.
[3]
SR: Is there anything new you'd like to experience or realize and you haven't had a chance yet? Or maybe there's something new you've done recently?
RC: Ceramics are always giving rise to new discoveries. When I connected with ceramics I naively thought it was simple, as it was made up of three elements: clay, glaze and oven. As I went deeper into the essence of the activity, I learned that there was more than one type of clay (red, white, chamotted, mixed together, red-white, etc.) and that each one could be worked differently. At the same time, they require different temperatures for baking and therefore different glazes for the different firing graduations. All this is the genius of this noble material, so flexible and at the same time so delicate that experimentation is what makes you maintain a constant interest and leads you to investigate, with continuous tests of success/error and the results always leave room for surprise. It is a material so ductile, used since prehistoric times, that it takes you from the utilitarian to the creation of a unique piece of art.
[4]
SR: Do you like teaching?
RC: Of course I do, and I try to give everything I've learned. In this way I get the students to start from a solid base of knowledge, experienced by me. It's so much the way to go, leaving aside all the "secrecy" that has been established for years, giving the student the opportunity to build his own path, knowing that his teacher (in this case me) gave everything so that he can later give it to his own students without selfishness, if he decides to teach, or apply it in his creative pieces. I have always thought that when I give the formula for a glaze, for example, the person who applies it will surely do it differently from me, being able to be autonomous in his experimentation. In this way he enables his personality to flow as his own creation. This happens because we ceramicists have to make our own combinations of products to achieve each color, it doesn't come to us quickly from the supermarket, there are different chemical properties that we must complement to achieve our own colors. In Uruguay we even have to make our own clay. For this reason my position when teaching is to give everything and then leave freedom for experimentation.
[5]
SR: Can you tell us about your experience working as a prison teacher?
RC: The experience in the prison was extremely positive. I met some very knowledgeable people. They were very receptive to learning. My involvement was to go every day. I started the internship in the youngest sector. In the prison there was a division of about 10 modules separated by their behaviour inside, and not by the "crime" committed. And there is a separation by the range of the crime, if they are primary they are in a group, where the youngest are apart. My first job when I got there was to try to get them excited about committing to the learning process. Once that was achieved, I made them responsible for fulfilling that responsibility in the assigned time and schedule. For the educator, this meant that they had to leave the playground and spend a significant amount of time on something useful for the future. For that reason the times were pressing, they needed to shape their creation in a fast way, to later take it to their relatives on the day of visit, showing it to them as an achievement they had reached thanks to being in something that was "valuable" for the personal self-esteem, and feeling good with their progress.
In general, they are people with low self-esteem where the level of achievements, from the very construction, are recognized by the multiple "failures or mistakes" they have had in their lives, especially at the family level. They feel that they have failed their father, mother, siblings, etc. It was in this environment that I discovered how therapeutic ceramics was for the human being in general. In spite of the times involved in making ceramics, with the appropriate tolerance and having "patience", they managed to bake, and even waited for me with the oven running to start or finish the work on their own initiative. Then, with the pieces already made, they began to participate in the "Fira del Fang de Maratxi" [Maratxi Clay Fair] in Mallorca. They managed to get the prisoners to come out and set up the exhibition and even, one day, take care of the stand. This was one of the most important achievements for them, going out into the street thanks to the pottery, gave them a place inside the prison, and made the other prisoners see that there were more notable possibilities.
[6]
«Within these stages, later on, thanks to the success of the classes, I gave classes in the women's module, in the psychiatric sector and in the modules called wells, the hardest sectors of the prison.
Another extremely positive experience was when the Joan Miró Foundation in Mallorca invited us to go with the inmates to take a course. This consisted of making a contribution with the perspective that "all the opinions of people when observing a painting, although diverse, are valid, it is not necessary to be an expert in the subject to make a judgment". A selection was made in the prison of the people who wanted to attend; there were many who had never heard of Miró. When they arrived, they were given a tour of the building. When they saw the works of Miró exhibited there, they had to identify with one of them. After a few days they were asked to bring a personal object to the Foundation and from there, with both the chosen painting and the object, they were to freely and creatively create a piece. The result was surprising, both for the inmates and for me as a collaborator participating in the same project. The most valuable prize was, for them, to make a show with their creations that went from the use of sticks, stones, costumes, ceramics, painted cardboard, etc., with a participation open to all public and especially to their families.
Personally what moved me the most, seeing the enthusiasm and positive adrenaline that all this had generated in them, not feeling, for a while, the social censure, was having to say "guys, we have to disarm the stands and finish that we have to get on the bus to go back to the prison", was a great general distress. As an anecdote, one of them told me: "Ruben, can I go back to my family some other time and show my children the Foundation?" They felt and assumed that because of their "criminal" status they were being denied that privilege, like so many others. That's why it was also important to get them out of that feeling and show them a new world that is accessible to everyone, as long as you act correctly.»
[7]
SR: Did you feel that you were learning by teaching too?
RC: As a teacher, thanks to these experiences I had a personal growth, and I experienced things as strong as understanding that putting limits within personal space, so that the other is respected as well as oneself, was as important for survival. I respected their codes and they respected mine, otherwise they could not be part of the class. This is how I managed to carry out a 23-year trajectory facilitating the technique of ceramics. With them I learned and assimilated new designs to apply to my ceramics, such as the tribal ones, which were drawings that they tattooed and showed me, with the "wave" shape that the tribal one has, and that allows giving the ceramics an idea of movement. That's why I liked so much the connection with those tattoos.
[8] SR: What did that experience teach you?
RC: It's true that I had to find a method, a strategy to deal with the subject, and that they would have results in the shorter term because of the time I had available. That was my first lesson.
But I must say that the most enriching part of all this is what is still happening to me. A short time ago I found myself in a certain special place because of the situation I was living, surrounded by many people. Suddenly a young man comes up to me and greets me: -Hello, Ruben! At first I didn't recognize him; he was already a man compared to the last time I had seen him. Without further ado, he begins to tell me who he was and tells me that today he was a ship captain. I still didn't understand his approach. He went on to tell me that he had been my student in prison and where he was today because of his studies. His excitement at seeing me was so great that before I left, when we crossed paths again, he proudly showed me pictures on his mobile phone of the family he has, wife, children, etc. This surprised and moved me pleasantly: to feel that he had achieved a balanced level of personal esteem.
This anecdote is not the only one, because one works in order to give the best of oneself, not giving, sometimes, real relevance to what it implies for others in the future. I also appreciate that today I have a group of friends from the prison with whom we meet and I can count on them when I need them, another personal wealth.
In short, that I should dedicate several pages, a whole book, to the experience of prison.
SR: Now I want you to tell me something about your experience in the workshop of La Casa Encantada (The Haunted House) in the city of Minas, Uruguay, and how it works despite your absence for months.
RC: We started some time ago with a very small workshop. After the 5th Encounter of Ceramists of Uruguay (which can already be said to be international because it brings together ceramists from Latin America and Europe), we had to hold another workshop with more capacity, which even now required another expansion. It was a joint work with the students, who have a total implication regarding its maintenance and arrangement, working as a cooperative. What gives me most pleasure is that the workshop continues to function even though I am not there, but we are in permanent contact, including with Alejandra, a student who is in charge of opening, closing and carrying out the routines of the place and those that the technique requires.
[9]
SR: What is art to you?
RC: It's fun that I get into every day, in which I create and if I don't like it I start over. I discover, and like a child, with inexhaustible curiosity, I investigate everything I find and look at it as new, even if it's not, to transform it into the way I express myself as I want and feel.
SR: How do you live it?
RC: By enjoying it. I don't do things for other people's pleasure, quite the opposite; I have to like it myself first. I'm the most demanding critic and that's enough for me to create within the enjoyment of experimenting with what's worth knowing.
[10]
SR: Which artists do you understand have contributed ideas to your own creative career?
RC: From my observation of great artists I have Torres-García on the spiritual side when I relate his quote: "sincerity in art". Others like Picasso, Miró, Alceu Ribeiro, Casmiro Mota, Vladimir Collazo gave me their vision of art. Having read people who stop to look beyond the ordinary for a person, like Neruda, able to talk about a decomposing trunk and find beauty in it. What I find most striking in them and others is how they create their art with things that go beyond what is already stipulated, destructuring old paradigms of art.
Ruben Cano Tetti is a Uruguayan ceramist, draftsman and painter born on July 25, 1947 in Minas, Lavalleja.
Let's continue with the Interview. The first part in the previous post.
Shirley Rebuffo: Tell me about your aesthetic proposal.
Ruben Cano: I always want to reach the ideal that people who look at my pieces discover them little by little. That I have several profiles and that in each one of them I manage to see a different work that perhaps isn't in me but in the observer who stops to discover what else there is, that has the value of whoever sees it. That allows them to use their imagination as the main objective of their own experience. That is why the textures, the splashes that fall as a jet from the glazes, the difference between iron and clay make, as a whole, when it comes to making the piece, each element allows the different senses in them to be contrasted. The cold of the iron, as well as the smooth and its color mixed with the rustic ceramics, warmer and in different tones and textures, give the aesthetic that I want.
[2]
SR: Tell me about Raku or some other technique that has given you satisfaction.
RC: The Raku technique, of Korean origin, transferred to Japan, was a great revelation for me because it allowed me to go out with the oven. That way it's possible for people to see and experience the baking of ceramics; plus it's a party to work with the students and where the spectator, people from outside, who haven't made ceramics, can intervene.
Within this technique, others can be applied, with patience and surprise, for example, the "obvara" technique which consists in, after the piece comes out of the oven, with the temperature in hot, passing it through a liquid mixture fermented for a couple of days, of flour, yeast, sugar and water. This technique, dating from the 12th century, originated in Eastern Europe and was used to waterproof the pieces. Also, what I have used lately, is what is defined as "carbonation" which is done in a third firing. As with the previous ones, the reduction is reached (that is, the oxygen is removed from the combustion) and the carbon that is created seeks the oxygen in the glazes, thus forming the carbon monoxide. This achieves a finish that changes the metals in the glazes. In this way the magic of ceramics leads you not to predict what might happen and makes you wonder about the result.
[3]
SR: Is there anything new you'd like to experience or realize and you haven't had a chance yet? Or maybe there's something new you've done recently?
RC: Ceramics are always giving rise to new discoveries. When I connected with ceramics I naively thought it was simple, as it was made up of three elements: clay, glaze and oven. As I went deeper into the essence of the activity, I learned that there was more than one type of clay (red, white, chamotted, mixed together, red-white, etc.) and that each one could be worked differently. At the same time, they require different temperatures for baking and therefore different glazes for the different firing graduations. All this is the genius of this noble material, so flexible and at the same time so delicate that experimentation is what makes you maintain a constant interest and leads you to investigate, with continuous tests of success/error and the results always leave room for surprise. It is a material so ductile, used since prehistoric times, that it takes you from the utilitarian to the creation of a unique piece of art.
[4]
SR: Do you like teaching?
RC: Of course I do, and I try to give everything I've learned. In this way I get the students to start from a solid base of knowledge, experienced by me. It's so much the way to go, leaving aside all the "secrecy" that has been established for years, giving the student the opportunity to build his own path, knowing that his teacher (in this case me) gave everything so that he can later give it to his own students without selfishness, if he decides to teach, or apply it in his creative pieces. I have always thought that when I give the formula for a glaze, for example, the person who applies it will surely do it differently from me, being able to be autonomous in his experimentation. In this way he enables his personality to flow as his own creation. This happens because we ceramicists have to make our own combinations of products to achieve each color, it doesn't come to us quickly from the supermarket, there are different chemical properties that we must complement to achieve our own colors. In Uruguay we even have to make our own clay. For this reason my position when teaching is to give everything and then leave freedom for experimentation.
[5]
SR: Can you tell us about your experience working as a prison teacher?
RC: The experience in the prison was extremely positive. I met some very knowledgeable people. They were very receptive to learning. My involvement was to go every day. I started the internship in the youngest sector. In the prison there was a division of about 10 modules separated by their behaviour inside, and not by the "crime" committed. And there is a separation by the range of the crime, if they are primary they are in a group, where the youngest are apart. My first job when I got there was to try to get them excited about committing to the learning process. Once that was achieved, I made them responsible for fulfilling that responsibility in the assigned time and schedule. For the educator, this meant that they had to leave the playground and spend a significant amount of time on something useful for the future. For that reason the times were pressing, they needed to shape their creation in a fast way, to later take it to their relatives on the day of visit, showing it to them as an achievement they had reached thanks to being in something that was "valuable" for the personal self-esteem, and feeling good with their progress.
In general, they are people with low self-esteem where the level of achievements, from the very construction, are recognized by the multiple "failures or mistakes" they have had in their lives, especially at the family level. They feel that they have failed their father, mother, siblings, etc. It was in this environment that I discovered how therapeutic ceramics was for the human being in general. In spite of the times involved in making ceramics, with the appropriate tolerance and having "patience", they managed to bake, and even waited for me with the oven running to start or finish the work on their own initiative. Then, with the pieces already made, they began to participate in the "Fira del Fang de Maratxi" [Maratxi Clay Fair] in Mallorca. They managed to get the prisoners to come out and set up the exhibition and even, one day, take care of the stand. This was one of the most important achievements for them, going out into the street thanks to the pottery, gave them a place inside the prison, and made the other prisoners see that there were more notable possibilities.
[6]
«Within these stages, later on, thanks to the success of the classes, I gave classes in the women's module, in the psychiatric sector and in the modules called wells, the hardest sectors of the prison.
Another extremely positive experience was when the Joan Miró Foundation in Mallorca invited us to go with the inmates to take a course. This consisted of making a contribution with the perspective that "all the opinions of people when observing a painting, although diverse, are valid, it is not necessary to be an expert in the subject to make a judgment". A selection was made in the prison of the people who wanted to attend; there were many who had never heard of Miró. When they arrived, they were given a tour of the building. When they saw the works of Miró exhibited there, they had to identify with one of them. After a few days they were asked to bring a personal object to the Foundation and from there, with both the chosen painting and the object, they were to freely and creatively create a piece. The result was surprising, both for the inmates and for me as a collaborator participating in the same project. The most valuable prize was, for them, to make a show with their creations that went from the use of sticks, stones, costumes, ceramics, painted cardboard, etc., with a participation open to all public and especially to their families.
Personally what moved me the most, seeing the enthusiasm and positive adrenaline that all this had generated in them, not feeling, for a while, the social censure, was having to say "guys, we have to disarm the stands and finish that we have to get on the bus to go back to the prison", was a great general distress. As an anecdote, one of them told me: "Ruben, can I go back to my family some other time and show my children the Foundation?" They felt and assumed that because of their "criminal" status they were being denied that privilege, like so many others. That's why it was also important to get them out of that feeling and show them a new world that is accessible to everyone, as long as you act correctly.»
[7]
SR: Did you feel that you were learning by teaching too?
RC: As a teacher, thanks to these experiences I had a personal growth, and I experienced things as strong as understanding that putting limits within personal space, so that the other is respected as well as oneself, was as important for survival. I respected their codes and they respected mine, otherwise they could not be part of the class. This is how I managed to carry out a 23-year trajectory facilitating the technique of ceramics. With them I learned and assimilated new designs to apply to my ceramics, such as the tribal ones, which were drawings that they tattooed and showed me, with the "wave" shape that the tribal one has, and that allows giving the ceramics an idea of movement. That's why I liked so much the connection with those tattoos.
[8] SR: What did that experience teach you?
RC: It's true that I had to find a method, a strategy to deal with the subject, and that they would have results in the shorter term because of the time I had available. That was my first lesson.
But I must say that the most enriching part of all this is what is still happening to me. A short time ago I found myself in a certain special place because of the situation I was living, surrounded by many people. Suddenly a young man comes up to me and greets me: -Hello, Ruben! At first I didn't recognize him; he was already a man compared to the last time I had seen him. Without further ado, he begins to tell me who he was and tells me that today he was a ship captain. I still didn't understand his approach. He went on to tell me that he had been my student in prison and where he was today because of his studies. His excitement at seeing me was so great that before I left, when we crossed paths again, he proudly showed me pictures on his mobile phone of the family he has, wife, children, etc. This surprised and moved me pleasantly: to feel that he had achieved a balanced level of personal esteem.
This anecdote is not the only one, because one works in order to give the best of oneself, not giving, sometimes, real relevance to what it implies for others in the future. I also appreciate that today I have a group of friends from the prison with whom we meet and I can count on them when I need them, another personal wealth.
In short, that I should dedicate several pages, a whole book, to the experience of prison.
SR: Now I want you to tell me something about your experience in the workshop of La Casa Encantada (The Haunted House) in the city of Minas, Uruguay, and how it works despite your absence for months.
RC: We started some time ago with a very small workshop. After the 5th Encounter of Ceramists of Uruguay (which can already be said to be international because it brings together ceramists from Latin America and Europe), we had to hold another workshop with more capacity, which even now required another expansion. It was a joint work with the students, who have a total implication regarding its maintenance and arrangement, working as a cooperative. What gives me most pleasure is that the workshop continues to function even though I am not there, but we are in permanent contact, including with Alejandra, a student who is in charge of opening, closing and carrying out the routines of the place and those that the technique requires.
[9]
SR: What is art to you?
RC: It's fun that I get into every day, in which I create and if I don't like it I start over. I discover, and like a child, with inexhaustible curiosity, I investigate everything I find and look at it as new, even if it's not, to transform it into the way I express myself as I want and feel.
SR: How do you live it?
RC: By enjoying it. I don't do things for other people's pleasure, quite the opposite; I have to like it myself first. I'm the most demanding critic and that's enough for me to create within the enjoyment of experimenting with what's worth knowing.
[10]
SR: Which artists do you understand have contributed ideas to your own creative career?
RC: From my observation of great artists I have Torres-García on the spiritual side when I relate his quote: "sincerity in art". Others like Picasso, Miró, Alceu Ribeiro, Casmiro Mota, Vladimir Collazo gave me their vision of art. Having read people who stop to look beyond the ordinary for a person, like Neruda, able to talk about a decomposing trunk and find beauty in it. What I find most striking in them and others is how they create their art with things that go beyond what is already stipulated, destructuring old paradigms of art.
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