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‘The Heart of Echizen: Wood-Fired Works by Contemporary Masters’ is one of four new exhibits on view at the Mobile Museum of Art. Shown here: a work by Yasumi Hattori. The museum also is showing ‘Boxes and Their Makers,’ ‘Today’s Visual Language: Southern Abstraction,’ and ‘Masters of Graphic Art.’ (Press-Register/Mike Kittrell)

MOBILE, Alabama — The 57 wood-fired ceramic pieces on view in “The Heart of Echizen” exhibit at Mobile Museum of Art reveal the genius of simplicity.

The exhibit, on view through July 28, was jointly curated by Christopher Kelly and Preston Saunders and highlights work from 20 potters.

Echizen Ceramics, in the Fukui prefecture near the Sea of Japan, refers to the unbroken chain of pottery from families producing utilitarian ware over the past eight centuries. Echizen products are made with the highest quality soil from the local region, according to a news release.

In the past replica watches, Echizen potters used a coiling technique called nejitate where clay is rolled into long, thin, cord-like pieces and then curled on top of itself to form a basic shape. It was fired in an anagama kiln made by tunneling into the side of a mountain, a method still used today. This pottery is referred to as yakishime because it is made without the use of artificial glazes. Echizen pottery is still made in wood-fired kilns to keep the tradition alive.

In April the Fairhope Committee On Public Art sponsored a workshop featuring Uichiro Oya, a second-generation potter from Echizen, a rural region of central Japan rich in pottery tradition dating to the middle of the 12th century.

Oya conducted a two-day workshop demonstrating his technique for producing functional pottery along with his sculptural work. One of the pieces in this show is an elephant figure with tusks.

The exhibition catalog describes Oya’s “toy-like figurines . . . created to embody light-hearted warmth.” The artist fires the works in his anagama kiln for up to a week, without glaze, to achieve a natural sequence of color and surface.

“It gives my work the look as if it was born in nature rather than made by hand,” he says in the catalog.

“The Heart of Echizen” exhibit will next move to the University of Montevallo where it will remain on view Aug. 6-Sept. 14. The exhibition was made possible by the Japan foundation, the city of Echizen, Bridgewater State University and Piedmont College, according to a museum news release.

‘HEART of ECHIZEN’

WHAT: “The Heart of Echizen: Wood-Fired Works by Contemporary Masters,” work by 20 Japanese potters

WHEN: through July 28

WHERE: Mobile Museum of Art

CURATORS: Christopher Kelly and Preston Saunders

NOTE: Echizen Ceramics replica watches, in the Fukui prefecture near the Sea of Japan, refers to the unbroken chain of pottery from families producing utilitarian ware over the last 800 years.

ALSO ON VIEW: “Masters of Graphic Art from the Collection of Gerald Swetsky,” through June 24; “Boxes and Their Makers,” through July 1; and “Today’s Visual Language: Southern Abstraction, A Fresh Look,” through Sept. 16.

HOURS: 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Saturday; 1-5 p.m. Sunday

ADMISSION: $10 for adults, $6 for students

INFO: 251-208-5200 or visit www.mobilemuseumofart.com  

The introduction to the exhibition catalog was written by Kelly, chairman of the art department at Piedmont College, and Saunders, associate professor at Bridgewater. The exhibition grew out of a kitchen-table conversation in 2010 involving Kelly, Saunders, Juroemon Fujita IX and Naoki Izumi.

“The idea was to showcase contemporary Echizen ceramics to an American audience,” the essay states. Wood-fired pots were chosen for the show because most potters in Echizen use wood kilns, if only for a portion of their work.

“Although the potters use similar clays replica watches, kilns and fuel, each . . . develops his or her own unique voice,” the catalog states. “A firing process, a forming technique or geographic location does not bind or define these potters fully; however, we feel highlighting wood-fired works allows each potter to tell his or her own story in the context of Echizen’s history.”

“The Heart of Echizen” is the third exhibit with Echizen as the focus to tour the United States. The first, “Eight Hundred Years of Japanese Stoneware” (1994), was curated by Donald Wood, Ph.D., of the Birmingham Museum of Art; the second, “A Glimpse Into Echizen Ceramics” (2005), curated by Christopher Kelly, focused on utilitarian work.

“We were excited to be able to offer contemporary ceramics as part of such a venerated tradition,” says Paul Richelson, Ph.D., chief curator for the Mobile Museum of Art. “We added it to the schedule late in the day because it became available. Our response was, ‘Yes, let’s do that because we are interested in ceramics and Asian art, but we not often able to combine the two.”

Richelson says the 57 works in this exhibit reflect the artists’ “less is more” philosophy.

“It is certainly amazing what you can do with so little,” he says. “It’s a tradition of coiling, not thrown pottery, and it’s not all about glazes — and yet there’s an amazing amount variety you can develop in the firing of the clays. And we are aware of the kiln they built in Montevallo. Such work is being produced in Alabama built on that historic tradition.”

One of the enduring clichés about pottery is that it looks heavy but is light as air. Not so with the Echizen artwork.

“This is coil-built and the weight is a factor in many of the large pieces,” Richelson explains. “That is not the aesthetic they’re after. There’s a real substance to these pieces.”

An elephant figurine by Uichiro Oya. (Press-Register/Mike Kittrell)

Some are vessels and jars, which are part of many pottery traditions, but one also finds sake and tea cups and tea bowls, which are synonymous with the Asian tradition. The singular characteristic is this work is what is not there.

“Relative to contemporary work, I would say there’s a lack of interest in flash,” Richelson says. “The viewer is compelled to spend more time looking at the subtleties of this wood-firing process and what it creates. You can’t engage the piece quickly — you really have to look at it.

“(The artists) are more interested in the clay surface produced by firing. All ceramics (have) a degree of surprise. What you think will happen may not necessarily be what happens. That can be calculated with experience.”

The element of serendipity or surprise is much in play here.

“This is not commercial work,” Richelson says. “Every one is an artful, complete piece on which the process has left its impact. The artist takes it to a certain point, and then the nature of making it takes over.”

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Autocar reports that the Land Rover Defender will be around a good bit longer than we thought. The vehicle may stay on dealer lots until at least 2017 thanks in part to a new 2.2-liter diesel engine that can meet more stringent EU6 emissions standards. Originally Replica Watches, a successor to the long-running Defender was expected to show up as soon as 2015. Land Rover also says that there may be a loophole in the emissions legislation that could keep the standard from applying to the globe-crushing SUV until a much later date.

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You’ve seen the license plate surrounds that read “My other car is an Enterprise Rent-a-car.” Well Replica Watches, in a Cash-for-Clunkers age, what if your other car is headed to the scrap heap because you wanted to buy something friendlier? Then Mini has a bumper sticker for you.

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[Source: Mini]

In Europe, when one says “football”, they are more than likely talking about what we Americans call soccer. That is unless you’re talking about the Nissan Qashqai CUV, which goes all Dukes of Hazard over the ramp, through the uprights, and onto a cushy platform in a Euro commercial. The tag line is “Nissan Qashqai 3, visitors 0.” It’s hard to guess exactly the message behind the spot Replica Watches, but any fan of American football in Europe who wants to jump ramps and do stunt work should definitely check out the Qashqai. Check out the video after the jump.

Editor Note: As several posters pointed out in the comments, the Qashqai video is making a Rugby reference, not American Football. Maybe we can get the Qashqai to perform at halftime for our American football games anyway.

Thanks for the tip, Liv Replica Watches!

[Source: Netsummary]

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The Soul is an unqualified hit. Sales of this playful econobox have increased year-over-year since it was introduced in 2009 as a 2010 model, with over 100,000 people bringing one home last year alone. In fact, the Soul was Kia’s second-best-selling model in 2011 behind the Sorento, beating out the critically acclaimed Optima, gorgeous Sportage and entry-level Forte.

Not only is the Soul outperforming products in its own portfolio, it’s also slaughtering what little competition there is out there that lines up straight against it. One could argue that the Soul competes with any sub-$20K five-door hatchback on the market, but most agree that buyers considering a Soul are also likely to check out the Scion xB and Nissan Cube. These three vehicles make up a tiny selection of boxy alternatives for people who shun the norm, but in just a few short years, the Soul has run away with the segment, accounting for 76-percent of its sales last year alone.

There are a number of reasons for the Soul’s success, not the least of which is an award-winning marketing campaign that stars a peace-keeping troop of intergalactic breakdancing hamsters. Aside from rhythmically inclined rodents, the Soul has achieved what the xB and Cube haven’t because its unorthodoxy ends long before alienation sets in. A lot of people just find it charming Replica Watches, and it covers the basics of A-to-B transportation as well as any other vehicle with a starting price below $14,000.

But the Soul wasn’t perfect, as evidenced by the number of upgrades it received for the 2012 model year. With new styling tweaks inside and out, new and updated engines and transmissions along with additional features, the 2012 Kia Soul is a lot newer than one would expect of a vehicle just three years old. And while normally automakers are prone to sending out loaded models to review, Kia was confident enough to deliver us this Base 1.6L model for a week-long test.

Mazda Shinari Concept – Click above to watch video after the jump
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We’re going to go ahead and say it: of all of the companies out there, few demonstrate a command of the concept car quite like Mazda. While most manufacturers seem to be eschewing the concept in favor of thinly-veiled production vehicles, Mazda continues to tantalize the imaginations of onlookers with cars like the Furai. Now, it looks like the company is planning to turn away from its somewhat controversial (read: smiley) Nagare design language in favor of a new theme. Mazda is calling it Kodo, meaning “soul of motion Replica Watches,” and if the Shanari Concept is any indication of what we can expect from future models, we’re sold.

Mazda has just rolled out a couple of videos that show off the company’s new look. The first features a CG Shanari rolling through crowded city streets, tunnels and the rolling tarmac of what we assume to be the Japanese countryside. The second gives us an idea of what a Kodo-fied Mazda3 might look like. Hit the jump for a quick look see.

[Source: Mazda via YouTube]

Visa Inc. (V) has agreed to pay $2 billion for CyberSource Corp. (CYBS) Replica Watches, a provider of electronic-payment security services to online merchants.

Visa will pay $26 a share using cash on hand, a 34 percent premium to CyberSource’s closing price Tuesday. CyberSource’s price was last at that level a decade ago, when the stock traded above $65 at the height of the Internet bubble.

“Online commerce continues to grow rapidly Replica Watches, and this acquisition will enable Visa to offer new and enhanced services that will better meet the growing demand among merchants globally for robust, secure online payment processing capabilities which in turn will grow the entire eCommerce category,” said Visa Chairman and Chief Executive Joseph W. Saunders.

Read the rest of this post on the original site

Over at Instructables, they’re gearing up for their Art of Sound Contest:

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