Some 20 years ago, I was excited to notice a new store in my then neighborhood–the upper west side, just beginning to gentrify. I walked in filled with a sense of wonder. Even though it was clear it was a clay studio and the term “Mugi” must be a reference to the mugs in the window, I wondered what it really meant. So I asked the proprieter– who told me: “Of course part of the reason we named the store “Mugi” is because of the mugs…that people learn to make here. But the term comes from the Zen: “Mugi” refers to the struggle between the artist and their medium. Anytime the artist wants to create a work, there is the idea in the artist’s mind. But the material also has it’s own “mind” or intention of what it wants to become. The art which is created is the result of this dialogue or interaction between the artist and their medium.
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