Produced by Joel Geyer, Nebraska ETV Cultural Affairs
Adapted from the documentary Is It Art?

On the edge of Omaha's Old Market is a 4-story converted bakery where something is cooking besides bread. Sculptor Jun Kaneko is converting this vast 38,000-square-foot space into a ceramics studio and kiln. Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery Director George Neubert is visiting the studio for the first time.
[George:] "This elevator, Jun, is as large as some artist's studios."
[Jun:] "Oh, come on."
[George:] "Really."
[Jun:] "It could be, yes."
[George:] "My first studio was about this size.
[Walking into a new room:] Wow, now this is going to be the new kiln room?"
[Jun:] "Yeah."
[George:] "Gee! That will be about, what, the largest private kiln in the region?"
[Jun:] "I don't know. It's going to be pretty good sized."
[George:] "I don't know of a kiln any larger than that, personally."
[Jun:] "It could be the largest."
[George:] "I'm going to get so goddamned jealous."For a man born and raised on the crowded island of Japan, Jun has a special appreciation for the immensity of the space, but Jun's vision is even larger than the old bakery will allow.
[Jun:] "It's not enough space."
[George:] "Not enough space? You haven't even finished moving in almost and you're out of space?"
[Jun:] "Well, no."
[George:] "God, how do you describe Jun Kaneko? Migrating from Japan, unable to speak English, landing in Los Angeles, California. He wanted to be an artist, and that there was something in America that drew him both in terms of the abstract expressionist and the place of American art at that time."
[Jun:] "See, this one's cracked here. You see?"
[George:] "Oh, yeah."
[Jun:] "This damned thing cracked 2 months after it came out from kiln."
[George:] "While it was sitting?"
[Jun:] "That's right."Jun is making clay dumplings that are measured not in pounds but in tons. They stand taller than a man. In Japanese dumplings are called dungos.
[George:] "Here's a dramatic piece. Dungo becomes kind of egglike, huh?"
[Jun:] "Yeah."
[George:] "Those are beautiful."
[George:] "Kaneko brings together a global view of contemporary sculpture, contemporary ceramics. The tradition of ceramics in Japan with the revolution of ceramics in contemporary art in America and combines the best of those in the extraordinary, enigmatic objects that he creates."
[George:] "Now, have you've had any problem with firing? Are you able to do it where there's no cracks?"
[Jun:] "No, I lost a lot. People don't see the pieces I've lost."

[George:] "But to do a solid piece like that, that's technically quite a problem? People are not supposed to do that kind of work."
[Jun:] "Against all the rules, yeah."Taking a 1,000-pound block of clay and fashioning it into a dungo is a tremendous engineering challenge. Kaneko is the first artist in modern history to attempt clay pieces of such size. First his assistants cut the clay into slabs and work out all the air bubbles by hand to strengthen the clay. Then Jun begins working on the 600-pound bases upside down, slowly building up the sides before he encloses them. Jun works on batches of 6 to 10 at a time because once the bases are fashioned they must dry for several weeks before they're strong enough to support a 400-pound superstructure. He also makes relatively large batches because out of a group of ten only 2 or 3 will survive the dangers of the coming months. Even flipping the base is a challenge.As the walls build higher, the dangers mount. The clay can't be too thick or too thin, too wet or too dry, too soft or too hard. Timing is crucial. The lower levels have to be dry enough to support the increasing weight but supple enough to merge with the fresh clay.
[Jun:] "Actually everybody doing clay work makes dungo 'cause dungo in Japanese is a dumpling. Then when you start using clay usually people end up with a bowl shape. Everybody is doing it, but I guess I got idea from that part of it. It took me couple of years 'cause it's so simple, I mean, you don't feel like this is my piece. You just raise it up, make a bowl and here."Jun doesn't like to explain his work. Usually he won't even try and if you try to explain it, he probably won't agree.
[Jun:] "It is almost impossible thing to translate the experience by word. No matter how much time you spend to try to explain to me about the meal that you ate last night, I won't taste it.
"The bottom line of necessity is to be visual artist you have to make something visual.
"If somebody came and looked at my piece and didn't say anything, or said, 'Wow, I like it,' or whatever, then that's good enough for me.
"I have a little bit of suspicion about creativity. I don't think creative energy is anything special. I really believe everybody has it. Somehow as people grow, some people start losing that part of it. Some people just learn how to keep it or maybe make it stronger.
This new batch of dungos will become Jun's three-dimensional canvases. For the next four months they will be slowly drying. That will be followed by 10 days of firing. Only a few will survive the ordeal.
[Jun:] "Craftsmenship is a funny thing for anybody when they start making something. We're here, material is there. I think so-called masters may be the people who went over that concept and were able to become material itself. If one starts looking at it that way, lots of technical things start changing. So my hope is one day I will be able to become -- create self then there's no technical problem because I will know everything."