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Takaezu - 1 - 31

Q: You're absolutely right.

Takaezu: And, you know, it doesn't have to be art. But I think it could be. So we had this-- about nine guys decided they would try to work something out in my class, because they heard I was pretty tough.

And I think my toughness in teaching came from insecurity, because I didn't know. But I thought maybe that it should be done, that kind of responsibility.

Q: You mean a teacher has great responsibility?

Takaezu: Yeah. And they went out and got huge driftwood almost the size of the table. And about five, six guys brought this as a found object. They did some crazy things, which were just wonderful. And the mere facet they went out-- I said, go out to the beach and see if you can pick something that catches your eye. The mere fact that you get one out of the thousand that you have trained, your eyes-- this is really to train your eyes and to be aware. Because in Cleveland I found they were all cliches. Everybody did the same. And the May Show, they were all making things for sale. The end of the year. The May Show. They were selling by the dozens. It was all that sort of thing.

So a lot of the students came and said, "How many can I make to sell?" And I said that was absolutely out. And I'm fresh. I'm not a student of the Cleveland Institute of Art. I'm from