I love reading others make honest efforts responding to the question "what is craft." I like to write my own thoughts about it, too, but hearing other points of view is exciting. From curators to cabinet makers to five-year-olds, there are so many interesting answers to hear, I almost collect them. I like to agree or disagree, but mostly I like to just think about them.
Last week David Fleming wrote a cool thought piece on "what is craft" for the Furniture Society's wonderfully unstuffy blog [link]. He moves from funny flailing at the question ("My feeble brain is bruised from bumping up against the word “craft”...), then cuts to the marrow:
"It is a way of doing things; it is the skill, knowledge, and experience that go into making something; it is the care and expertise with which the work of making something is done. In that sense, it is an element of all objects that are made - the maker being more or less a master of it."
Elsewhere in the blogosphere, Dennis Stevens wrote a post provocatively titled "Art vs. Craft: Who's winning?" on his blog that seems to have struck a nerve judging from the number of considered comments it drew! [link]
Good stuff!
The photo here is of our friend Mr. B. He came in with his Mom the other day and, in between getting held and working on his playing-while-sitting-upright skills, he took a rest in Brian Braskie's children's rocking chair. Is he delicious or what?
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1 comment:
I personally appreciate art that is well crafted and become frustrated with art that isn't. Maybe because I'm an artist who grew up and learned from my parents who are craftspeople. To me it's not necessarily an art vs. craft issue, I prefer art that embraces craft (craftedness).
Thank you for your thoughts and contributions.
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