Part 3 Research point 2

Art or Craft?

My home is filled with craft items of all sorts. Some items are mine.  Some are from holidays and others have been bought as gifts.  They are all loved because they are unique and beautiful.  Are they art or are they craft?  I didn’t know that such a hot debate surrounded this question until I typed it into Google. 

I found Kirstie Beaven from the Tate   http://www.tate.org.uk/context-comment/blogs/tate-debate-when-craft-art  was pretty good at stimulating the debate and some of the responses were interesting:

Comparing art to craft is like comparing philosophy to engineering:  they're two different ways of looking at the same thing.  To me art is communication of an idea or an emotion, while craft is the physical manipulation of material.  An object can easily be both, either, or neither.  One object could be viewed two ways: if you look at the way it was made and the materials used, you are looking at it's craft, if you think about its ideas, you are viewing it as art.
Tracy Fiegl 14 October 2011

or

I don't believe it's possible to serve two masters and feel that while art and craft can be related, they are definitely not synonymous. As a sculptor working in craft media who places a high value on technical skills, I also consider myself a crafts person. But content is what drives the execution-not the medium. Similarly, if I'm going to make a teapot, I want to make the most usable, ergonomic teapot possible-and the focus on utility will make it inherently beautiful. I can call it functional art, but when people see it, they will call it a teapot--not a sculpture with a spout and handle.

Kim Matthews13 October 2011

Whilst I admire the intellectual approach my favourite is this

When the ordinary becomes something extraordinary and speaks to your heart

Rita Koterba13 October 2011          

Considering all these points of view is difficult not because the views diverge so much but because they are so similar.  

The value of handcrafted work in todays' mass produced society sometimes seems quite remarkable.  Gale and Kaur (2002) suggest it is because no two pieces are absolutely identical and therefore items have a sort of "humanness" that is charming.  The skills demonstrated in handcrafted items are often rooted far in our past and this also gives a feeling of connection and uniqueness to them.  Items are often tactile and the quality of the materials well in excess of mass produced items.  There is a lot to be said for knowing you have the only one in the world quite like it. 

This reminds me of the contradiction I felt when I saw the work of Ptolemy Mann when I was doing Part 1.  I felt her work had a industrial quality that I didn't care for in the context of craft.  However,  I've now seen her inspired colours on the walls of Kings Mill Hospital it makes me think that  "humanness" doesn't always have to be craft based.

Meeting with Emma and Jan

Emma and Jan run a Textile Studio in Nottingham called All Things Crafty.  Between them they cover a whole range of crafts including craft workshops for children.  I first met them when I did a felt making course they ran and have attended other workshops and met them at fairs ever since.  When I wasn't able to do free machine embroidery without lots of loops Emma was the first person I thought of to help.  I went to the studio and in the twinkling of an eye I was up and running again.. Alongside that I got some tips and was gratifyingly able to pass on a tip of my own (just the one).

Emma explained that her route into textiles was quite meandering.  At school she did GCSE Textiles and was very excited by it especially as the teaching was inspired.  For A level she did Art and did well but it didn't give her the buzz she'd felt previously.  From there she went as a buyer to John Lewis, George at Asda and Next.  Emma always kept her interest in textiles and on a course she met Jan who earned her living making soft furnishings. Very soon they launched a business and All Things Crafty was born.

The main income comes from running workshops so it's important to be able to offer something new.

Both Emma and Jan enjoy teaching and as Emma put it "We teach people who want to be taught, what's not to like?"

Asked if they found their art was compromised by having to earn a living the response was a resounding "YES".  One thing Emma misses is working in her sketchbook.  However, they both qualified it by saying they were far luckier than lot of people who are miles away from where they'd really like to be.  They consider they are fortunate to be happy and excited about the way they earn their living.

Emma and Jan both recognise the part technology has played in their success.  The difficulty of reaching a wide audience prior to the Internet might have made things impossible.  I would have been most unlikely to have heard of them for instance.

We spoke about the difference between art and craft and their strong feeling was that the two are indistinguishable - one informs the other.

Many thanks to Emma and Jan for a lovely time this morning.



www.allthingscrafty.org.uk

Gale, C and Kaur J (2002), The Textile Book.  Oxford, New York.