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Wednesday 5 December 2007
Sue Collis
What is the relationship between Fine Art and Craft in contemporary practices. Is context everything?...........
I think our culture has a lot to do with it. As I understand it things we consider craft such as ceramics are considered fine art in the far east. So I think our perception of what is fine art is coloured by both what we have seen from the past and what we hope for from the future. Even though the future is uncertain and the objects we have left from the past may have had different uses at the time they were made.
Up until the 16th century fine art as we know it didnt exist, most of the skills and tehniques used in fine art practice were considered to be crafts and craftsmen at this time were central figures in peasant culture having creative freedom over thier own practices and being members of powerful guilds that sponsored amatuer theatrical and music events. The art professional wasn't required as creativity was part of peoples daily lives.It has only been since the rise of capitalism over fuedalism and the consequent increased division of labour that there has been a market for purely creative produce. Efficient manufacturing cannot allow for creativity and thus inconsistency in the production process, most jobs in most sectors require high levels of conformity to keep complex systems operating.The freedom that is found in fine art practice used to be found across all disciplines.Societies fascination with the fine art concept is based upon its freedom from constraints and the term craft rightly or wrongly implies processes that have a function other than pure creativity. But craft is at least a similar animal to fine art so interbreeding can be expected and if the matchmakers competent both parents can be satisfied with the offspring.
I find it so frustrating that craft is regarded as a poor cousin to fine art. Yes when objects are massed produced clones they aren't fine art . But I was a crafter for years before I started my fine art degree producing one-off beautifully crafted unique pieces that had integrity and depth, and were made with love and skill not shoddy half baked conceptual ideas used to cover up poor work, Yet these objects are mocked by the fine art elitists. Sue Collis said that she couldn't understand why people spent hours following a formula to produce craft but wasn't that exactly what she was doing spending three months copying the pattern on a laundry bag? Not all craft is cross stitch and knitted tea cosys. So all you 'Fine Art fascists' get over yourselves!
I'm not sure what craft is defined as. Fine art as we know it seems to be judged on how well it fits into its context. I suppose functional pieces are too. Good craft, whether found within fine art or functional peices, can be appreciated in any context - any time and place. So craft is the only thing that is timeless. Both fine art-ness and function won't be recognised always when the piece is taken out of context.
Do you have a preconceived idea of what your pieces will look like and is there a method of constuction you apply to each one? I'm not sure if everyone heard me say this at the end of the lecture. My initial response was to question the message her work carried and if there was one. It looked like she was using any materials she had to hand purely for their visual appeal. If her work is Fine Art or Craft and whether there is a distinction to be made between the two is unclear. In this sense the context her work is viewed becomes important.
One cannot tar Craft with the Fine Art brush because they are two different things in concept and in cultural weight of today's times - Craft implies handiwork of all kinds - knitting, sewing, weaving, baking, wood carving/ carpentry/joining,embroidery, pottery, book binding. Fine Art implies insitution, gallery, high culture, important, s symbol of wealth, power and status. Of historical or contemporary context is neither here nor there but rather the ideas are important in their philosophical, philanthropist, anarchist, political, personal, social meaning.
Craft is based on skill, and Fine Art is often based on power or status, or cult ideas. Of course that does not mean to say Turner or Titian or Jenny Saville's skills are not recognised but this attribute when speaking of an artist is referred to as "talent".
Artisan is the word that best combines the two disciplines for me. Artist and craftsman.
I think Craft is becoming an issue in contemporary art culture because women artists are trying to find s new way to address Feminism but without being too "anti". Possibly as a reclamation of femininity as an identity. Now that women have achieved power and status equivalent if not better than men - at least in western capitalist society - where this Craft uprising is most applicable - the Fine Artist's use and application of Craft in their practice might be seen as a retreat to previous roles maintained by women in the earlier half of the twentieth century and before, as a subversive or undermining tactic of current ideals placed upon the female's role in today's culture - mainly bodily implications. not much has changed in culture in terms of the the pressures placed on women to be beautiful to attract men - but more so the emphasis on the idea that the more beautiful, thin, tanned, bejewlled, fashionable one is then the happier, more successful, more fulfilled and more accepted one shall be - look at Britney Spears' drastic attempt to fix her career and image thinking that it will fix her shambolic personal life. The craft/art argument is a metaphor for the material world versus the Material world = success versus domesticity. It is a very complex argument and possibly jsut mainly a Feminist or female-orientated one at that. For now.
In relation to jellybean's post on craft and feminism etc, I saw an interesting exhibition in London recently of Micheal Raedecker's work. He sews into canvasses often delicately depicting a vase of flowers. They look very feminine. But rather than the act of sewing being a female thing, I think they have something to do with the way men might see women, and probably therefore power. They are very strange. See http://www.londontown.com/LondonEvents/MichaelRaedecker/7714d
8 comments:
I think our culture has a lot to do with it. As I understand it things we consider craft such as ceramics are considered fine art in the far east. So I think our perception of what is fine art is coloured by both what we have seen from the past and what we hope for from the future. Even though the future is uncertain and the objects we have left from the past may have had different uses at the time they were made.
Up until the 16th century fine art as we know it didnt exist, most of the skills and tehniques used in fine art practice were considered to be crafts and craftsmen at this time were central figures in peasant culture having creative freedom over thier own practices and being members of powerful guilds that sponsored amatuer theatrical and music events. The art professional wasn't required as creativity was part of peoples daily lives.It has only been since the rise of capitalism over fuedalism and the consequent increased division of labour that there has been a market for purely creative produce. Efficient manufacturing cannot allow for creativity and thus inconsistency in the production process, most jobs in most sectors require high levels of conformity to keep complex systems operating.The freedom that is found in fine art practice used to be found across all disciplines.Societies fascination with the fine art concept is based upon its freedom from constraints and the term craft rightly or wrongly implies processes that have a function other than pure creativity. But craft is at least a similar animal to fine art so interbreeding can be expected and if the matchmakers competent both parents can be satisfied with the offspring.
I find it so frustrating that craft is regarded as a poor cousin to fine art. Yes when objects are massed produced clones they aren't fine art . But I was a crafter for years before I started my fine art degree producing one-off beautifully crafted unique pieces that had integrity and depth, and were made with love and skill not shoddy half baked conceptual ideas used to cover up poor work, Yet these objects are mocked by the fine art elitists. Sue Collis said that she couldn't understand why people spent hours following a formula to produce craft but wasn't that exactly what she was doing spending three months copying the pattern on a laundry bag? Not all craft is cross stitch and knitted tea cosys. So all you 'Fine Art fascists' get over yourselves!
I'm not sure what craft is defined as. Fine art as we know it seems to be judged on how well it fits into its context. I suppose functional pieces are too. Good craft, whether found within fine art or functional peices, can be appreciated in any context - any time and place. So craft is the only thing that is timeless. Both fine art-ness and function won't be recognised always when the piece is taken out of context.
Do you have a preconceived idea of what your pieces will look like and is there a method of constuction you apply to each one? I'm not sure if everyone heard me say this at the end of the lecture. My initial response was to question the message her work carried and if there was one. It looked like she was using any materials she had to hand purely for their visual appeal. If her work is Fine Art or Craft and whether there is a distinction to be made between the two is unclear. In this sense the context her work is viewed becomes important.
One cannot tar Craft with the Fine Art brush because they are two different things in concept and in cultural weight of today's times - Craft implies handiwork of all kinds - knitting, sewing, weaving, baking, wood carving/ carpentry/joining,embroidery, pottery, book binding.
Fine Art implies insitution, gallery, high culture, important, s symbol of wealth, power and status. Of historical or contemporary context is neither here nor there but rather the ideas are important in their philosophical, philanthropist, anarchist, political, personal, social meaning.
Craft is based on skill, and Fine Art is often based on power or status, or cult ideas. Of course that does not mean to say Turner or Titian or Jenny Saville's skills are not recognised but this attribute when speaking of an artist is referred to as "talent".
Artisan is the word that best combines the two disciplines for me. Artist and craftsman.
I think Craft is becoming an issue in contemporary art culture because women artists are trying to find s new way to address Feminism but without being too "anti". Possibly as a reclamation of femininity as an identity. Now that women have achieved power and status equivalent if not better than men - at least in western capitalist society - where this Craft uprising is most applicable - the Fine Artist's use and application of Craft in their practice might be seen as a retreat to previous roles maintained by women in the earlier half of the twentieth century and before, as a subversive or undermining tactic of current ideals placed upon the female's role in today's culture - mainly bodily implications. not much has changed in culture in terms of the the pressures placed on women to be beautiful to attract men - but more so the emphasis on the idea that the more beautiful, thin, tanned, bejewlled, fashionable one is then the happier, more successful, more fulfilled and more accepted one shall be - look at Britney Spears' drastic attempt to fix her career and image thinking that it will fix her shambolic personal life.
The craft/art argument is a metaphor for the material world versus the Material world = success versus domesticity.
It is a very complex argument and possibly jsut mainly a Feminist or female-orientated one at that. For now.
In relation to jellybean's post on craft and feminism etc, I saw an interesting exhibition in London recently of Micheal Raedecker's work. He sews into canvasses often delicately depicting a vase of flowers. They look very feminine. But rather than the act of sewing being a female thing, I think they have something to do with the way men might see women, and probably therefore power. They are very strange. See http://www.londontown.com/LondonEvents/MichaelRaedecker/7714d
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