Art vs Craft
This debate has been going on for years.. I don’t know who started it, but I wish someone would finish it. What is art? What is craft? Where do you draw the line?It’s a grey area for most. It has been interesting to read peoples comments on it. The following are some interesting websites where everyday Joe Bloggs have posted their thoughts on it.
The Tribe, Netherlands – Art vs craft
http://20things.tribe.net/thread/80fd7c33-5f0b-479b-94e8-7b5ef2a38cec
Patrick Fitzgeralds Weblog – Art vs Craft
http://homepage.mac.com/pdxpatfitz/iblog/C894479627/E734984813/index.html
Potter vs Sculptor?- Art vs Craft?
http://www.potters.org/subject24238.htm
ClayArt Archives
http://lsv.ceramics.org/scripts/wa.exe?A2=ind0308b&L=clayart&D=0&P=11471
Creative Commons – Definition of Craft
http://commoncontent.org/catalog/text/reference/4048/
Arts and Crafts Net
http://www.artsandcraftsnet.ca/app/newsletter/nl0206seriesfeat.php
Definition of the Artist's Book; What is a Book; BSO's (Book Shaped Objects); Art vs. Craft
http://www.philobiblon.com/whatisabook.htm
Photographers vs Artists
http://www.lightstalkers.org/photographers-vs-artists
Reading these definitely have helped me to start to form an opinion of my own. Previously I have not held an opinion. But now I am starting to form more of a clear distinction between the two and am becoming more confident of my own opinions.
When I think of “Art” I think of something visual. It is made to be looked at and to be pondered upon. It conveys a message, a concept. It makes you think, it challenges the way you see things, your views about the world around you. Emphasis is placed on technique and aesthetic to help get this ‘message’ across. Art demands an explanation, it demands you to think!
When I think of ‘craft’ I immediately think of the likes of old ladies or OT students or little nick nacky things that I do in my spare time. I think of being busy with your hands…making cards, knitting, sewing etc. Craft is purely based on the practical, on a skill, the process. Making things purely for the pleasure of making them. Usually functional. So in terms of Art and craft, it could seem that your ‘craft’ is the medium you work in. For example my craft is Printmaking. It is only when you want to express something (concept/message etc) through craft that you Produce Art. Craft could be the process, Art the result.
It seems that there are some mediums or processes that this debate is mostly focused on. Some ‘crafts’ are considered more of an ‘art’ than others. The arts and crafts movement was talking about these ‘grey mediums’ like Ceramics, bookmaking and printing. I would like to add on Photography, Jewellery and Textiles. At the Otago School of Art ceramics is taught as a Fine Art, so is jewellery and textiles. Here at Utrecht Bookmaking and Typography are taught in the Fine Art School, and so is graphics which I would consider more design. Photography is considered a Fine Art today, it didn’t used to be. Where do you draw the line between what mediums are Art?
Personally I think it doesn’t matter what the medium is, if you are using it with the intent to express something or make people think then it should be considered Art. If you are making something purely for the pleasure of making it, then it should be considered a craft. But then there are also other factors that enter into the equation such as how much it is sold for, and where it is sold – elite art galleries or craft markets? Another influence is the idea of the original vs the copy. Art being one of a kind original works, vs commercially reproducible works that almost anyone could copy and reproduce themselves (craft?). I think of so many craft markets I have been to where you just see stalls and stalls of the same kind of thing made by different people. Craft is easy, cheap, very D.I.Y styles. ‘Art’ seems to be more elite, more rare and less accessible and more expensive.
In terms of whether I consider bookmaking to be an art or a craft, (referring to Handmade books) I am in two minds. There is a really good website that is meant to discuss the idea of the book in terms of art vs craft, but it gets more into the definitions of an ‘artists book’ vs ‘a book that is made by an artist’.(see above) A lot of people repeat their opinions so I didn’t make it through the whole site because it got very repetitious. Im not really interested in those definitions though. A book made by an artist, and an ‘artists’ book. Same thing, they are both made by artists right? Im trying to decide whether bookmaking is an art or a craft.
It seems that it is intent, or the purpose for the ‘form’ of a book that defines whether it is considered art or craft. To just make a book for the sake of making a book, I consider that craft. I made a book last week, just to learn how to make a book. I considered this craft because I was purely doing it with the intent of just making a book. It did not require any thought apart from making sure you are glueing in the right direction. But it is when your book is made for a purpose, with intention that it starts to take the form of ‘art’. Things like Journals and Diaries are made with intention – for creative writing. So do I consider them art? No I don’t, because they are purely functional, designed to be written in. They as a form don’t make you think, but perhaps the images inside them do, or the writing in them. Creative writing makes you think, but through the use of text rather than images. It fits into a totally different category. Creative writing is a form of expression that uses words. “Art” is a form of expression that uses imagery that expresses what words cannot explain. Writing is about communication. Art is about communication. Books are a tool used to communicate. There is definetly a link here.
I am interested in that link. I am interested in the importance of the form of the book, and its place in history as a tool for communication. Though I enjoy writing, I would not like to make books that contain writing, if I wanted to write books I would be a writer, not an artist. I’m about imagery. I would like my images to take the place of writing. Im interested in creating picture books that only contain images (I don’t understand why they call them ‘picture books’ when they still have words in them? I want my ‘art’ to be in the form of a book, or contained within the form of a book. I want to celebrate books and art at the same time, I want books to regain the importance that they once had in history that they don’t have anymore. Knowledge is precious, Ideas are precious, Individual thought and experience is precious. It is original and unique. And these are the content of a book. I want my art to be in a book, because like the book should be, I believe that my life is precious, my dreams are precious, my ideas and thoughts are precious, my experience is precious, my knowledge is precious. I am precious. I am rare. I am original. I am unique. And so my art is because I express myself through it. I want to celebrate art as a means of individual expression.
The Tribe, Netherlands – Art vs craft
http://20things.tribe.net/thread/80fd7c33-5f0b-479b-94e8-7b5ef2a38cec
Patrick Fitzgeralds Weblog – Art vs Craft
http://homepage.mac.com/pdxpatfitz/iblog/C894479627/E734984813/index.html
Potter vs Sculptor?- Art vs Craft?
http://www.potters.org/subject24238.htm
ClayArt Archives
http://lsv.ceramics.org/scripts/wa.exe?A2=ind0308b&L=clayart&D=0&P=11471
Creative Commons – Definition of Craft
http://commoncontent.org/catalog/text/reference/4048/
Arts and Crafts Net
http://www.artsandcraftsnet.ca/app/newsletter/nl0206seriesfeat.php
Definition of the Artist's Book; What is a Book; BSO's (Book Shaped Objects); Art vs. Craft
http://www.philobiblon.com/whatisabook.htm
Photographers vs Artists
http://www.lightstalkers.org/photographers-vs-artists
Reading these definitely have helped me to start to form an opinion of my own. Previously I have not held an opinion. But now I am starting to form more of a clear distinction between the two and am becoming more confident of my own opinions.
When I think of “Art” I think of something visual. It is made to be looked at and to be pondered upon. It conveys a message, a concept. It makes you think, it challenges the way you see things, your views about the world around you. Emphasis is placed on technique and aesthetic to help get this ‘message’ across. Art demands an explanation, it demands you to think!
When I think of ‘craft’ I immediately think of the likes of old ladies or OT students or little nick nacky things that I do in my spare time. I think of being busy with your hands…making cards, knitting, sewing etc. Craft is purely based on the practical, on a skill, the process. Making things purely for the pleasure of making them. Usually functional. So in terms of Art and craft, it could seem that your ‘craft’ is the medium you work in. For example my craft is Printmaking. It is only when you want to express something (concept/message etc) through craft that you Produce Art. Craft could be the process, Art the result.
It seems that there are some mediums or processes that this debate is mostly focused on. Some ‘crafts’ are considered more of an ‘art’ than others. The arts and crafts movement was talking about these ‘grey mediums’ like Ceramics, bookmaking and printing. I would like to add on Photography, Jewellery and Textiles. At the Otago School of Art ceramics is taught as a Fine Art, so is jewellery and textiles. Here at Utrecht Bookmaking and Typography are taught in the Fine Art School, and so is graphics which I would consider more design. Photography is considered a Fine Art today, it didn’t used to be. Where do you draw the line between what mediums are Art?
Personally I think it doesn’t matter what the medium is, if you are using it with the intent to express something or make people think then it should be considered Art. If you are making something purely for the pleasure of making it, then it should be considered a craft. But then there are also other factors that enter into the equation such as how much it is sold for, and where it is sold – elite art galleries or craft markets? Another influence is the idea of the original vs the copy. Art being one of a kind original works, vs commercially reproducible works that almost anyone could copy and reproduce themselves (craft?). I think of so many craft markets I have been to where you just see stalls and stalls of the same kind of thing made by different people. Craft is easy, cheap, very D.I.Y styles. ‘Art’ seems to be more elite, more rare and less accessible and more expensive.
In terms of whether I consider bookmaking to be an art or a craft, (referring to Handmade books) I am in two minds. There is a really good website that is meant to discuss the idea of the book in terms of art vs craft, but it gets more into the definitions of an ‘artists book’ vs ‘a book that is made by an artist’.(see above) A lot of people repeat their opinions so I didn’t make it through the whole site because it got very repetitious. Im not really interested in those definitions though. A book made by an artist, and an ‘artists’ book. Same thing, they are both made by artists right? Im trying to decide whether bookmaking is an art or a craft.
It seems that it is intent, or the purpose for the ‘form’ of a book that defines whether it is considered art or craft. To just make a book for the sake of making a book, I consider that craft. I made a book last week, just to learn how to make a book. I considered this craft because I was purely doing it with the intent of just making a book. It did not require any thought apart from making sure you are glueing in the right direction. But it is when your book is made for a purpose, with intention that it starts to take the form of ‘art’. Things like Journals and Diaries are made with intention – for creative writing. So do I consider them art? No I don’t, because they are purely functional, designed to be written in. They as a form don’t make you think, but perhaps the images inside them do, or the writing in them. Creative writing makes you think, but through the use of text rather than images. It fits into a totally different category. Creative writing is a form of expression that uses words. “Art” is a form of expression that uses imagery that expresses what words cannot explain. Writing is about communication. Art is about communication. Books are a tool used to communicate. There is definetly a link here.
I am interested in that link. I am interested in the importance of the form of the book, and its place in history as a tool for communication. Though I enjoy writing, I would not like to make books that contain writing, if I wanted to write books I would be a writer, not an artist. I’m about imagery. I would like my images to take the place of writing. Im interested in creating picture books that only contain images (I don’t understand why they call them ‘picture books’ when they still have words in them? I want my ‘art’ to be in the form of a book, or contained within the form of a book. I want to celebrate books and art at the same time, I want books to regain the importance that they once had in history that they don’t have anymore. Knowledge is precious, Ideas are precious, Individual thought and experience is precious. It is original and unique. And these are the content of a book. I want my art to be in a book, because like the book should be, I believe that my life is precious, my dreams are precious, my ideas and thoughts are precious, my experience is precious, my knowledge is precious. I am precious. I am rare. I am original. I am unique. And so my art is because I express myself through it. I want to celebrate art as a means of individual expression.
posted by simone marie at 6:27 AM
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