Art is the craft of being human.
I really relate to this, but others don't as they seem to see art and craft as two very different things with art being more lofty than craft, which is mearly the ability to do something competantly. For me it goes to the heart of what art is, it is the crafting of non verbal means of sharing a concept, although I do think words can be art too, a beautifully crafted sentence is a thing of beauty.
What do you all think?
The conceptual aspect of art has long fascinated me. Take Michael Craig-Martin’s “Oak Tree” and “Fountain” by Marcel Duchamp. Many people deny these to be art but to me even though I don’t aesthetically like them I understand that its the idea thats the art in these two cases.
Id add that denial of art is part of the slippery slope to totalitarianism as book burning and their exhibition of “Degenerate Art “ in Fascist Germany of the 1930s then Stalin’s definitions of anti soviet art with its creators incarcerated in prison camps.
I completely agree about thatching (my late aunt had a thatched cottage), and similarly dry stone walling and hedge laying. If you aren’t already familiar with his work check out Andy Goldsworthy, his “Wall that went for a walk” is astounding.
Very well put Kate. My knee-jerk reaction to the original post was along the lines of “but art is difficult and craft is easy”, and in my world that is in part true but your comment is making me think more deeply about this.
I collect works of art by contemporary artists, semi-abstract mixed media on industrial themes my preference but Im not snobby in my collecting as Ive carved drift wood, pottery of various kinds, a framed button art tree, found art such as fossils, wooden objects of various sorts, bricks and bits of concrete!
And thinking further my definition of difficult is probably that I can’t do it, which says a lot about me and nothing about the value of the created objects. My own creativity (the something difficult) is I would generally say writing in various forms, but for relaxation and health (the something easy) I make patterns out of objects like tools, boxes, stones, then snap them on my iphone, print and arrange into montages. It satisfies my autistic need for pattern and order.
Alice
I think things are moving more in the direction now of people realising that the distinction between art and craft is less defined - and I think that’s a very good thing. I think various influences in culture and society meant that at various times art was seen as a more rarified and noble thing than craft - but I think now people have a more nuanced view about that. Look at the way Bernard Leach is viewed as a potter, and the way folk art is now viewed as of real value artistically. I think this is real progress as I think the distinctions between any form of art aren’t really necessary- it’s all creative expression ultimately - in whatever form it manifests.
I see art as something you do in whatever way suits you
I like that. And sometimes I feel this from discovering who I am, or working introspectively. Though both occur.
I agree. It reminds me of Walt Whitman's life and work, maybe William Blake's as well. (If one is attentive enough art is all there is.)
Being human includes love, care, construction, communication, etc. and is more than art.
Art is something that means something to you. A painting, photo, sculpture or creation that is more than the sum of its parts. I believe it is considered to provoke or capture some emotion, but I think it is more that it captures your interest. i am not sure if interest is an emotion. I think it also involves some expenditure of excess effort or care
I think a craft is about creating something with care. I think it has to be more than just utilitarian. It includes more than just art.
Art is about creating something impractical that invites disproportionate interest. What that interest is or means is hard to define.
The thing it's made me think about is William Morris and the arts and craft moment. I could be getting it wrong, but I think the proponent of that was that craft (machinery made) had been largely art-less and they believed that craft and art should go hand in hand. The artisan craftmanship. I remember seeing pictures of ornate furniture and wallpaper, not to everyone's tastes, but fascinating that the living space could be a thing of beauty.
I think art and craft are like drinking and eating? Similar but distinct?
I don't think any of this answers the question though.
Craft can be something done at home. It often involves something learnt such knitting or crochet. However there are also ancient crafts which also have a particular way of doing them, for example thatching or shoeing a horse.
I see art as something you do in whatever way suits you. Perhaps a craft though could be both. There are instructions on how to do it, but when it is decorated that part is art because you can design it or in the case of thatching there is a unique signature, perhaps in the form of a bird.
I don't understand what you mean about the craft of being human. Are you able to explain more?
I get what you mean about craft being more practicle and art more conceptual, but is that a false split? I think it is, I think we've been taught to see craft as lesser than "art", we've taken the art out of artificier! I think we often devalue making, we tke the soul out if it and make it a "thing", rather than a skill that can be beautiful, functional and speak to the soul. Craft is something done at home, or by the Womens Institute, we see it as a passtime and a hobby rather than something with soul, maybe craft is seen as something you learn at home, whereas art is taught in colleges and higher educational establishments.
I kind of always thought of it that art was more conceptual, and craft was more practical? I don't know if that's quite what I mean, but crafters seemed to make and have something at the end of it, where as when I did art it wasn't about the end product as much? You wouldn't know what you created until you decided to stop working on it? Craft seemed to be more about an end goal?
But there is artistry in crafting, and a lot of other human endeavours of the soul.
