Is it craft or art?
I have been struggling lately with the question of whether my work is craft or art? Is there a specific line that separates the two or do the two lines cross depending on the viewer or consumer?
www.TheFreeDictionary.com defines craft as:
Skill in doing or making something, as in the arts; proficiency. see synonyms ART
Well then, thats my answer…huh…right. Ok, so what is the difference between craft and art? Is it the quality of the work? Is it the medium that you work in? Is it the way in witch you put things together and combine different mediums? Or is it the fact that your taking a medium, wood, clay, fabric, or paint and making something from scratch?
I really don’t know. However I do know that in terms of marketing and promoting my woodturned art, I seem to be better off in the realm of craft. It’s seems to me that my customers con vein more at a high end craft fair, or markets than in a high end art gallery. In fact in having approached “Art Galleries” in the past they are rarely interested in carrying my work no matter what the quality or craftsmanship.
So…what is the answer? Is it really definable? Are high end, highly skilled craftsmen in any way less of an artist? Are these people in any way less valuable or collectible? I don’t think so. I think that the definition lies in the eye of the viewer of those pieces. A couple blobs of paint on a canvas may be much less art to one person than a beautifully finished piece of furniture, or a finely sculpted piece of clay.
As my friend Ani DiFranco said in one of her songs “I get up every day to do something I can’t even define” I guess the feeling in my mind is “If you get up every day and do exactly what you love & provide value to others….who cares what they call it”
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Stumble it!
January 2nd, 2008 at 6:57 pm
Oh, my. This is such a contentious question in textiles - I remember a couple of times the topic almost got banned on the QuiltArt mailing list because is just stirred up so much bad feeling.
My feeling tends to run to, if you are asking yourself the question, it’s art. People I’ve known who identify as craftsmen/craftswomen seem pretty confident that what they’re doing is craft, while those who identify as artists or artisans but work in traditionally craft media struggle with this a lot.
I think each of us can only define that boundary for ourselves, and it shifts - when I’m working on a more traditional quilt or utilitarian knitted piece, I think of it as craft, but once I move into experimental, decorative, or interpretive territory, I think of it as art. (I always think of myself as an artist, though.)
An alternative perspective, coming from the library side of what I do: sometimes I think visual artists pin way too much identity on marketing terminology. Writers don’t seem to be so hung up on it - there are many, many writers working across the age boundaries, or across literary/genre boundaries, and they refuse to be typecast. P. D. James, for example - clearly marketing the bulk of what she writes as mystery has made her very successful, but if she allowed herself to be made “that mystery writer” by the publishers, her literary and sci-fi work might never have been written. If your market is in fine craft, or studio craft, or whatever, go with that - but don’t ever let it decide who you are on a deeper level, ya know?
January 2nd, 2008 at 7:13 pm
Lyndyn, thanks so much for the comment. I agree with just about everything you say. I have never been one much for conformity, so I guess I’m in that cross genre art classification. Thanks for the comment.
Keith
January 4th, 2008 at 8:40 pm
Perhaps it’s in the eye of the creator and it may change back and forth between art and craft. I had a wholesale/retail craft business for a number of years, and never considered myself an artist. Artistic and creative I would say I was both of those.
Your things have an art type feeling to me. I vote you as an artist–no matter where you sell your work.
January 23rd, 2008 at 6:40 pm
good question! Your work is art, craft is the skill set that you use to create that art.
March 12th, 2008 at 5:58 am
I found this blog,when I make the craft a key word and rettieve it.
I think that the art is made to express ideas by artist,the craft is made to sell by craftman.
I also am making a new art.Please look at my work,when it is good.