My personal experience makes no argument with highly respected dictionaries and reference works describing CRAFT as a ART form… and ART to have it has CRAFT(if in doubt, check this with your own personal information/learning sources).
I accept, with full affinity, the belief that craft requires skill, dexterity, competence and ingenuity to become a member of the ‘family of artistic practices within the decorative arts’.
A definition I like, found on Wikipedia:-
‘HAS CRAFT is a skill, especially practice LETTERS. It can refer to a trade or individual ART.’
As a craftsman dedicated to a continuous quest to improve and expand my creativity, I have no doubt that I am a craftsman (or a person ‘skilled in an applied art; a craftsman’).
From humble beginnings, learning to knit from my mother and teaching myself to crochet, I initially used these skills to produce items for myself, my family and friends. Over the years this has progressed through various outlets to this point where I am trying to market my creations on the internet.
Whether it’s crafts or my other passion, writing, the principles laid out in my Introduction above apply equally, for example:
skills — an ability, sometimes innate, or innate to its essential character; sometimes developed from knowledge and practice; In my case, I think both. There have been some talented craftsmen in my heritage and I have worked hard on development for a long time.
Skill — for me, it’s both ease and experience in using my hands, along with a healthy dose of mental agility.
Competition — of course, competence in performance; develop an increasing degree of expertise; and experiencing a sense of accomplishment that an article has been produced in the best possible way.
Ingenuity — a preparation to think laterally through conception and creation; design and produce each individual handcrafted piece with flair and inventiveness; imaginatively use available materials to create something new and attractive.
And let’s not forget – Integrity — a word that often feels as outdated as dinosaurs in this rapidly changing world and its attitudes. Integrity it has an incredible number of definitions, but they all point to principles such as honesty, morality, unity, and honor. Y Integrity is what I and every other true craftsman brings to our creative pursuits: making our CRAFT be unequivocally classified as ART.
There are opponents of this view who insist that the true ART it is painting, drawing, music, dance, poetry, sculpture, even architecture and languages can be accommodated under this ‘umbrella’. Apparently, all forms are believed to require and use a higher level of skill and artistry than CRAFT.
Others speak of aesthetics and skillful creation; ‘inner appreciation of balance and harmony’; mastery of a medium; communication and imaginative expression; ‘a class of objects subject to aesthetic criteria’; and since ancient times, having ritual and symbolic functions and meanings.
The suggestion seems to be that these ideals apply only to ART… No CRAFT.
When an artisan brings the highest degree of dedication, integrity and commitment to their work, along with skill and attention to detail in every creative activity…this is indeed the hallmark of craftsmanship.
I find nothing in the suggested criteria for creating ART that is less than what one should require in creating an ART. CRAFT Article. Each descriptive definition seems to epitomize the highest ideals of dedicated craftsmen.
Form — CRAFT it is ART— there is simply no question to debate.
Everyone is entitled to their own personal opinion. SO… what do YOU think now?
Is it really ART?