Art vs. Craft

[Carolyn T.]

I saw an interesting article in the newsletter from the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, which I think speaks to the ongoing debate about "art quilts". It can be found here: http://www.fccava.org/FCCA-Articles2...-vrs-Craft.pdf

and it links to a more extensive article here: http://www.denisdutton.com/rnz_craft.htm

Pretty interesting!
Florence

[Carolyn T.]

I live under a rock; I had no idea there was a "debate", much less article being written about it. Go figure...

[Carolyn T.]

Me personally...I have a very broad difinition of "art". Except when it comes to my work. How silly is that? Lately I've finally began to seriously call my work art. Why did I have such a problem with that?

[Eileen K.]

Me personally...I have a very broad difinition of "art". Except when it comes to my work. How silly is that? Lately I've finally began to seriously call my work art. Why did I have such a problem with that?

I think it's probably because quilting has, over the years, been considered untilitarian; a craft that women learn to provide warmth for their families. Quilts went on beds, art went on walls.
JMHO,
eileenkny

[Eileen K.]

There is that Quote that says, "She who works with her hands is a laborer. She who works with her hands and her head is a craftsman. She who works with her hands, her head and her heart is an artist. I personally consider myself an artist. My media is fiber. Betty Ann

[Mary K.]

There is that Quote that says, "She who works with her hands is a laborer. She who works with her hands and her head is a craftsman. She who works with her hands, her head and her heart is an artist. I personally consider myself an artist. My media is fiber. Betty Ann

Great quote, Betty Ann! I am going to borrow that for my e-mail signature!

[Mary K.]

I, too, love that quote.

[Eileen K.]

Ditto!!!
eileenkny

[Judy M.]

Miles, there have been ALOT of debates since I've been quilting (1983). Years ago, some people thought a wall quilt shouldn't be called a quilt because it wasn't large enough to go on a bed! Now the tug of war about art/craft. I'm a traditional quilter but I really enjoy all of the methods and types of quilts that people are making. I probably wouldn't make these types of quilts myself, but I think the spectrum of quilting is wonderful. Judy in Torrance

[Judy M.]

On one of my office wall I have a small quilt from a Laura Wasilowski design. I had a mother and her 6 y/o son at my desk while I checked something on the computer. The 6 y/o saw the quilt (which is 12" x 12") and said, "look, there's a quilt!" From the mouth of babes!

Maggie in E. Central Illinois

[Judy M.]

Well, for my .02 I consider myself an artist (I guess) who uses quilting techniques as my medium. Sometimes I stop short of binding a quilt; instead I stretch the quilt over a pine frame and (gasp!) staple it in place. Then I have the resulting "canvas" decoratively framed.

[Judy M.]

This debat about is needlework as art is at least 130 years old! I studied embroidery at the Royal School of Needlework in London and one of the hammers we used for stretching work with was marked RSAN - Royal School of Art Needlework, which was it's original name. I don't know when the name change happened to RSN but it was certainly considered a form of art by Edward Byrne-Jones and (Walter?) Crane who provided designs/commissions in the early days. They were part of the Art Noveau group of designers along with William Morris etc.

Rosemary

[Liberata T.]

Considering that I have seen laminated bags of garbage (yes, actual waste materials, vegetable peels, etc.) displayed in art galleries as "contemporary art," :shock: there is absolutely no doubt in my mind that quilting is an "art" form.

As with all artistic endeavors some are considered better than others and some achieve levels of brilliance, some set out to create "art" and some create it accidentally. Often "art" is just a matter of personal or cultural taste that is subject to change over time.

Sometimes people think way too much about the obvious. :P

PS. I wasn't a very good philosophy student ops:

[Liberata T.]

I tend to be a stickler for details so suffice to say the aforementioned quote doesn't jive with me- after all, to say a laborer is just a pair of brainless hands is pretty ridiculous.

One can be an unskilled laborer, whose contribution to the community or gross national product can be seen as a simple equation: work>knowledge. In other words, the work or effort produced exceeds the knowledge it takes to perfor the work. For instance washing dishes would be considered an unskilled labor since there is far more work involved than knowledge needed to do the work.

A person can be an artisan or craftsperson. That equation would be seen as knowledge is = or > than the work. This is where I believe most quilters fall into. Let's be honest, quilting (in the physical sense) is not a labor-intesive process. There's a lot of sitting and standing and that's about it. The bulk of the work is knowledge-based (cerebral), requiring a great deal of thought and reason. In other words, anyone can wash dishes, but not anyone can quilt.

Art can be perceived as intent, skill, knowledge, labor and perception- all in varying degrees but very fluid. A laminated bag of refuse may raise question as to the quality of the art, but one cannot argue the intent; the artist intended to make an artistic statement and therefore the art is legitimate. It thusly become the repsonsibility of the viewer to try to understand the intent. All too often the viewing public of art is lazy, demanding to be spoon-fed the origins of art and artist. This is why I rarely name my work beyond abstract terms and I never provide an "artists statement" when I'm in a show.

True story: When I entered my very first quilt show I left the line for "Title" blank. I was told that the quilt in question HAD to have a name. I told the woman in charge that I would have to think about it. Of course, I had no intention of naming the quilt so I never "got back" to her. The day the show opened I discovered my quilt had been named for me! Imagine that. So I went to a desk where raffle tickets were being sold, borrowed a pen and scribbled out the title.

But I digress. Most of the work I see by quilters falls under the "artisan" category, for it certainly isn't "art" nor the result of unskilled labor.

[Hannelore N.]

Miles, may I suggest you join this group:

http://www.quiltart.com/

Lorchen