RAM Talks Art: Fine craft: Combining the best of art and craft traditions

By Jeremiah Blankenbaker, Registrar, Rockford Art Museum

When most people consider craft, they may not readily associate the term with art—paintings, sculpture and prints—that they see at a museum. Instead, they may think of items at a fair, decorating a house or serving a functional use, such as a table. Woodcarving, quilting, crocheting, jewelry-making—these are crafts.

However, the division between art and craft has not always been. Before the Renaissance, art and craft were essentially interchangeable. A painter had much in common with the tapestry maker, and the sculptor working on adorning the cathedral was no more or less of a craftsman than the silversmith making armor.

Art came to be seen as an intellectual pursuit with the introduction of linear perspective and the new emphasis on Realism, which required a deep study to understand the visible world. Craft lay claim to those areas of work that were considered nonintellectual. With time, craft became imbued with the quality of being handmade and intimate.

This distinction still survives today, and in the 20th century was exacerbated by the Modern art movement. Art is seen as an intellectual pursuit to a degree that, although many artists excel in their mastery of materials, the difficulty in execution or the lack of it does not define its quality. Craft, on the other hand, is considered to be good if the execution is good.

Contemporary craft breaches this division by combining traditional craft materials and fine handiwork with the concerns of concept, form and materials of the contemporary art world. Contemporary craft artists tend to be extremely knowledgeable about movements in contemporary art, and many have art degrees or began as pure fine artists.

Whereas traditional craft often has a functional element, or at least a resemblance to it, contemporary craft usually denies any functionality. A beautifully-made quilt may be used to be kept warm or hung on the wall, but contemporary crafter Kiki Smith's quilts will only serve the latter.

With craft, the handmade quality lends an intimacy that is not commonly associated with fine art. This is the most important link between traditional craft and contemporary craft, and why so many artists choose to pursue craft as art over another form of art.

In general, three methods are often employed in making contemporary craft that differentiates it from traditional craft:

The first makes use of traditional materials, but does it in a new and unique manner. Delores Fortuna produces sculptures produced by dipping a wire frame into slip, liquid clay made from clay, minerals and water traditionally used in mold casting. The result is a tangled natural form that reveals the delicacy of the slip through its cracked bone-like surface.

The second is to make use of traditional materials and traditional forms, but the final form deals with fine art, concerns that are atypical of traditional craft. In 2001, Robyn Love made a series of 60 crocheted granny square blankets. These blankets were then wrapped around lamp posts throughout Manhattan. The series was an intervention, a fine art motif that tries to interrupt the normally passive mindset of a passerby by placing something odd and out of place in their path. In this case, the passerby was asked to consider the craft's place in the hustle of the metropolis.

The third makes use of non-traditional materials but applies traditional handiwork and forms. Dave Cole creates teddy bears. These bears look like traditional bears and are completely made by hand-weaving, but his choice of materials—lead and fiberglass—could not be further from the plush materials teddy bears are made of.

Work by a dozen contemporary craft artists can be seen in the current exhibitions Common Thread: Contemporary Craft and Betsy Youngquist: Light of the Moon at Rockford Art Museum. Both shows are on display through March 23. RAM hours are 10 a.m.-5 p.m., Monday-Saturday; and noon-5 p.m., Sunday. Admission is $6 (free for RAM members), $3 students/seniors, $2 per person group rate (10 or more), free for children 12 and younger, and free admission Tuesdays (group rates still apply).

And take advantage of the Tuesdays @ RAM: Artist Lecture Series, featuring exhibition artists Delores Fortuna (Feb. 12, 6 p.m.) and Renie Breskin Adams (Feb. 26, 6 p.m.). Cost is $5 per lecture, and no registration is required. Other related programming includes a children's activity workshop, “Animal Art: Clay, Beads and More,” for ages 8 and older (Saturday, March 1, 2-4 p.m.,). Cost is $8 per child, and registration required. To register, call Stacey at (815) 972-2874. More information can be found at www.rockfordartmuseum.org.

Also, Racine Art Museum in Wisconsin (http://www.ramart.org) is one of the top museums in the country that collects and exhibits contemporary craft, and is located two hours northeast of Rockford.

Rockford Art Museum Registrar Jeremiah Blankenbaker can be reached at blankenbaker@rockfordartmuseum.org.

from the Jan. 30-Feb. 5, 2008, issue

 

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