Chapter 7.5: Tradition of Craft

Was da Vinci an artistic genius? Sure, but he was also born in the right place at the right time. Western artists before the Renaissance got little individual credit for their work. And in many non-Western cultures, traditional forms have always been prized over innovation. So, where do we get our notions of art vs. craft?

Video

In the following TED Ed video Laura Morelli traces the history of how we assign value to the visual arts.

Definition and Meaning

From the Encyclopedia of Art

The term “craft” denotes a skill, usually employed in branches of the decorative arts (eg. ceramics), or in an associated artistic practice (eg. lace-making). A key feature of crafts is that they involve a high degree of “hands-on” craftsmanship (hence the colloquial term “handicrafts) rather than just skill with a machine. Some crafts that are practiced by artists working alone are sometimes referred to by the vague term “studio craft”. Metal work, wood turning, glass blowing, and glass art are examples of “studio crafts”, as is pottery – notably the studio pottery movement exemplified by Bernard Leach in Britain.

Arts Versus Crafts

Ever since the Renaissance era, when the status of painters and sculptors (who were previously regarded as craftsmen) was upgraded to “artist”, the term “crafts” has been classified as a lesser creative activity to “arts.” Why? Because, supposedly, a craftsman can predict what he is going to create, whereas an artist can’t predict what he is going to create until he has created it. In practice, however, the line between an “art” and a “craft” is frequently so fine as to be meaningless. A ceramicist, for instance, is most unlikely ever to be able to predict how a particular glaze will impact on the piece of clay sculpture being produced.

Decorative Arts: Applied Art: Versus Crafts

The etymology and distinctive meanings of terms like “arts” and “crafts” is further complicated and confused by the expansion of closely related areas like “Decorative Arts” and “Applied Arts”. “Decorative Art” is traditionally considered to include ornamental and functional works in ceramic, glass, metal, wood and textiles. The term encompasses pottery, furniture, furnishings, interior design, and architecture, and is used by art critics to distinguish these areas from the “fine arts” such as drawing, painting, and sculpture: “Fine Arts” being created purely for aesthetic reasons (“art for art’s sake”).

“Applied Art” describes fields of creative activity that apply design and aesthetics to utilitarian objects of everyday use. (Making functional things beautiful). It includes activities like architecture, interior design, graphic design, fashion design, industrial or commercial design, decorative art and functional art are considered applied arts. As you can see, a noticeable overlap exists between the three areas: decorative, applied arts, and crafts, and (in practice) between unique crafted items and fine art sculpture. “