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How Envy killed the Crafts
Posted: Sun Jan 11, 2015 8:57 pm
by Don Burt
Somebody photocopied Garth Clark's essay 'How Envy Killed the Crafts' and put it online in a PDF. While I was worrying about things like kilns, there was war out there and I lost. Darn.
http://art224.files.wordpress.com/2011/ ... nvy001.pdf
Re: How Envy killed the Crafts
Posted: Mon Jan 12, 2015 12:18 am
by Haydo
Good read Don. To quote, I liked the description"It was a dazzling minuet of missteps." and the term "free designer." peace, haydo
Re: How Envy killed the Crafts
Posted: Tue Jan 13, 2015 1:28 pm
by Sharol
Don - Thank you for sharing this. It brought into focus some vague thoughts I've been ruminating on the past few months. A bit of an "aha moment" for me. Garth's perspective and observations were illuminating.
Sharol
Re: How Envy killed the Crafts
Posted: Mon Mar 12, 2018 11:42 am
by Ed Cantarella
"So there is life after death but only once craft becomes proud, confident and easy in its own skin. This will enable craft to get its horse in front of the cart. In 1979 the great art critic Clement Greenberg pointed out a failing in the crafts during his keynote address for the Ceramic Art Foundation's first international conference in 1979. He told the assembled delegates "you strike me as a group that is more concerned with opinion than achievement." Quoted from the article linked to in OP.
Personal story: I bought my step-daughter her first pottery kiln and wheel as a wedding gift (used but still very generous). Fixed it for years when it broke, built shelves for her shows, mom sold thousands of dollars of her work to her co-workers. Fast forward to mom/wife wanting to learn glass work, which I had some background in. Daughter's head exploded when she found out what we were getting for even our most basic glasswork, has NEVER liked one of mom's pieces on Facebook or made a comment.
I know, it's our fault she is still making coffee cups, bowls and platters and basically just slathering on the glaze after 9 years. Craft doesn't need to be envious, it just needs to be self aware of what it isn't.
You need craft to make art but you don't need art to make craft. Really good craftwork has it's own name. "Art".
There is envy - but it's not the fault of those attempting to raise their craft to the art.
*The opinions expressed are only the writer's - feel free to disregard them as the ramblings of an old man.