Craft as Fine Art

Craft Media is any material historically used to make functional objects:

Clay Glass Fiber Metal Wood Clay (Clara’s Favorite)

• Clay = Dirt, minerals, and glass. • Ceramics = The process of making objects out of clay. • Today, TONS of things are made of clay: bricks, bathroom tile, insulation in spaceships, grills, etc… • Sculpture and Pottery

The Green Egg Ceramic Sculpture = A ceramic object made by pinching, coiling, and joining clay together.

Coil Building Demo Kang Hyo Lee

Stirrup Vessel with Ritual Runners Moche culture, Peru, 400AD–600AD Earthenware with slip and pigment Pottery = A functional ceramic object made on a throwing wheel

Throwing • Throwing = the process of creating a symmetrical ceramic object on a pottery wheel. Clay is centered on the pottery wheel; the artist uses their hands to manipulate the clay into a symmetrical form. • Pottery Wheel = in Ceramics, the tool used to make pottery. Adam Field Contemporary Ceramic Sculpture

Cristina Cordova uses traditional ceramic building methods to create provocative contemporary figure sculptures Contemporary Ceramic Sculpture

Voulkos uses a pottery wheel to throw clay forms separately, then cuts and reassembles the thrown parts and uses them to make sculptures

Peter Voulkos, “X-Neck,” 1990 • Glass = Molten sand (silica) and minerals. Glass • Different minerals give different colors. • Hot, Warm, and Cold Glass

“Ce n’est pa une pipe” Hot Glass = Working glass in direct flame. Glass Blowing = Liquid glass in a kiln is collected on one end of a hollow pipe; the artist blows into the other end to create a hollow form.

DALE CHIHULY. Rio delle Torreselle Chandelier (1996), Venice, Italy. A chandelier installation in the Rio Delle Torre Stelle, part of the Chihuly over Venice project, Venezia Aperto Vetro. Contemporary Glass Sculpture Warm Glass = Working glass in a hot kiln or indirect flame Glass Casting = Pieces of glass are melted into a mold. (This is a warm glass technique) Cold Glass = Working glass without heat. • Engraving/Etching - cutting fine lines and detail onto the glass surface. • Printing images on glass • Cutting glass and using it in other ways, such as for a mosaic or in a mixed-media piece. Fiber

• Fiber = slender, threadlike structures that are derived from animals, vegetable, or synthetic sources. • Texture makes fiber very attractive to artists. • Weaving, Embroidery, and Quilting An… interesting... jacket from an old pattern book Weaving = Constructing fabrics by means of interlacing horizontal and vertical threads. Loom - a device used to weave Tapestry = Fabric made by weaving with multiple colors and incorporating designs into the process

“The Unicorn in Capivity,” Franco-Flemish, c. 1500 Weaving demonstration (2:20) Embroidery= A design made by needlework. • Used to add decoration and embellishment to fabric.

Embroidered Rumal, late 18th century Quilting = The process of sewing together two pieces of fabric with insulation in the middle and an often complex pattern or design. – Lends itself to incorporating found objects, mementos, scraps of fabric: like a collage.

Jessie T. Pettway, “Bars and String-Pieced Columns,” 1950s Mennonite quilting circle Contemporary Fiber Art

FAITH RINGGOLD. Matisse’s Chapel (1991). Acrylic on canvas; tie-dyed, pieced fabric border. 74 x 79 1⁄2. Contemporary Fiber Installation

Installation Art: Magdalena Abakanowicz, “Backs in Landscape,” burlap and resin 1978-81 Metal • Metalwork includes tools, vessels, weapons, horseshoes, armor, sacred objects, and jewelry. • Gold, Silver, Bronze, steel, brass – all have different textures and densities that make them different to work with. GWAR!!!!!!!! • Metalsmith = A craftsman who makes tools and art from metal. • Blacksmith = A metalsmith who specifically creates objects of wrought iron or steel by forging the metal. – Wrought iron fencing, balconies, railing, grilles. – Knives, swords, weapons. • Forge = A hearth used for heating metal. • Anvil = A block of steel, used as a surface for hammering metal. Blacksmithing Demonstration Casting = Use a two-part mold - pour liquid metal into a specific shape

Spouted ritual wine vessel, Shang Dynasty, 13th century Wood • Wood has many textures, grains, strengths, and colors. • Wood is an extremely versatile medium with many uses from weapons to decorations, jewelry, sacred items, and ornaments. • Portlandia: The Man Issue • Carpentry = The act or occupation of making and repairing things in wood. • Types of wood: Birch, Cedar, Maple, Oak, Pine… there are as many types of wood as there are trees. • Joinery = Joining together pieces of wood to produce a complex object. Finger Joint Butt Joint

Miter Joint Dovetail Joint Some joints require a Some joints are strong on fastener such as nails or their own and don’t glue. necessarily require fastener. Heiltsuk, “Bent Corner Chest,” 1860 Eames Chair Wood Contemporary Wood Sculpture

Tom Shields Tom Shields Artist Statement

“Chairs built into chairs speak of dependence; a chair with legs held off the ground but held by another talks of support. Chairs clustered so tight that the intricacies become overwhelming explore the complexities of a group … I make ‘furniture’ not because I am a furniture-maker, but because these forms are my reflex vocabulary. This has led me to explore furniture not as an object, but rather, as a subject. I am not trying to reinvent the chair, make it more comfortable or establish a sleek new design for modern living. Instead, I hope to address the role that furniture plays in our lives and tweak that context as a means to investigate social connections.” Q: What is the difference between fine art and craft? A: The difference between fine art and craft is based on utility (craft) versus visual function (fine art).

A: The difference between fine art and craft is what material the object is made of.

A: The difference between fine art and craft is how well the object was made.

A: The difference between fine art and craft is based on the historical and cultural context in which each object was created.

A: There is no difference. Historically…

• Craft has primarily centered on the creation of Functional Objects = objects that serve an overt, direct function in our daily ritual and life. Ex: Kitchenware, Furniture, Clothing. • “Craft” as a descriptive term can have negative connotations because of the historical division between “fine art” and “craft” that implicitly elevates fine art over craft. - Elevation of material, skill, conceptual framework, or final product. Historically…

Craft Fine Art • Fiber Art, Ceramics, • Painting, Drawing, Jewelry, Woodworking. Sculpture. • Manual labor. • Intellectual (Renaissance). • Women’s work. • Conceptual. • Primarily made to be • Primarily made to be seen. used. • Provokes thought, • Purely utilitarian. produces meaning. • Belongs in the home. • Belongs in a gallery Today…

Craft Fine Art • Handiwork, • Handiwork, craftsmanship. craftsmanship. • Extraordinarily skilled. • Extraordinarily skilled. • Has a long history that • Has a long history that reflects human reflects human experience, values, etc. experience, values, etc. • Primarily made to be • Primarily made to be experienced as an object experienced as an object of physical* pleasure. of visual* pleasure. “It makes good sense to use clay for pots, vases, pitchers, and platters, but I like to have things both ways. I make things that could be functional, but I really want them to be considered works of art.” -Betty Woodman

Betty Woodman, “Floral Vase and Shadow,” 1983 “I don’t really care if they call it art or craft; it really doesn’t make any difference to me, but I do like the fact that people want to see it.” -Dale Chihuly

Dale Chihuly, “Rotunda Chandelier,” 1999 Discussion Questions:

• Are functional items works of art and why? What about historical objects? • Are the people who created functional items considered to be artists? What about artisans who worked hundreds of years ago? (artisan = before an artist was really an “artist” – before art was an intellectual pursuit)