EMERGING VIEWS ON MAKING FIBRE GRADUATES REFLECT ON THEIR PRACTICE by Kathleen Morris A thesis submitted in conformity with the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts Graduate Department of Curriculum, Teaching, and Learning Ontario Institute for Studies in Education University of Toronto ©Copyright by Kathleen Morris, 2013 EMERGING VIEWS ON MAKING FIBRE GRADUATES REFLECT ON THEIR PRACTICE Kathleen Morris Master of Arts, 2013 Department of Curriculum, Teaching, and Learning University of Toronto Abstract This narrative research examines the ways in which craft is conceptualized from the perspective of five recent graduates from the Material Art and Design Fibre Program at a prominent Canadian art and design university. Recognizing the cultural currents that have excised acts of making, including Western de-industrialization and abundant access to offshore labour markets, this research looks at the role of maker within a new societal context. A nascent theoretical platform for craft, shaped by artists and academics, counters a dearth of voices that has characterized the field’s history. Here, craft is posited as a methodology, characterized by embodiment, subjectivity, resistance, and skill. The experience of emerging makers, and their reflection in relation to this theoretical framework, allows for a broader consideration of present-day craft practice, and a renewed consideration of material arts curricula. ii Acknowledgments A heartfelt thank you goes to my committee members who showed immense flexibility and support throughout the writing of this thesis. To Rubén, my thesis supervisor, you have been instrumental in helping to translate a collection of unruly ideas into written form. To Tara, your meticulous eye and accommodating approach were essential to this process. To my participants, Natalie, Alison, Lidia, Tanya, and Zoey, to whom I owe a huge debt of gratitude. I thank each of you for being generous with your time, as well as your willingness to be reflective and candid throughout. I am deeply thankful for the support of some dear friends who have been at my side the entire time. Sheila, Somani, Cathy, and Anna, in our discussions, emails, walks, and yoga classes, I thank you for all you have offered me. None of this writing could have occurred without the unwavering support of my family. Mauro, a special thank you to you for your belief in me, and your patience and encouragement throughout this process. To Ruby, Stella, and Gabriel who have endured the day-to-day reality of a distracted mother hunched over a laptop, I thank each of you. Lastly, to my parents, Shirley and Mel. Thank you for the gifts you have shared with me, for your lifelong inquisitiveness, and your unfailing belief in me. I am hugely grateful to both of you. iii Table of Contents chapter one: introduction................................................................................................................1 on craft and narrative...........................................................................................................1 a note about language......................................................................................................... 2 summary and research questions.......................................................................................3 background and rationale: a snapshot...............................................................................4 purpose of the study ............................................................................................................7 theoretical framework: craft as “a way of doing things”............................................... 8 a roadmap..............................................................................................................................9 chapter two: review of related literature....................................................................................12 craft, modernity, and the disinterested gaze...................................................................12 postmodernity: craft as a flavour of making...................................................................17 embodied understandings and tacit knowledge............................................................21 postindustrialism and the unstable identity of craft......................................................24 chapter three: methodology and procedures.............................................................................30 narrative inquiry.................................................................................................................30 narrative and making.........................................................................................................34 situating myself...................................................................................................................36 site selection/participant recruitment.............................................................................39 methods................................................................................................................................42 ethical considerations.........................................................................................................45 scope and limitations of the study ..................................................................................46 chapter four: language and early understandings..................................................................49 sewing needles and circuit boards: the language of making........................................50 early inroads and intentions..............................................................................................57 answering an unarticulated need: the sensory encounter............................................68 craft and situated cognition...............................................................................................72 iv chapter five: craft in a postindustrial landscape.....................................................................78 obstacles and opportunities.....................................................................................78 object and audience: the search for authenticity...................................................81 communities and collaborations.............................................................................89 chapter six: the making of makers..............................................................................................95 discipline nonspecific...............................................................................................95 making under pressure..........................................................................................102 lessons learned: constructing an identity............................................................105 chapter seven: contributions to craft theory and curriculum...............................................114 craft as a way of doing things.............................................................................114 a second look at curriculum................................................................................121 Appendices...................................................................................................................................127 Appendix A – Participant recruitment: email notice........................................127 Appendix B – Informed consent..........................................................................128 Appendix C – Interview protocol #1..................................................................130 Appendix D – Interview protocol #2..................................................................132 References..................................................................................................................................133 v Chapter one: introduction to the study on craft and narrative Two expansive terms lie at the heart of this research. The first is craft. Long established as a noun, craft evokes a mode of making that shakes its fist at industrial production. At once defiant, sacrosanct, and nostalgic, craft mobilizes a legacy of production that operates at the sidelines of capitalism, happily thumbing its nose.1 As a verb, craft is finding its feet in the currents of a postindustrial world, describing an embodied act of making that permeates many spheres of creative practice, from sculpture to interior design to winemaking. How new makers situate themselves within the experience, legacy, and language of craft is the focal point of this research. The second term is narrative. It describes the form of this qualitative research as well as the nature of the data it draws upon. The stories of emerging makers disclose a new angle to how craft is conceived, and their very recounting shapes how the skill and material-based knowledge of craft are culturally positioned. Craft as a label emerged in opposition to the industrial practices of the early nineteenth century, and while contemporary practice still uses language that is entrenched in history, the context, tools, and material culture of bodies at work in postindustrial nations demand new narratives. Making and storytelling do not exist in disparate spheres. They are ubiquitous in daily life, and address the activities within it. They hold a mirror up to who we are and convey who 1 William Morris railed at the loss of craft mastery by the “thoughtless hacks” who supplanted them. 1 Emerging views on making!