When we hear the word craft we tend to think of a tired old craftsman standing over a well built wooden chair over which he laboured for hours, as seen in the lecture in the Von der werkbund austellung drawing. But craft has evolved from its origins in the late 19th/early 20th century to the contemporary craft of today.The exact definition of craft was heavily debated in our tutorial, some beleived it could be defined by the times taken or the skill level required to construct a design. We debated whether a knitted scarf could be considered craft, as many people can knit and a scarf is a common object. But I believe it is craft, while many know how to knit, the quality of the scarf depends on the skill of the craftsmen so two are never the same. This is what seperates it from the mass produced/industrially mase designs that William Morris and A.W.N Pugin disliked.
It is on this basis that I chose my example of contemporary craft, flax art. It is craft because it is easy to do yet requires skill to craft well, time consuming and original. I believe it can be considered contemporary craft because of the modern obsession with sustainability and cultural design, rather than the technology and materials used, these may be a define some contemporary design but not craft.
Kate Westerink
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