Craft or Art?
Two quotes which I like very much answer the eternal questions "What is art?" and "Who is an artist?"
"A man who works with his hands is a laborer; a man who works with his hands and his brain is a craftsman; but a man who works with his hands and his brain and his heart is an artist."
Louis Nizer
"Art is not a handicraft, it is the transmission of feeling the artist experienced."
Leo Tolstoy
In creating the above Artist Trading Cards, I was a craftsperson. I think most artists are also craftspeople whereas not all craftspeople are artists.
Labels: Craft or Art?
3 Comments:
Don't you find that with the change in the current art society at large, the lines have blurred more than before?
There was a time when the word *craft* was honorable; now, it evokes all sorts of comments.
And *artist* which I always felt was a rather noble profession seems to have slid to anyone who can be juried into an art fair.
Not judging with this; just pondering change.
XXOO!!
Anne
I think what we are seeing is indeed a blurring of art and craft when you look at any issue of "American Craft" where the two designations are used interchangeably....However, the "real" problem, as I see it, is the sloppiness with which vocabulary words are used. (First, there was "casual" dress, now grown into "sloppy", and our language took the same direction.)
"American Craft" magazine is a winner in my opinion, and until we had this discussion I never cared whether they called what they showed art or craft.
And, yes, I think perhaps people who judge for art fairs are frequently confused.
but if you have laughter in your heart, as well as humor, does that not still make you an artist? Not everything that one makes is deep...thinking of Maggie Taylor for example. She is called a digital artist...not a craftsman. Of course, this is something one could debate for hours. I have struggled with the adage "those who cannot do, teach", and the attitude of the fine artists in collage towards the art educators.
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