THE ART OF CRAFT CRITICISM |
Much recent visual art investigates craft issues, such as patterning and the language of materials. Can the questions that inform this practice extend to craft practice as well? Is there still a place in criticism for the consideration of craftsmanship? |
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Stephen Bowers, studio head of Ceramics at the JamFactory,kicked off the day with an exposition of 'influent metaphysics' and the levels of interpretation that can be placed on an object. In the end, he warned against the dangers of swamping objects with text. |
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Peter Timms, art critic for the Age newspaper, harkened back to the ideals of the Arts & Craft movement and claimed that theory had drawn craft away from its productive role in society to the decadence of trinkets. The real craft, for Timms, was produced in the small factories in inner suburbs making domestic goods for an active market. |