craft

Grayson Perry on the Great Art vs. Craft Debate

| Betsy

After seeing a post on The Dress Doctor regarding Grayson Perry’s exhibition The Tomb of the Unknown Craftsmen at the British Museum, I watched the first video below to learn more about it.





Then, through the wonderful world of the internet, I found the video below, from the V&A with Grayson Perry talking about craft, art and the digital world. I was struck by two quotes in the video below, “Our relationship to making things has changed.” This surprised me because, well, the reason we aren’t making bread anymore (something he notes) isn’t because we’ve changed, it’s changed because our options have changed. For the same reason people stopped handmaking clothes when the Industrial Revolution came around, technology brought us inventions that save us time and the “hassle” of making them ourselves.





But, then later he adds, “One of the great empowering things about learning craft is… it’s almost like a manifestation, a physical manifestation of, “I can change the world.”” A few times he seems quite damning on craft, while others quite complimentary.

Maybe he’s just like everyone else? Not so sure on the proper definition? And where “craft” begins and “art” ends?

There is No Myth of the Tortured Crafter.

| Betsy

When I was younger, I fell full into the myth of the tortured artist. I inhaled the work of Kerouac and Pollock and Thompson. I worshiped at the altar of Arbus and Ginsberg and Warhol. I cried in solidarity with the lives of Basquiat and Haring.

I made a lot of mistakes. I mistook pain for authenticity and thought that to create was to also destroy. That there was no one without the other. And, as a direct result, I’m lucky to be writing this. I could bore you with tales of close calls or of loved ones that didn’t fare so well and lost, or details half-remembered or eulogized in partial memory by people that claimed to be “Artists.” With a capital “A.” It’s neither romantic nor exciting nor even interesting. It’s boring in that it mistook destructivity as the ultimate catalyst and origin of creativity. Those days, those years, are nothing to be proud of, even though I have scores of friends and colleagues who have the same tales. It’s just wasted time, wasted promises, wasted breath.

samo

But it was craft, that saved me.

You see, there is no myth of the tortured crafter. Its roots in utilitarianism, need and progress had little time for chaos. Little time for upper middle-class time wasting in the pursuit of the perfectly executed cocktail or party or hazy work. While we were all destroying ourselves and claiming to be authentic, the real authenticity was covering our beds, in our kitchen cupboards, hidden in dusty trunks. The real authenticity, the real creativity, was craft.

I often joke that my life didn’t start until I was 26, when I started knitting. Well, it’s not such much a joke as it is the whole and honest truth.

Those nights of wrapping wool around a needle to create something with my own two hands sutured me together more than all the reams of paper I had written in haste trying to recall what had happened the night before thinking that I was onto something. That I was really living. Those holey crooked scarves were not just creations that kept me warm, they were reaffirmations that creativity was real, true and honest. As I watched the fabric grow in my lap, the scarves getting longer and longer, I was pushing away false myths and idols, and embracing something more stronger and powerful.

And with each night of knitting, I moved more and more into the sacred space of creativity. I joined the women of Gee’s Bend and the arpilleristas of Chile and a long line of my own female ancestors as my fingers created and bled and made items that weren’t called art and were deemed a lesser creation. In time, as I began to learn more about myself and about craft I began to see the truth in craft, even though it’s not always aesthetically pleasing for galleries and white walls.

lifeofpei

[photo via Flickr user life of pei]

The creative work of soldiers and warriors, Afghan war rugs, the Just Work Economic Initiative, Emerge, Fine Cell Work, Vollis Simpson along with others taught me the true power, potential and gift that is craft.

They taught me that true creativity begets joy not pain, and is born out of hope, not destruction. They obliterated the myth of the tortured artist and allowed me to see craft for what it is. A gift. Positivity. Enjoyment. Fulfillment. Love. Life.

While I’ll always love the former list of creatives in this post, I’ll always draw strength and the spirit of life from the latter. Because craft is not about destruction or pain, it’s a gift to be invited in, savored and celebrated. And in that celebration, thankfully, there is no space for negativity and false hopes.

There’s nothing but love and creating and laughing and living, in full, in beauty and in the light.

Tough Dudes, Soft Craft: Men Getting Crafty

| Betsy

This story has made its rounds on the US craft blogosphere yesterday, but for those of you farther afield, I wanted to post about it in case you haven’t seen it, Idle Pastime: In Off Hours, Truckers Pick Up Stitching. I especially adore that when the man in the video was interviewed he was waiting to pick up his next delivery load: 45,000 pounds of Spam, which, seems quite manly, don’t you think?





I think timing is quite interesting given the Quilts 1700-2010 show at the V & A Museum that just opened is showing off the work of some stitching inmates trained by Fine Cell Work. There with all the historic quilts is a quilt made by the tough guys. There is a lovely video about their work over here, if you haven’t seen it already, please go check it out. There is also a little bit more about the truckers sewing above over here.

Just as craft hit a point 10 years ago where feminists began to embrace craft, have we reached a point where men are beginning to embrace it more and more? Just like feminists took back the kitchen and the knitting needles, are men finally getting hassled less now that craft has been in vogue for a decade? I’d like to think so.

Although, just like with the feminists, as we heard such gender stereotyping nonsense like, “You?! You knit? I thought you’d be off giving people tattoos or in a mosh pit or not shaving your legs?” I think that the novelty factor inherent in men embracing craft is a bit sad. Why can’t men make “soft” things if they want to? After all, soldiers are given sewing kits to repair things in the field and wasn’t the toughest dude of the 80s, MacGyver, one hell of a crafty genius? And who could forget, everyone’s favorite male stitcher former pro-football player Rosey Grier? And his 1973 book, Needlepoint for Men?

Hopefully, just like all us feminists who finally get asked less and less why in the heck we’re knitting instead of doing something rough and tough, men who get their craft on will soon enough be seen as just normal (albeit awesome) guys that like to be creative. Because after all, there are plenty of single ladies (myself as well as many of my friends and peers) who think that a guy who can craft with the best of us, is pretty darn hot. So maybe next time you see a guy trying to impress a girl or guy they fancy by being reckless, you should take away the fire/speed/mass amounts of alcohol and hand them some needles and thread.

And these truckers and inmates aren’t the only dudes who craft. Here are some other awesomely mantastic craft links:
*I Knit
*Manspun
*Fiber Beat
*Stitchstud
*Dudecraft
*Mr. XStitch
*Crochetdude
*Manbroidery
*Franklin Habit
*Men Who Knit
*Extreme Craft
*It’s a Purl, Man
*Brooklyn Tweed
*Shane Waltener
*The Man Who Knit
*Brian Sawyer (Check out the DVD about knitting men!)

And I’m sure there are loads I have forgotten to list here. Have any other examples of guys stepping out and up to the needle or hook?

Crafting the Whole World: Craft + Race

| Betsy

For the past few days, there’s been a bit of an online kerfuffle about race and craft and the group Knitta, Please. As a result, the Knitta, Please website now defaults to MagdaSayeg.com. Here’s a link to a post about it on my friend Cinnamon’s blog because she provides the Cliff’s Notes version with links. My ears perked up at a mention of the craft world being all white. And yes, the indie/DIY craft world is really really white. Do I think that it’s on purpose? No. Indie/DIY craft may have started a craft resurgence, but that doesn’t mean the story of the resurgence is over. How wonderful would it be to have another craft wave where we all started learning more about craft history or different cultural techniques?

Over a decade ago, there was a similar kerfuffle about Riot Grrrl. There’s even a really amazing article about it, Riot Grrrl: Revolutions From Within by Jessica Rosenberg and Gitana Garofalo. There’s an even more amazing online perspective of Riot Grrrl.

The difference between the two? It can be argued that the history of feminism is all white. It cannot, however, be argued that the craft world is all white. That’s one of the most beautiful things about craft, that it’s found in every culture existing now or previously. There needs to be more online about it, and it’s a project I’ve been working on… but without funding, it’s a beast (and slow!) to tackle. Here are just a few examples of craft in different cultures out of the thousands.

So, I say, bring it. Evoking a challenge a wider range of craft coverage online, in fairs and on bookshelves. Bring it on. Please.

Felting in Iran
Batik from Ghana
Tibetan Butter Sculpture
Chinese Woodblocking Prints
African Cloth about Culture and Politics
Chilean Political Tapestries by the Arpilleristas
Lots of Native American craft links! Beads! Weaving!
WarRug.com: Afghan made rugs (Political motifs? Bonus!)
Palestinian Embroidery Techniques: Dresses That Tell Stories
History and Glossary of Traditional and Contemporary African Textiles

(Photos, top to bottom: Tibetan butter sculpture, Afghan war rug, felting in Iran)

Craft + DIY = Punk?

| Betsy

Below is the most visited post in my archives, one from March 23, 2004 called Why Craft = Punk Rock. In 2004, I was living in London, getting my MA and had just started writing and researching about craft and community. It was before all the press and essays and was a true time of discovery. It was the beginning of the press frenzy and interviews at the start of UK’s finding craft as a subversive act.

Fast forward 5 years, and I think of all the places craft has brought me and all the wonderful people it has allowed me to meet. I never would have thought that the tenets behind this post would influence, well, everything that followed. Everything. Where did your craft spirit originate? What gives you fire in your belly? As I’m in the process of changing gears, looking for work* that helps women find their creative spirit in developing countries, I’m reminded of this post below. And I’m wondering where this new journey will take me, who I will meet, and held safe in the knowledge that my belief in the power of craft and creativity is real and deep and pure.

*

Living in London, I’m constantly amazed by the fact that the so-called ‘subversive craft scene’ is non-existent. In the U.S., it is everywhere you look and it’s not so much a ‘call to arms’ as it is an expression of something I/you/we can do with our own hands to make our own lives as well as the lives of others a little bit better in the chaos of life around us.

Currently I’m helping out with an event called V&A Museum here in London.

There is a press frenzy surrounding it and I’ve been dealing with people who are calling knitting a ‘trend,’ a ‘fad,’ a ‘craze’ and I can’t help but get a little but frustrated by it all yet continually finding it all naive. Both my reaction to the press interest as well as their wanting to just find a creative angle to fit their byline.

I don’t do my various crafts because it’s ‘trendy,’ although I do sometimes have crafty dreams that include everyone turning off their televisions and making stuff, whether it’s knitting a sweater or making macaroni necklaces or screenprinting fliers for a local demo. Anything as long as you are letting your passion be your guide rather than what’s seen a ‘popular for the moment.’

I’m fascinated by the emails I get from people in regards to their pure love of various crafts. Some of them are confused about what I’m trying to do here with this blog or in various work I do. I want to be a resource for people that want to help other people with their various crafty endeavours. Maybe I’m helping to fill that void, or maybe I’m just taking up more space on the interweb, I’m not sure most days.

No, everything I make doesn’t go to charity. but some of it does.

The other part of my crafty dream is that everyone becomes conscious of all of their actions. By asking things like: Do I need this? Do I want to support this company? How can I help? Where does my passion lie?

It is all quite emo and I’m sure my parents would conclude that I’m now a hippie.

But it’s about more than that.

My background is firmly entrenched in punk rock. I was always cutting and pasting my own little zines (and then hiding them under my bed because I felt they were crap) or daydreaming about playing drums in the next Bikini Kill.

But I never felt like i was good enough at anything really to make my mark. It was only when I started learning to knit, crochet, embroider, screenprint, make books, felt, etc etc that I regained my own sense of self and that fire that punk rock put in my belly when I was 16.

Craft to me is very punk rock and it’s hard to read article after article about how craft is just for ‘grannies.’ I love my grandmother who knits, she is kickass, but I’m also inspired daily by the way that punk rock influences my own brand of activism and craft. craftivism, if you will.

Who knows, maybe you feel the same way, maybe not. But I can never ignore how punk rock shaped my crafting. I owe my creativity to it, and it’s so not just a trend. And some days I get homesick for people who understand that.

xo

*Yep. Got any ideas of anyone who might be looking to hire someone with these interests? Get in touch!