Build a Lookaround! The Lookaround Book, 2nd ed. NOW SHIPPING http://www.panoramacamera.us Walter, I don't think there is much gain in making a distinction between art and craft. Some people get upset with the distinction between, so called, commercial art and fine art too. What counts are results - as you said. We may not find an essential definition of art because it is bound to culture which is never static. Never mind aesthetics - beauty and mastery of craft are not required for all art. My outcome-based measure of artlyness is that art is a result of the unique wit and insight of the maker. However it was made or toward what end is unimportant in most instances. I agree that failures of execution may interfere with our appreciation of essential qualities of the work. I think it takes a much more discerning eye to see past these, so called, failures than to appreciate virtuosity which is often times empty. I went to Art Center in the early 60's - majored in industrial design. I remember that there was a huge chasm between the design majors and the "fine art" majors. A distinction made then as it is today was "too artsy fartsy" or the obverse, "too designy" AZ Build a Lookaround! The Lookaround Book, 2nd ed. NOW SHIPPING http://www.panoramacamera.us > -------- Original Message -------- > Subject: Art vs craft was PF Galleries > From: "Walter Holt" <locnleave@xxxxxxxxxxx> > Date: Sun, February 06, 2005 2:43 am > To: "List for Photo/Imaging Educators - Professionals - Students" > <photoforum@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> > > Marilyn, > > I'm not Bob, but your question is a good one and it got me to thinking. > It is "food for thought" and probably has no definitive answer. > > Does the difference between art and craft "lie in the eye of the > beholder"? > > I am 68 and all my life I have been involved in the arts and the > crafts. I was an Art Major in college. I spent one memorable summer in > Maine at the Haystack Mountain School of Crafts. I then went on to > study commercial photography at the Art Center College of Design in LA. > This is my viewpoint on the difference between art and craft. > > Art is painting, drawing, sculpture, and sometimes photography. The > function of art is to please the mind. > > A craft is the manufacture of a product that has some sort of > utilitarian nature attached to it. Woodworking, weaving, glass > blowing, ceramics, most photography for pay, etc are crafts. > > The problem of definition between art and craft, be it a pleasurable > one, is that a skilled craft person's work can transcend being just a > utilitarian object and can be so pleasing to the eye that it becomes > art. > > As an example - photography- if you make pictures of ribbon cutting > ceremonies or portraits or factories for annual reports, your > photography is a craft. The subject matter is such that your > photography is just a craft. Ansel Adams used to take such > photographs. As such he was a skilled craftsman. However, as a > landscape photographer he transcended from a skilled craftsman to an > artist. > His factory photographs had a function. They were published in annual > reports and trade magazines. He was paid for this work as a craftsman. > His magnificent landscapes really had no function other than to please > the eye and reveal the glory of nature. His unique interpretations of > what he saw and felt and his superb photographic skills made him an > artist. He was paid for his well-known landscapes as an artist. At > least I hope he was. > > So my own viewpoint on the difference between art and craft is rather > cut and dried, but I will always think of a coffee table by George > Nakashima or a weaving by Jack Lenor Larsen as art. However, to some, > a coffee table is just a coffee table, and a weaving is just a piece of > cloth! > > BTW Marilyn, are you painting and sculpting at an art school or a > crafts school? > > Walter > > ======================================================================== > ============================ > On Saturday, February 5, 2005, at 07:56 PM, Marilyn wrote: > > > Craft (not art) now on display at > >> http://www.rit.edu/~andpph/gallery.html includes: > > > > > > I'm just curious and I've often wondered (I'm sure this has been > > discussed on Photoforum before, but I've got to ask). How do you > > differentiate between art and crafts, Bob? There seems to be a very > > fine line for separating the two and now that I'm involved in visual > > arts other than photography (sculpture, painting, etc.) it is often > > times very difficult to decide which item is art and which is a craft > > item. > > > > I'd really appreciate hearing from other members how they divide the > > two areas. > > > > Marilyn > > ________________________________ > > > > Leave gentle fingerprints on the > > soul of another for the angels to read. > > > > Proverb > > __________________________________
