Pondering on Craft

Before it escapes me, and because this is my first post, please let me introduce my blog. This is the blog of Harriet and it has been created as part of my third year fashion design course, specifically for my studio subject which is based on craft. Over the past three weeks I have been exploring the vast world of craft to try to define what it is and find direction within its far reaching arms.

Here begins my discovery.

Craft. The word itself is quite simple to define. Chambers Twentieth Century Dictionary states that craft is an art or a skill; to craft is to construct with careful skill; and a craft'y person is one having skill. So being the master of technique and medium is integral to craft, but a contemporary interpretation of craft encompasses more than just skill.

Today's craftsperson is not just a person with a trade, or a nanna knitting away at home, but an artist and designer as well. Traditionally craft is distinguished from art for its utilitarian purpose, practical and commercial application, and it's methodical, even rudimentary processes. But the lines are blurring, craftspeople have moved away from the 70s weekly editions of Golden Hands to become more imaginative and conceptual like the artist; and artists are turning to age-old craft techniques such as horsehair hitching as their art. As the practical need for certain crafts diminish an opportunity for it to be reinterpreted arises. This is the case with shiseki machine knitting- an industrial application of a craft that can produce highly experimental outcomes.

Craft can be an object or a skill, and it can also be an approach. The idea of 'crafting' something, regardless of whether the activity is considered a traditional craft, is a craft in itself. It's the notion of perfecting or refining something to absolute mastery. Craft in a contemporary sense can also be personalised. If an old fashioned craft is modified, either by method, material or application it suddenly becomes particular to the individual who adapted it, and is a new craft, their craft.

With this interpretation the concept of craft grows to unlimited possibilities. So in an attempt to maintain a little of my sanity for this semester I will endeavor to reign in these broad pontifications on craft and define simply what craft is to me. Perhaps what I feel most strongly is the sensitivity of craft. To me, craft is hand-made, time-honored and careful, making each crafted piece unique and special. It's respectful of it's materials and because of this, has the potential to be environmentally sustainable. It is sociable and inclusive on personal and different community levels (think knitting circles!) and it is practical and functional. Whatever craft I choose to adopt as my own, I hope to execute it with these principles. This my craft manifesto.