• Aeolia: Stretch sensor garment, 2009. Sarah Kettley (project lead), embroidery by Tina Downes, and garment fitting by Karen Harrigan.

attempting to learn from both the traditional and the modernist views, and reflects in many ways shifts in how philosophy itself is developing a new and fluid form of authenticity.

September + October 2010

[ 8] For example, in the action art approach taken by influential ceramicist Peter Voulkos.

interactions
[ 9] Ionascu, A. “The
Anatomy and Aesthetics
of Use.” In Future
Voices: Celebrating
Diversity. Exhibition
Proceedings New
Craft—Future Voices,
eds. G. Folett, S.
Moir and L. Valentine.
Duncan of Jordnstone
College of Art and
Design. July 2007.

Fluidity

The problem now is that neither of these dominant oppositional accounts of craft is able to tell the full story anymore. The more we attempt to define craft through these polarized frames, the more it slips away from us. To help, we can think of craft as something that is fluid: as a process, as an object, and as a cultural frame.

Craft has never been simply
functional, even at its most
traditional, nor will it ever be
entirely autonomous, even at
its most modern. While it is an
object-focused discipline, the
craft object is never an end in
itself—craft objects are also
means to ends. And even at their
most rarefied, they retain vestig-
es of functionality, domesticity,
and flow. They remain craft as
long as there is that embodiment
of humanity resulting from pro-
cess, or evident in references to
potential or historical function-
ality. Similarly, the functional
craft object is never entirely
transparent, nor does it intend
to be. It is always available for
contemplation. The crafted bowl
is as available to the mantel-
piece as to the kitchen cupboard,
as appropriate in the gallery as
in the ethnographic museum. In
use it passes through moments
of presence and disappearance,
and also, importantly, has the
ability to create an experiential
space that blends these in a
special kind of awareness. To
take an example, Chris Knight’s
silver shot glasses fulfill the
functional requirements for
drinking tequila—their scale
and form is right according to
our experience—but the act of
holding these spiky tumblers
draws immediate attention to
the danger inherent in the activ-
ity for which they are designed.