RSS
Categories
Date Archives
Authors

Handmade Detroit

July   

  1. 01
  2. 02
  3. 03
  4. 04
  5. 05
  6. 06
  7. 07
  8. 08
  9. 09
  10. 10
  11. 11
  12. 12
  13. 13
  14. 14
  15. 15
  16. 16
  17. 17
  18. 18
  19. 19
  20. 20
  21. 21
  22. 22
  23. 23
  24. 24
  25. 25
  26. 26
  27. 27
  28. 28
  29. 29
  30. 30
  31. 31

New Craft debate

There is an interesting debate about traditional vs. new craft surfacing within the DIY craft community. It was sparked by this post by Annie of Imogene. Annie writes about her recent experience at the “D.I.Y., Websites and Energy: The New Alternative Craft” presentation at the Society of North American Goldsmiths (SNAG) conference. Some of the original post may be shocking and upsetting to DIY crafters, so make sure to read through the comments as well — the presenters respond to Annie’s post and everyone seems to be interested in using the opportunity to cross barriers. It’s a meaty read to be sure, but one that’s important for anyone who cares about DIY crafting as a movement.

We’re eager to hear your reactions: What do you think about the new craft vs. traditional craft discussion? Is it DIY’s aim to replace traditionally educated artists and designers? What do traditional crafters need to understand about alt-crafting?  Post your thoughts in the comments.

–

Also, I have to give some props to Andrew Wagner, the director of the American Craft Council. Andrew posts his thoughts on SNAG, and the topic in general, here. In Annie’s comments, Wagner also mentions “Your Design Here” a Print magazine story about how DIY design is affecting professional designers — an article I randomly happened to read last week and haved blogged about on Phantom Limb today.

7 Comments so far

  1. Reply to this comment On March 21, 2008 at 9:57 am Andrew Wagner said:

    Hello there! Thanks for posting about the on-going conversations concerning “old vs. new” or whatever it may be exactly! I posted a comment on your thoughts about that Virginia Postrel article in Print. I’m always interested in that piece for whatever reason so I was glad to see someone else so taken with it (albeit in a different way). Anyhow, thanks again for the posts etc!

  2. Reply to this comment On March 22, 2008 at 8:05 pm LishDDorset said:

    Andrew- Thanks so much for taking the time to check out our blog! This debate is a good one and I’m always fascinated to see how it progresses.

  3. Reply to this comment On March 23, 2008 at 7:18 am Stephanie said:

    Hi Andrew, Thanks for stopping by! :) I finally had a chance to reply to you over at Phantom Limb.

    Lish, I’d love to hear your thoughts over there as well — I know we’ve talked about the use of “not your grandma’s craft fair” …

  4. Reply to this comment On March 25, 2008 at 2:29 pm Marc said:

    I would love to see more alternative crafters and traditional crafters working together. I’ve always dreamed of living with an Amish family for a summer and raising a hand hewn barn. It would be such a great experience. How interesting it would be if there was some sort of grant program or internship program that set these kind of collaborations and apprenticeships up.

  5. Reply to this comment On March 27, 2008 at 3:17 pm Andrew Wagner said:

    Hey there Stephanie and everyone else…just posted a reply to Stephanie’s reply at Phantom Limb! Ha! O.K., hope all is well…!

  6. Reply to this comment On February 6, 2009 at 8:13 pm CC said:

    I’m not sure if I like the terms alternative and traditional. Who says that a BFA is traditional. Coming from a family of craftspeople who’ve learned at the knees of those who come before, I don’t think higer ed means traditional.

  7. Reply to this comment On May 16, 2009 at 2:29 pm new said:

    How interesting it would be if there was some sort of grant program or internship program that set these kind of collaborations and apprenticeships up.

Leave a Reply

This post was written by Stephanie on March 18th, 2008. She filed it in the News category , and tagged it with . So far, 7 people have responded. If you enjoyed it and you'd like to read some related posts, try one of these:

Advertisement

Check it out!

Yelp