To be. Or. Not...

Okay, so Paula Hewitt at The Beauty of Life wrote about her thoughts on the debate between "craft" and "art". Sharonb (see sidebar) also weighed in with her comment. So here is what I think.

People who call their work "art" often think they are different because they went to "Art School" or something and studied some sort of Art. Technically, for this to be so, their work should be peer reviewed - which mostly it is not. Their "Art" is not different to those of us who "craft".

"Craft" too, used to be what more skilled workers did, and belonged to guilds and had apprentices. Such as masons, carpenters and such. Nowadays these people are referred to as "blue collar workers" and frowned down upon by the "white collar workers". "Art" was usually limited to "painting", and included Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Renoir and Monet.

But now, anything goes, and craft and art are much the same thing. Often it is producing something to justify the huge expense of buying all those "artistic" goodies and stash. So unless you are going to differentiate with guilds and apprentices, you really are just another person with alot of expensive "artistic" goodies and a stash you have to reduce.

Unless you are peer reviewed, you artistic status is much the same as mine, and mine is that of a learner, or maybe "journeyman".

Galleries that wish to differentiate are also going to find themselves going out of business. So much is available on line and so much of it commented on by the "hoi poloi" that trying to have a gallery that is not commented on somewhere in the blogsphere is just not possible. People need to be able to interact with art, whether it is on gallery walls, on their own private walls or on the internet. If they cannot interact with art they are going to let you know about it in no uncertain terms.

It is not much different to the debate going on in the world of music these days. With so much music available on line, many music houses either have to adapt or fail. There are those who are trying to hold out for "the noble cause" but cannot understand why people are not flocking to them and their coffers are empty.

Art and music have become "common". They are not there just for the elite select few, they are there for everyone. The "hoi poloi" understand art just as well as the elite, select few. Just because they are not "megarich" and overeducated, does not mean they do not have an opinion, nor are they incapable of "truly appreciating" the subtleties of nuances within art or music.

Thus saith the hoi poloi ...

A bit of catching up ...

Because of my big cleanup, I have not been making things. I have not go anything to show you. But I have joined a social network for Stitchers, called Stitchin fingers. It is run by Sharonb, who I have talked about in earlier posts. I was going to do her Take it Further Challenge. These people are way too advanced for me. But in the group there are a cross section of stitchers, from beginners through to advanced. It is a lovely hub, and I hope to learn more, and contribute a little.

So when I have finished my cleaning up, hopefully today, I have some work to do. I am hoping that today will be the day I can take my machine to the shop for servicing, or if it is tomorrow, I can give it to DD for her to give to them.

Now that I have some really good storage for my crafts, and will get one for my sewing as well this week, I think I can be a bit more organised. Hopefully this will produce Art. The storage is really large boxes that slide into metal shelves, so most of it would be okay to just tape up for travel. A few things I would like to store more securely for travel, like my laminator, my clover iron, heat embosser and melt pot. They have electrical parts and I don't want to risk them breaking by being thrown around by careless removalists. Nothing like some tension sheet. (You know, bubble sheet that you get at the post office - on Red Dwarf it is called Tension Sheet - lol).

Then maybe I can vamp up and ramp up this blog to be something.

... never know your luck in a big city, as the X used to say ...