Art vs. Craft

It's a fairly age-old question: What is art? As is sometimes the case, defining a thing may be best achieved by listing what that thing is not. Me and my theatre-major friend have this discussion about once every 6 months when she tries to drag me to a modern art exhibit and I demure in lieu of an exhibit of some classical work somewhere.

I loathe modern art. The word contemporary connotes things like "sterile," "boring," "unimaginative," and "childish." I know logically that modern art often requires far more imagination to appreciate than classical art - but logic never has had much to do with one's emotive state.

I've described modern art as "One man's ability to bullsh*t a room full of people." since I was in about the 5th grade. I vividly recall the news piece I watched that formed this opinion. In it, the journalist indicated a large canvas painted that sallow shade of manila usually reserved for the latex paint covering cinder blocks in an old, run-down elementary classroom and asking the artist how this "painting" was art. The artist replied that the brush strokes, which were clearly visible on the thickly-painted canvas, connoted different emotive states. This one for anger, this one for sadness, this one for joy. That interview decided me. It was preposterous, ludicrous. Never mind that in the years since my art history lessons have convinced me that lines can give impressions of emotions, that artist was still selling snake oil.

In my mind, to be art, a piece must require several things to have come into existence:

• Talent - undisputed, universally conceded talent
• Skill - talent is useless if it is not honed to mastery
• Intent - wanton industriousness with no purpose does not result in art
• Interpretation - a clear, generally similar consensus of what is being depicted; i.e. that's a girl in a garden, whether she's happy or sad or insane is open to the viewer's perception

You will note that no where in that list does the phrase "expresses the artist" appear. If you are talented, and skilled, and can create recognizable pieces that others relate to, but you only create them to express yourself, then you aren't making art; you're participating in a hobby that you hope others will appreciate. Art requires considering the audience. It requires clearly communicating something to your audience. Art is a dialog with an intention.

If art as I've defined it can be compared to a discussion on the merits of autumn compared with spring, then contemporary art and craftsmanship can be compared to running madly down the road with a basket full of leaves and throwing them with abandon at unsuspecting pedestrians.

Having, I hope, explained my position on art vs. crafting and pursuing a hobby, let me state that this blog isn't actually about art - it's about my channeling a need for planning, precision, and puzzle-solving into one of several creative outlets universally accepted as crafts: jewelry making, knitting, and sewing.