Hluch - Kevin A. on mon 7 jul 97
Thomas marveled at how well he and his friends had turned craft into fine
art over the years. Working within a remarkably small group from the late
fifties onward, these few had been deceptively successful in transforming
the field. Understanding that there was big, big money to be made in
turning pottery into gallery art he prided himself on inventing the phrase
"Craft is Art and Art is Craft". The idea was simple: if art was useless
and high priced and craft was useful and inexpensive then all one had to
do was to strip utility from pottery and voila, pottery would command fine
art prices. "No more of this pottery for the masses crap", he thought.
His good friend, the editor of "Craft and Beyond" was instrumental in the
scheme. Finding and promoting that ceramic clone of the fine art world was
Rosy's masterpiece. Peter Milkous's work was published in major articles
she herself wrote, and then she wrote the definitive book on his work.
With all of that promotion in "Craft and Beyond", they couldnt lose.
And look what a fuss he kicked up...more free publicity! Thus, they were
able to break the spell of that bloody Brit and his foolish savant friend
from the east. With his other friends in high places jurying most of the
national shows there were sure to transform things. Neither was Thomas at
all surprised to find his friends and cronies turn up on the award lists
of the Arts Progress Administration's fellowship grants year after year.
After all, weren't the jurors the same ones doing the round robin at the
exhibitions? Even the Renwick Gallery wasn't immune....What follows is a
little tidbit taken from the wall in the Permanent Collection there (he
had had it framed for his study):
"A significant moment in the history of studio crafts occurred in Great
Britain and America in the late 19th century when Art was applied to
luxury household goods to create art pottery, art glass, art metalwork,
art furniture, art books, and art carpets. In part a marketing strategy,
the use of art to redefine the decorative art was a crucial concept that
paved the way for a new tradition - the existence of the artistic objects
divorced from function. Just a non-representation has become an
established tradition in painting, graphics arts, sculpture and
photography in the 20th century, so has craft achieved freedom from
service to function or doctrine."
"Now theres a slice of brilliant revisionist history! So much for the
Arts and Crafts movement!" he thought. It amused him silly to think,
"Another country conquered". The beep from his cell phone interrupted his
mirth. It was the collector whose donation bought him a seat on the
Renwick Collection Committee. Thankfully, it wasn't about that! Leon was
simply agitated by an angry letter and some complaints about the
collection. Compared to the Arts Progress Administration imbroglio -
this would be a piece of cake...
S Kevin A. Hluch 102 E. 8th St. Frederick, MD 21701 USA
e-mail: kahluch@umd5.umd.edu
On Sat, 5 Jul 1997, Dan Wilson wrote:
> ----------------------------Original message----------------------------
>
>
> "Fine art culture" is not a cabal bent on destroying the crafts. The gate
> has swung both ways, so to speak, as the elite have been leveled and the
> craftsman has been lifted up. Three cheers for education! And Art
> historians are as blind as you and I to the present.
>
> Dan Wilson
>
| |
|
