Ducal pottery

Chapter 2.6 The Tradition of Craft

PART 2

MEDIA AND PROCESSES

Copyright © 2015 Thames & Hudson

Introduction

During the Renaissance, a distinction came to be made between art and craft

Unique to Western culture

Crafts came to mean hand-made items meant to be used rather than simply looked at

PART 2

MEDIA AND PROCESSES

Chapter 2.6 The Tradition of Craft

Gateways to Art: Understanding the Visual Arts, Third Edition, Debra J. DeWitte, Ralph M. Larmann, and M. Kathryn Shields

Certain media, notably painting and sculpture, came to be considered as art, while ceramics, weaving, and embroidery were termed crafts

Some handcrafted objects, because of their ingenuity and refinement, stand out as artworks that transcend mere utility

The distinction has now broken down in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries

Ask yourself whether you think the objects discussed can be considered art or craft

At the same time, think about whether the makers of the objects, and the people they made them for, could tell the difference either

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Artwork: Hyo-In Kim, To Be Modern #2

2.6.1 Hyo-In Kim, To Be Modern #2, 2004. Metal screen, wire, porcelain, acrylic paint, and found objects, slightly over lifesize

2.6.2 Hyo-In Kim

Hyo-In Kim, Art or Craft: What's the Difference?

A hanbok is a traditional Korean dress worn by women of upper classes

Kim has subtly transformed the materials of the dress and its display

She wants us to see that traditional cultural values are fading away

Perspectives on Art:

PART 2

MEDIA AND PROCESSES

Chapter 2.6 The Tradition of Craft

Gateways to Art: Understanding the Visual Arts, Third Edition, Debra J. DeWitte, Ralph M. Larmann, and M. Kathryn Shields

Dress is made out of silver-colored wire mesh (instead of cloth)

Upon close-up inspection, the decoration turns out to be tiny versions of fashionable Western clothing: jeans, skirts, shoes, purses

She decided to suspend it with its sleeves outstretched so that its transparency and weightlessness would be emphasized

What Kim wants us to see and appreciate, both literally and figuratively, is that those traditional cultural values that give structure and form to people’s lives, including our own, are fading away and disappearing as globalization spreads

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Ceramics

Ceramic comes from the Greek word meaning “pottery,” keramos

Manufacture requires the shaping of clay, a natural material dug from the earth, which is then baked at high temperatures to make it hard

Basic technique date back thousands of years

PART 2

MEDIA AND PROCESSES

Chapter 2.6 The Tradition of Craft

Gateways to Art: Understanding the Visual Arts, Third Edition, Debra J. DeWitte, Ralph M. Larmann, and M. Kathryn Shields

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Pinch Method

This technique is one of the most basic ways of working with clay

Process of squeezing clay between the fingers to push and pull it into the desired shape

A spontaneous and effective way to create a clay object

PART 2

MEDIA AND PROCESSES

Chapter 2.6 The Tradition of Craft

Gateways to Art: Understanding the Visual Arts, Third Edition, Debra J. DeWitte, Ralph M. Larmann, and M. Kathryn Shields

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Artwork: The Mother Goddess Men Brajut (Hariti)

2.6.3 The Mother Goddess

Men Brajut (Hariti), Indonesian, c. 14th–15th century. Terra-cotta, 18⅞ × 8½ × 8", Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

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The Mother Goddess Men Brajut (Hariti)

Uses the Pinch method of clay construction

Work created to honor Hindu gods and goddesses

Originally created as a pillar ornament

Hariti is “protector of children”

PART 2

MEDIA AND PROCESSES

Chapter 2.6 The Tradition of Craft

Gateways to Art: Understanding the Visual Arts, Third Edition, Debra J. DeWitte, Ralph M. Larmann, and M. Kathryn Shields

Created during the Majapahit period in Indonesia (1293-1520)

Represents one of the manifested goddesses of Hinduism

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Ceramics

Video:

PART 2

MEDIA AND PROCESSES

Chapter 2.6 The Tradition of Craft

Gateways to Art: Understanding the Visual Arts, Third Edition, Debra J. DeWitte, Ralph M. Larmann, and M. Kathryn Shields

Coil Method

This method has been in common usage since ancient times

A coil is created by rolling the clay on a flat surface so that it extends into a long rope-like shape

The coil is wrapped around itself and then fused together by smo