John Grayson, head of contemporary craft at Plymouth College of Art, gave a lecture on the future of craft on Tuesday (3rd Dec).
There was some agonising over the definition of craft but I'm going to skip over it because it's just semantics and I've figured out why I'm doing a craft as opposed to an art course, which is all that matters to me.
For me, the most important point John made was about creating an "intellectual scaffold" for your work. In John's case, I think this means "keeping old industrial craft processes alive by finding new ways to use them sustainably in a contemporary context". This comes from a college blog "introducing John Grayson".
It's got me thinking: What's my "intellectual scaffold"? I'll come back to that some time. For the moment, here's a run-down of the artists and organisations John referenced in his lecture:
Maggie Hollingworth
Makes everyday objects such as cutlery out of recycled paper (i.e. papier mache)
http://www.magiehollingworth.co.uk/index.html
Simone Ten Hompel
Metal utensils, jars etc that are more works of art than functional
http://www.tenhompel.com
Jack Cunningham
Treating your body as a showcase for jewellery that "tells a story".
http://www.jackcunningham.co.uk
Eg: Memory Kit (scroll down on the link below)
http://www.jackcunningham.co.uk/jack_phd/chapter06(c).html
Hothouse
Not an artist but a Crafts Council "Collective"
http://www.craftscouncil.org.uk/professional-development/maker-development/crafts-council-collective/hothouse
Droog Design
Design company in Amsterdam
http://www.droog.com
One of its products is "do hit chair" by Marijn van der Pol - a sheet metal cube that you bash with a hammer to make "whatever you choose it to be":
http://www.droog.com/webshop/furniture/do-hit-chair---hit-by-van-der-poll
Gijs Bakker
Jewellery designer. Founded Droog
http://www.gijsbakker.com/home.html
Timothy Information Ltd.
Tim Carson. Jewellery meets rebellion/political demos
http://www.velvetdavinci.com/artist.php?aid=147
http://www.dialoguecollective.co.uk/made13
David Clarke
"Mashups" of old silverware - pots, cutlery etc
http://misterclarke.wordpress.com
John gives Clarke a plug in the college blog I referenced above. In that blog, he also plugs Gareth Neal, a furniture maker that exhibited recently at college. I can see why. Neal's "Hue Line Form" is fantastic - and has got me thinking laterally about the stuff I'm doing at present.
Anton Alvarez
Example of making a machine to make art. Thread wrapping machine makes (weird) furniture.
http://www.antonalvarez.com/The-Thread-Wrapping-Machine
Max Lamb
Casts pewter desk in the sand of Caerhays Beach in Cornwall
http://maxlamb.org/126-pewter-desk/
Studio Swine
Design, architecture, fashion
http://www.studioswine.com
Collects aluminium drinks cans, melts them down to make artwork, all in an eco friendly way
http://design-milk.com/can-city-studio-swine/
Josh Bitelli
Coating steel frames with road making material to make a seat. Seemed totally daft to me.
http://www.joshbitelli.co.uk/project/roadworks-proj/
Paolo Scura
Jewellery from bits of street matter. Another whacky idea.
http://www.klimt02.net/jewellers/paolo-scura
Tony Cragg
Important UK sculptor, winner of Turner Prize in 1988. Uses building materials.
http://www.tony-cragg.com
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tony_Cragg
http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/tony-cragg-953
Helen Carnac
Renowned enameller who styles herself as a "maker and thinker"
http://helencarnac.wordpress.com/each-other/
Minsu Kim
"Living food" - just totally weird and rather revolting
http://minsukim.net/Living-Food-1
Sebastian Brajkovic
Designer that makes "sculptural furniture" using CNC type equipment
http://carpentersworkshopgallery.com/en/Artists/Sebastian-Brajkovic
http://ifitshipitshere.blogspot.co.uk/2010/06/when-computers-and-classics-collide.html
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