Friday, October 30, 2009

Poetry and Crafts Combined


There is poetry associated with glass art. Paul Stankard has long added verses to his paperweighted floral art pieces. But now the writing crowd has entered in:
Significant Objectsis a web project that pairs thrift store "flotsam" with written stories on ebay for a price.

Rob Walker, author of "Handmade 2.0" which appeared in the New York Times and who recently keynoted the American Craft Conference in Minneapolis says: "The story of the handmade item isn’t the only story that we must consider; the story of the consumer should also be considered."

He then goes on to speak about etsy.com the DIY site as "an organizing device for talking about the DIY movement and the recent popularity of buying handmade." What is important he says is that we think of the field of craft as represented by a group of different craft cultures rather than the "singular" craft culture of galleries, and museums where craft objects are usually shown.

Well, this is just fine talk. But how will it hold up? Are these craft items as Significant Objects because they are detailed with very good writing? Or are they just junk that is engaged in a fancy web parlour game? You decide.

No comments: