The Arts and the Election

Following on from my thoughts about the mutual benefit of art and science working together as a way of maintaining funding for the Arts, I listened to the debate between Ben Bradshaw, Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport and Jeremy Hunt MP, his Conservative shadow, broadcast live on the RSA* site on Tuesday.
It was encouraging to hear both politicians agreeing that Art, and Culture in general are well worth Government support. Apparently, for every pound the government invests in the Arts there is five-fold return.
They both agreed that there isn’t much point in reducing Arts spending to help save money, as the amount is miniscule in relation to overall government spending. Not only does it give such a healthy financial return, it also helps to maintain the Arts as a vibrant symbol of the Culture of the Nation.
It should be interesting to see whether all these positive words are adhered to after the election.
I am conscious that I am discussing the situation in the UK (excluding Scotland), so it would be very interesting to hear how Arts funding and the relationship between Art and Science operates in other parts of the world.

* Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufacture and Commerce The broadcast is available online here.

The Midwife and the Gravedigger

Having spent a few more days thinking about the Craft Matters campaign the more strongly I feel that the Crafts Council should encourage a more inclusive definition of craft and its place in society.
As I said before, Craft is not just concerned with exquisite, hand made, bespoke objects. Though there is a need and place for work of that type in society, if craft is to matter when it comes to its recognition, promotion and support by governments, the public needs to know how craft affects them in almost every area of life.
As Glenn Adamson says, "Craft only exists in motion. It is a way of doing things, not a classification of objects, institutions or people"*
As such, both the midwife and the person that buries you are craft experts, they have developed the tacit knowledge and skills necessary to safely bring you into this world and to leave it with dignity. At every stage in between craft shapes our lives, it is what differentiates us from the other species on this planet. Craft has even helped to shape our bodies, both in an evolutionary sense and in the way our bodies are affected by physical activity.
In getting this message across a recent Radio 4, Point of View programme could be very helpful. It was the last of a series by Professor Lisa Jardine who used the example of crystallographer, Dorothy Hodgkin to demonstrate how science and the arts can both benefit through collaboration. Lisa jardine referred to a letter to the Observer signed by many eminent thinkers who are concerned that future government spending cuts will sacrifice the arts in favour of the sciences, a policy that appears extremely short-sighted.


Adamson, G. Thinking through Craft. Berg 2007, p4.

Does Craft Matter?

I went along to the Crafts Council launch of 'Craft Matters' at the House of Lords on Tuesday and an interesting tea party it was.
The campaign aims to raise the profile of craft in the mind of the public, in education and in business. The speeches focused on the making and acquisition of exquisite hand crafted objects and each of the speakers described why craft matters to them. You can say why craft matters to you here.
My contribution applies a much wider definition to the notion of craft, the short version being that 'Craft matters because it is the fundamental building block of the creative industries'. I used that term because of its association with DNA and the fact that craft skills are needed in many areas of science as much as they are in the arts and crafts.
The longer version is:
'Craft matters because it is not only the fundamental building block of the creative industries, but is a process that brings together the hand, the head and the heart in order to engage with, explore and interpret the world around us.'
The longer I am involved in creating work using advanced technology the more strongly I feel that successful pieces rely on a combination of my pottery craft skills, the development of new skills plus a developed sensibility to the 3 dimensional form. Together, a new world of creative possibilities has opened for me, neither superior nor inferior to my previous practice.
As an inveterate maker, concerned with the the use of materials and processes for expressive purposes, I am now more fully engaged with the notion of craft than I have been for some time and it matters.

So, does craft matter to you?

Jonathan Ive on Rapid Prototyping - the root of all evil?

In a recent Design Week magazine (30 April) Jonathan Ive of Apple asserts that RP is distancing designers from the physical process of design and creating 'a lot of lousy design'.
And in the following edition of the magazine numerous commentators are asked for their reaction. Most just echo Ive's sentiments
I agree with Matthew Lewis (Metropolitan Works) that knowledge of materials and processes is fundamental to successful design (and to any creative process), but it is wrong of Jonathan Ive to blame the tools. RP and now RM (additive layer manufacturing (ALM) or whatever you want to call it) open up enormous creative possibilities, and should be seen as a way of connecting the designer with the consumer in the same way as in pre-Industrial Revolution craft based societies.
As ALM frees the designer from tooling and mould making, there is the potential and the reality of every product being tailored for a specific requirement in the same way that a potter would have served the needs of the farmer or cook. In theory this should fully engage the designer with the complete creative process and the need to understand the capabilities of materials are capable of.
As applied artists/designers/creatives we have new tools in our toolbox. ALM/RP doesn't replace the other tools, it complements them and should be used appropriately.
Jonathan Ive should really be addressing the Colleges and Universities who are closing their 3D workshops and sitting students in front of computers as the cheaper option. It is central to the success of design innovation that knowledge of materials and processes is a fundamental part in the education of the next generation of creatives.

The iPotter

We have the technology...
I have evolved from making ceramics with almost pre-Industrial Revolution materials and technology to manufacturing them using technology from the next Industrial Revolution. In doing so my practice has virtually leapt 250 years.

...and the materials
The majority of my friends from the Studio Pottery world are baffled. My work no longer shares one of the prime motivations of handmade ceramics- the expression of material qualities and processes.
The process I now use prevents me from capturing a moment in time in the same way as I could with liquid coloured slips, but my approach to the design and digital manufacture of pieces like The Wedgwoodn't Tureen doesn't divorce me from the need to engage with material qualities.
So if I loose something that was an important ingredient, what do I gain? Freedom.
I am liberated from some of the restrictions of material properties; I don't have to think about the centrifugal forces that impose their effects on the form of a thrown pot; gravity has no influence.
Most importantly I am freed from the 'baggage' associated with Studio Pottery, whose genesis was the Arts and Craft Movement and its rejection of the dehumanising effects of industrial production and the division of labour.
In fact, the process I employ now has the potential to turn the circle back to the pre-Industrial Revolution days of direct contact between the maker and the customer. 3D printing or Additive Manufacturing (AM) or whatever you wish to call it, is not restricted by the need for moulds or tooling. A design can be customised for customer before it is manufactured.

A blacksmith gains the skills required to choose the right metal for the job through direct experience (tacit knowledge). Materials need to be appropriate to the task asked of them and as AM is primarily a material based technology, with new materials and variations coming onto the market on a regular basis, then those engaged with them surely require the same skills as the blacksmith.

As part of my RCA project I used The Wedgwoodn't Tureen to test the capabilities of the software, hardware and materials of AM and particularly the materials and processes developed by Axiatec. Now that I have acquired a basic understanding, I can go on to exploit the freedom that they give me. Through the design and production of new work I continue my testing and expand my tacit knowledge in the process.
Having divorced myself from the Studio Pottery movement, the approach to my work is bound to be framed by 25 years of making pots, but my new work has been able to take on a more conceptual direction, engaging with ideas that I hope the viewer will find thought-provoking.

(to be continued.....)