[Jewelry making - Article 00544] - Re: [Orchid] Artist definition

[David L. Huffman]

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    Hi Folks; Okay, I'm going to chime in on this one.  My authority
    comes from several sources;  I have two "fine arts" degrees, and I
    have 30 years of bench experience in the retail world where "artist"
    is a term used purely as a euphemism (and that's precisely the word I
    prefer to use here, as it comes straight from Webster).  I also used
    to lecture at a university on the history of craft, ironically, for
    the art history department. 

    First, the obvious:  artist, craftsman, artisan, etc., are all
    social constructs.  Less obvious is the fact that these criteria are
    subjective on both sides, that of the maker and of the observer, and
    the question is not one of ontology but of agreement. Intent is the
    key criteria, in my opinion.  If the intent is to codify an
    aesthetic, this is the job of an artist, at least that's been the
    case since the Renaissance (read Vasari's "Lives of the Artists"). 
    As for Plato and the neo-Platonists.  The epistemological arguments
    pair off against these ideas and they force us ever more to keep
    seeking new anthologies.  Chicken and egg games. Suppose someone who
    has conventionally been considered a craftsman wants to put forth a
    new aesthetic.  What is it to be?  If he/she can validate a "process
    aesthetic" he/she has a foot in the door, but it is always, as could
    be predicted, open to question (read Paul Smith's "Poetry of the
    Physical").  The term "artisan" is less useful.  It is used to
    describe only the process of making and in my opinion, is rarely used
    to argue the weight of the aesthetic of either the "craftsman" or the
    "artist".  An artisan only exists during the transformation of
    materials from one form to another, albeit with skill.  Therefore, in
    my opinion, the craftsman refers to someone who carries on at least
    some of a tradition of a craft, and the roots of that tradition are
    generally to be found in the cultural heritage of a community.  And,
    he or she may be practicing a craft that is imported from another
    time or place.  Often the word craftsman is used when artisan would
    be a more correct term.  Now for the shot-over-the-bow for those
    so-called artists.  The notion that the artist is primarily
    concerned with an "image" or "content" is purely a residue of Plato's
    ontology (read Edward Lucie-Smith's "A History of Craft").  How it
    got into popularity can be traced back to Vasari's attempts to
    distinguish the multi-faceted careers of Da Vinci and Michelangelo
    from those of the many other equally talented and skilled artists who
    stuck to a single technology and set of applications. Now is there
    "craft" in the "fine arts" of painting and sculpture? Certainly,
    although most artists would dismiss it as incidental.  It's not. But
    any more, it's not culture bound, it's inbred.  The craftsman honors
    his/her heritage of making, the artist honors art history (which is
    a dubious quadrant of scholastic endeavor, being Eucrocentric in the
    extreme, even when it "studies" it's beloved "tribal" cultures).  If
    art history doesn't broaden to resolve the issue of craft, it will be
    subsumed into anthropology anyway.  Can a craftsman rise in stature
    among the fine arts cultural subsets to be called an "artist"?   Only
    euphemistically (there's that word again, and yes, I meant to use
    it). 

    Now that I've baffled you with bull droppings, let me put it in
    plain terms: 

    An artist is someone who declares himself an artist, and abides by
    the codes of recognition that are accepted by the cognoscenti of the
    art world, or risks obscurity in his/her own time.  It's a political
    position first and foremost.  You can always call yourself an artist.
     If you want significant others to call you that, you need to master
    the politics. (read "Vision and Painting, by Michael Bryson). 

    A craftsman takes responsibility for applying his/her best physical
    skill and sense of form to the making of an object, functional or
    otherwise, trying to elicit heightened achievement in his or her
    ability to have this accomplishment recognized by the observer.  Is
    it art?  See the above. The way the craft fairs are going, we're
    going to have to start snubbing the so-called "crafters" the same way
    "fine" artists have snubbed craftspeople. 

    An artisan is a handy term to add a small measure of honor to
    someone doing a good job transforming materials from one form to
    another, ***but*** this pertains to objects or events that will be
    appreciated by the observer in some measure for their ability to
    enrich our lives with satisfying sensual experiences. In other words,
    he/she makes beautiful things, cooks delicious meals, makes soulful
    music, etc., at best, but could be gardening, decorating store
    windows.  But it's likely to be a career more than a pastime.  And
    the artisan can also be a craftsman, but the term artisan tries to put
    him/her more firmly in a non-intellectual, working class distinction. 

    Before you get the impression that I am critical of those who call
    themselves artists and enamored by craftspeople, let me clarify. 
    It's not my problem with artists.  There are plenty of them,
    unarguably entitled to the name, and good ones that I love, but the
    "art culture" has lost it's bearing since DuChamp and ever since,
    people like Clement Greenburg have only made matters worse.  I prefer
    Robbie Hughes (heads up you Aussies!). I'm just tired of hearing the
    re-hash on the whole post-modernist circle-jerk.  It's been done . .
    . and done and done and done . . . 

    Craft, on the other hand, had better start working fast and hard to
    extricate itself from all the consumer culture schlock that
    threatens to tear down the little credibility it has achieved since
    the 60's.  I mean, if you call yourself a craftsman, and you find
    yourself in a "juried" show next to a tee-shirt vendor, you better
    darn well make a fuss about it unless you are the tee shirt vendor. 
    Everything descends to the lowest common denominator. On a similar
    note, if you call yourself an artist, and you find yourself picking
    out the blue jeans with just the right amount of paint on them to go
    to the gallery opening, don't go telling me all about your
    high-falutin' aesthetic priorities. 

    Now shoot this old gray head if you must. 

David L. Huffman


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