Tuesday 13 April 2010

goldsmiths - art and craft


I went to Leeds Polytechnic back in the 70's and got a Degree in Fine Art. At the time, art was conceptual,weird, performance, Turner prizesque and I loved painting. Oh dear, I was a bit of a square peg in a round hole and realised that my tutor encouraged me to go Leeds as it was radical and prestigious. Needless to say I was swayed by his arguments and rejected a more traditional college. One of the places that was held in great esteem was Goldsmiths.

Last night I watched the TV programme on this and it was so reminiscent of Leeds 30 odd years ago. The strange difficulty that students had in articulating what their work is about, the loathing of your own work when it's done, the sheer commercialism behind trying to sell your stuff and of course, none of the 'oh I love the colours' 'Wow, that looks great, I want it.' And it made me realise that Art and Craft have parted company.

Now in the handmade movement, people want to create simply to make something beautiful, useful, pretty, desirable and relatively cheaply, and that fits around kids, work etc. I feel much happier about doing this than creating something with meaning, that's challenging, and thought provoking and has to be justified. And now, with my sewn landscapes, I am making them because I love it- the process, the choosing the right fabrics, the colours and the satisfaction of making something that is complete in itself.

4 comments:

Unknown said...

I too have a problem with what I call the Art with a capital A concept.
I just love to make things that I find beautiful and hope that someone out there agrees enough to want to buy it. I love your landscapes, fabrics and fibres are some of my crafty loves too,
pam

Annabel said...

thanks Pam - it's quite liberating to just make things because you love to, and hope others do to! Not Serious Art but who cares!! xxx

SDCrafts said...

Hi Annabel - I took Art as part of my teacher training back in the 70s and was 'good' at the child-centred part but 'poor to average' with my own 'Art'. Nowadays I fiddle about with creativity to suit myself and love it. So much for education, eh?

Annabel said...

you have to get to the point where you please yourself and have the confidence to do it - thought it was funny when one of the students on the programme said she liked to get away with doing as little as possible! oops not a great attitude!

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