The Arts and
Crafts Dilemma
Everybody uses ‘things’ every day, from the bowl one eats
their breakfast from to the bed they sleep in at night. But despite our lives
being thoroughly interwoven with the things we use daily, do we know how our
possessions are made, where they came from or even who made them? A large
majority of our possessions are produced 'en masse', and as such lack the
individualism and stories that are associated with handmade objects. John
Ruskin, the seminal art critic, writer and artist, was strongly opposed to the
industrialisation of Europe and America that took place during the 19th
century; Ruskin believed machine made objects to be “dishonest”, and that
craftsmanship brought dignity to labour.
I can certainly testify to the satisfaction gained from
using an item I have either made myself, a friend has made and given to me or
an item I have purchased from a crafts person directly. There is, without doubt,
a greater feeling of connection to the item compared to a machine made product.
I enjoy the irregularities of handmade items and take satisfaction that the
craftsperson has made a wage from making a product they both enjoy making and I
enjoy using.
However, a dilemma exists that I discovered just a short
time into making a living from crafts. I only discovered today that this
dilemma has been present within arts and crafts since at least Ruskin’s time in
the 19th century; how do you make high quality, handmade products at
an affordable price for the many. These handmade crafts often take a long time
to make, sometimes even the raw materials alone are expensive let alone the
time it takes to create the objects. This creates products that often have a
steep price tag that are simply out of reach for most people, hence we must opt
for the mass produced, cheaper, option. This is in complete contradiction to
the concept of enriching one’s daily life by using objects with a story.
Appreciating the Everyday
An artist called Thomas Thwaites from the UK set himself a
challenge, to make a toaster from scratch. He visited his local high street and
purchased the cheapest toaster he could find, just £5.00 was the cost. He
subsequently took apart the toaster, piece by piece, to discover what’s needed
to make a toaster. Over the next 9 months he proceeded to gather the raw materials
he needed to construct his own toaster; he visited oil rigs to gather oil to
make plastic and mines to gather mica and copper. In the end he succeeded in
making a functional, if somewhat unconventional looking, toaster and went on to
write a book about the process.
I think this story really
highlights the complexity of the seemingly mundane items we use regularly, how
often do you use your toaster without even considering the complexities of the
machine you’re using to achieve a relatively simple task, toasting some bread.
Perhaps we should just take a few moments each time we use an item to fully
appreciate the effort and resources that have gone into producing the item
we’re using. This also leads into the ethos of repairing instead of replacing in
an attempt to reduce the quantity of materials we unnecessarily throw away.
The Importance of Making
Making has always been an essential and important part of life for
humans, our ability to turn the objects and materials around us into complex
items and tools is what allowed Homo sapiens to inhabit (almost) all areas of
the earth. Think about Homo sapiens ability to live in far colder environments
than those we evolved in; all because humans learnt how to sew and make warm
clothes. Making things has perhaps become less everyday than it once was, we can
now buy something rather than make it for ourselves. However, I think there are
many things to be gained from seeing through the process of making for
ourselves and those around us.
Making, and even fixing, allows somebody to change something, which in turn
allows one to realise that they CAN make a change, however small. Making
and altering things will change your perspective of the world, you do not have
to accept the prescribed wooden handle offered with your choice of axe, the
handle is yours to adjust and modify as you see fit just as societal norms and
the life you live are yours to make.
