User:Danibanaani/Making is connecting

Making is connecting

Project theory notes incl. links

Making is connecting

by David Gauntlett

Chapter 2

The meaning of making 1: Philosophies of Craft

• Craft & art are seen separated
• Where craft is seen as less creative
• Peter Dormer
  • 'Having ideas' art vs. making objects and 'creativity' is divorced from knowledge
• Richard Sennett
  • Craft is unity of body&mind

-> The opinion is 'art' which is seen as superior and David Gaunlett and his sources say craft is much more 'creative' and under appreciated and secretively 'better' than art since you posses knowledge and you don't need validation. In which I disagree loads of artist don't need or want validation and admire almost people who do posses the knowledge, the artist is not just the one with having ideas but also makes, there is not much difference however some people don't see value of a craftsman but not everyone shares that view.

• Thinking & feeling is a port of making (not a machine)
• The joy of making
• Ellen Dissanayake
  • Art 'needs' validation vs craft 'who doesn't care'

John Ruskin

• John Ruskin
  • Love for gothic architecture, thinks the workers had creative input
  • Slave to work; precision by line & rule
• William Morris
• Clive Wilmer
• About the capitalist efficiency industrial working method
• Adam Smith
  • At first praised the new method, later worried about the unstimulating specialization so the worker can't evolve but rather becomes ignorant/lazy/stupid

The Division of labour

• Karl Marx
  • The worker becomes alienated of the work while in the capitalist machine

~Ruskin agrees~

• For not working creative the worker looses his humanity
• Ruskin argues for loosing creativity where Marx argues more in an economical concern however similar.
• Ruskin thinks craft of making is mental and physical united, one process. So the stages of production is wrong where thinking & making are separated into little 'tasks' which should be united.
• Seeing the thinker as 'elite' is wrong the worker thinks as much & is able to do which should make him the 'elite'
• Peter Anthony (sorry no link to be found I'll keep looking) takes a spiritual & moral prospective on the matter; work is vital and connects man with nature and god
• Marx sees it as slavery and looks for an economical solution from a communists prospective, where everyone is equal
• Were Ruskin wants to make workers 'elite' and autonomous

William Morris rides in

• William Morris argues not so much individualistic but more of in social implications - joyfulness of making
  • Self-expression is vital, in the capitalist system individual voices cease to exist
• Morris feels the individual creative expression will evolve to a happy & empowered creative community
  • Morris contrasts from Ruskin, he had een hands-on approach, he mastered all kinds of crafts, as he felt to do is to understand it (in which I agree)
  • He felt workers should experience pleasure in making.

Time-travellers from the future

• Morris felt quality was important, so the costs of producing/making were high, which meant only rich people were able to afford his products.
• Allen Lane
  • Made affordable books, Penguin paperbacks

Hope and fulfillment

• Theodor Adorno
  • Adorno thinks people deserve better, but also he seems disgusted to observe everyone's a moron.
• Morris was much kinder, people have to make do with the system
• The capitalist system makes the desires of people vanish, which is easily satisfied but instead of saying they're morons he takes a positive approach with motivation.
• E. P. Thompson
  • Unwilling to give up hope for the workers
• Morris saw the pollution and environmental problems coming and observed that science (which was needed to stop this) was enslaved by the capital system.

Morris on making and sharing

• Todays internet world is an equal platform for ideas and creativity
• Morris argues work should be fulfilling which in the capital system it's not.
  • Hope (his key word)
    • Pleasure of the job well done
    • Made something worthwhile
    • Pleasure of the work itself
  • Wealth is not materialistic but rather nature, knowledge ect.

Everyday Arts

• Morris thinks the best art is made by the artist himself, a dirty hands on project and should be a humble workman
• [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clay_Shirky Clay Shirky]
  • Clay Shirky thinks it's easier now, labels of what is art or what is craft are less important now.

In class notes

• School system how art and craft where united but later on seperated which hapend quet a few times -> see the history of Willem the Kooning as reference.
• Plato's cave
• Plato vs. Aristotle since Plato sees art as imitation and is bad.

Chapter 3

The meaning of making 2: Craft today

~ Not notes for me this time it was a clear introduction ~