Craft? Art? Who Cares!

10/23/2021

I LOVE this work. It's by the artist Oscar Becerra and is being exhibited at the Denver Botanic Gardens right now.

I love the scale, colors and designs all over this creature. I wanted to get out all my markers and start a new sketchbook just repeating the patterns I saw.

The division between craft and art has always bugged me. What does it matter except to elevate some artists and down grade others. Would art historians think that crudely made representations of animals in caves isn't "art" because these people didn't have a BFA degree?

In my definition, art is personal. It is the personal expression of an individual and the impact it has on another individual. It's about connection.

And this piece made me smile. That was my connection with Oscar. I look forward to hearing his thoughts at a lecture next weekend.

dawn klein-evans

11/10/2021 10:56:14 am

This is my definition of art.

A work, made in a medium/using techniques that can be aesthetically appreciated, during the making of which the maker made decisions. The more decisions, the closer to art. (But see, sonnets and haiku, which, of course, are very formal.)

This definition allows for a sliding scale where some works are more artistic and others more like craft. Also, it doesn't draw a bright line between artists and craftspeople because the same person can be either or both on different days depending on what she made.

Craft? Art? Who Cares!

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Carol Ann Waugh

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