Crafts & Industrial Design

For most people art is like air. It's all around you, you breathe it, you need it to live, but you don't see it. It's invisible. You don't think about it. This is how most people feel about crafts - everyday ordinary objects. When you buy one, you might pick the one you think looks nicest, but it's not what you think about when you say to yourself, "I need to go to the store and get a new bowl." You know you're going to buy one no matter how they look because you need one. And you really don't care which extension cord or lawn mower looks the prettiest.

So it's easy to forget that all the things we buy and use are actually designed by artists (Some might argue over the differences between "artists" and designers. In this lesson I'm using the words synonymously for people involved in creative tasks).

In the past it was different. Instead of factories, there were local workshops that produced a variety of crafts. You could meet the craftsmen, who were often your friends and neighbours, and make special orders. These craftsmen made a reputation for themselves with high quality products and beautiful designs. Today their works are highly prized by collectors. Names like Tiffany glass, Chippendale furniture, and Wedgwood pottery can sell for hundreds of thousands of dollars.

The Portland Vase by Josiah Wedgwood, 1790, England,

Victoria & Albert Museum

Our relationship with everyday objects and tools changed with the industrial revolution. Now we don't think of them as crafts, but as designs. The difference between a craftsman and a designer is a craftsman sits down and makes his or her ideas, but a designer just plans them on paper, or in a computer program. Then a factory mass produces them, and they go to shops all over the world. Mass production makes things very cheap, so people all over the world can enjoy a level of wealth that was unimaginable in previous centuries. Not everyone in the past could afford such luxuries as a Wedgwood vase. Many people made their own crafts which, while often plain and crude, are also prized today as folk art.

Designers often have different concerns than craftsmen, because they work for large companies. Little differences in a design that lower the cost might not matter to a craftsman, but are extremely important to a modern industrial designer. When you're making over a million copies of a product, a one-cent savings here or there can quickly add up to thousands of dollars, and with big business, profit is everything. That's why modern designers consider the best way to stack and pack their designs into boxes for shipping. That's why advertisers often use white backgrounds in posters:

(they're saving money on ink).

There are still many great artists/designers in our world who make beautiful products, often at low prices, and some are also collectible (beauty will always be prized). But I'm not sure if people value everyday objects the way we did in the past, especially when many things we use today are designed to be thrown away - paper cups, plastic forks, cardboard boxes, and candy wrappers. I imagine towns used to look much nicer when there were no cheap products to litter streets with - like potato chip bags, soda bottles, popsicle sticks, etc. Even when people used "folk art" crafts that they made themselves, there must have been a greater appreciation and love for these things - the joy of doing it right, of making something special for your family and friends. Sometimes I wonder, when machines eventually do everything for us, what will humanity turn into?

Here are some more famous craftsmen you might be interested in:

black figure amphora with Achilles and Ajax playing a game by Exekias, 530 BC

silver pocket watch by Edward East, English, 1645

candlesticks by George Michael Moser, English, 1740

from the Victoria & Albert Museum

side table by Thomas Chippendale, 1778,

from The Chippendale Society

quilt by Elizabeth Roberts, Philadelphia, PA, 1840

quilt by the Hargest family, Baltimore MD, 1845

glass paperweight by the Compagnie de St Louis, 1845-55

from the Corning Glass Museum

gilt silver plate by Pugin, John Hardman & Co., English, 1847

from the Victoria & Albert Museum

gold necklace with ceramic medallions by Wedgwood & Sons, 1870, England, from the Victoria & Albert Museum

Birth of Venus vase by Hodget, Richardson & Son, English, 1877

from the Corning Glass Museum

cup & saucer by R.L. Cellier, French, 1878

Victoria & Albert Museum

 

Persian Vase by Georg Rehlander, Austrian, 1878

from the Corning Glass Museum

 

armchair by Lawrence Alma Tadema, 1884-86

from the Victoria & Albert Museum

 

favrile glass vase by Louis Comfort Tiffany, American, 1900-1903

from the Corning Glass Museum

 

Gui vase by Rene Lalique, 1920

from the Corning Glass Museum

 

Salmonidés bottle by Rene Lalique, 1928

from the Corning Glass Museum

 

makeup desk & chair by Paul McCobb, 1937

 

Harmonious Opportunities bench by Wendell Castle, 1992

 

Video: Ancient Megastructures, The Hagia Sophia in Istanbul

Mass Culture

When you think of culture, you think of stories, art, music, clothing, language, religion, and customs, usually of one group of people. Cultures can be geographical and regional, but they can also be generational, social, and religious. Besides giving people an identity, they also help us form ethics and values, because children learn from their parents, and parents typically accept the norms of their society.

Mass culture brings many different groups together, forming one larger, global social conscience. Mass culture is shared by millions of people, from different countries and ethnic groups. It consists of pop music, sport, Hollywood films, TV shows, sitcoms, cartoons, reality TV, videogames, smart phones, internet culture, Twitter & Facebook, viral videos, internet memes, etc.

Mass culture as we know it today is very much a product of the modern world, spread by large industries such as film, TV, radio, and print. These industries are known as mass media. Mass media includes news and entertainment, and communicates to many people. Mass culture is the result of these media outlets, when millions of people around the world know the same actors, singers, athletes, and other celebrities.

Talking about mass culture can be confusing, because many forms of news and entertainment are seen by millions of viewers, for example the TV show Panelak in Slovakia. But, it’s not shown beyond Slovakia. Shows like Friends, CSI Miami, and Alf, on the other hand, are shown all around the world, and have been for decades. Everyone from Greenland to Timbuktu knows about these shows. So, when is something a part of “mass culture”? There’s no clear answer. Typically shows and celebrities that everyone knows about are called “mainstream”, while those that are less famous are called “underground”.

For many younger generations, mass culture has taken the place of smaller, regional cultures. You can see it in Slovakia. While older people still know and enjoy singing traditional Slovak folk songs, the younger generation prefers pop music, dancing to hip hop, and learning foreign languages. The problem is how to save and preserve traditional Slovak customs while embracing the new. This is a common problem throughout the world. There is a competitive aspect to culture, and some even refer to them as culture wars.

There are advantages and disadvantages to mass culture. Hollywood, record companies, and TV channels like HBO, MTV, and others have given us high quality, talented performers and wonderful stories and music, both for viewers of all ages. There are many genres and styles to suit everyone’s taste. And, when everyone around the world sees and listens to it, it creates a greater understanding that can help bring cultures together.

On the other hand, when we leave culture to the best and most talented, we become lazy. Imagine how the world was before cinemas, the radio, record players, and cameras. If you wanted to hear some music, you had to find someone to play it, or play it yourself. If you wanted to see a play, you might have to write it, and organize it yourself. If you wanted to take a picture, you had to draw it. Imagine how much more special it was when everyone sang instead of playing the radio – singing or playing for your children, instead of just playing the radio for them, or popping a DVD into your computer, making a cup from clay instead of just buying it at the shop. There’s a pleasure connected to making that most people don’t feel anymore.