I have been taught, throughout my art education, that art and craft are separate entities- and for a long time I believed this to be true. Lately, perhaps due to a near obsessive knitting jag, I have begun to question the validity of craft as “high art.”
Sure, many of the pieces made in the guise of “arts and crafts” are meant as decoration, nothing more- but as I see artists and craftsters alike displaying and selling their subversive crafty work, I notice they are playing with many of the same issues any artist, tucked away in their ivory tower, would.
Places like etsy and craftster, whose motto is “no tea cozies without irony,” seem well aware of the stigma that the word craft has put on what is just another form of intelligent creation. I see these sites as a great source of inspiration and motivation to create, and to have a sense of humor. To take yourself too seriously just saps all the fun out of creation.
Will knitting now become my preferred medium? Stay tuned…
