Comments on: Artistry, artisanry

By: melanie keegan

melanie keegan — Sat, 04 Aug 2007 19:35:10 +0000

I think gary’s dead on. I’ve seen too much “Art witha capital A” that is sloppy and poorly executed and really detracts from whatever the artist meant to say. You go to school to first find the medium you were meant to work in and then to study how to perfect your skill so you can use it to say what you have to say.

–mellie

By: Scary Sarie

Scary Sarie — Fri, 03 Aug 2007 17:38:15 +0000

I think you guys are sort of missing the point–who cares what you are if you do the job well?

I’m an artist (and I guess artisan, except I’ve never hear anyone call it that instead of craftsman) and have been an artist for 28 years. I’m very good at my mediums which are glass and steel, and nothing leaves my studio that isn’t as perfect as I can get it.

Galleries have rejected my work because its craft and they’ve als turned me down because its not functional (meaning its not a vessel, usually). If everyone has their own definition of whats desirabel then the only thing that matters is that it satisfys the artist. I believe that if I do a good job, people will accept it. I just have to find the right gallery.

Now somebody tell me how to do that better and I’ll really be happy.

By: gary brown

gary brown — Thu, 02 Aug 2007 14:09:15 +0000

I didn’t mean to put down artists. Though, some whose works I’ve seen probably should have been put down (sorry…couldn’t help it). I think it’s that “art” is this amorphous thing that exists without respect to any particular medium…or skill level for that matter. A person can be an “artist” with zippo artisan skills. Take “performance art”. Heck, I could sit on the corner for 3 days in the winter and get covered with snow and call it “found snowman in three days”. Is it art? I suppose so… Does it display artisanship? No.

On the other side of the coin, a person can layup a number of hunks of glass and make the perfectly fused piece that has the aesthetics of a banana slug. Artisan? Sure. Artist. No.

By: Jared

Jared — Thu, 02 Aug 2007 05:02:46 +0000

I guess by your definition I’m an artisan..AND PROUD OF IT. It seems like you’re putting down artists, though. I think there’s room in the world for both.

By: gary brown

gary brown — Wed, 01 Aug 2007 14:38:57 +0000

Labrat. I like that. I can relate to that (like you wouldn’t have guessed that, eh?). Art Labrat.

In my book, things are what they are. I am quite fond of the Japanese concept of the “living treasure”. Those folks are “artisans”. Let’s see…does the syllogism “all artisans are artists, X is an artist, therefore X is an artisan” apply? I think not. I think what you’ve said is that art is about content while artisanship is about process. I can “do” art without a heck of a lot of skill or knowledge about my chosen medium. Whereas to be an artisan I must be a master/mistress of my medium. To go back to my syllogism… I think that the premise is false. All artisans are NOT artists. You can control your medium to within an eyetooth of its full potential, but without any aesthetic sense. So, where does that leave us… I think contemplating that the “national treasure” is the person that is an artisan who has used mastery of the craft to express an “artistic” idea.

And further than that, I say not, for I have to practice being an artisan right now with my code or I get beat up by a customer in two weeks!

GcB