If a craft object is an art? or art is a part of craft? if someone is a craftsman/woman or an artist? There has been endless discussion and I do not want to start it again. It is often in a way about the label and categorization, authentication and validation and I am not very interested in that.
But what I find interesting is the authorship of these objects and practice itself. As far as I understand (ok, I am not expert in this at all), William Morris brought in this topic of Arts and Crafts movement in Britain late 19th century. He pointed out the aesthetic value of crafts objects and therefor importance of crafts practices and mastery of the techniques. What has been practiced as crafts goes into art making and the labels of craftsman/woman and artists become blur. Some craftsman/woman becomes a singular master with their name labeled on the crafts objects as “one-off” valuable objects to acquire and admire, decorating the best place of the house. In a way, it is probably a positive development as the skills and makings of crafts persons receive higher values in society.
On the other hand, I find the argument of Soetsu Yanagi from Mingei movement (Art and crafts movement in Japan in early 20th century) interesting. In his book “The Unknown Craftsman”, he describes how crafts objects were made by entire village through prescriptive processes. Each villagers may not be trained craftsmen, but through repetitiveness and going through many people’s hand the objects receives certain kind of aesthetics. The patterns are optimized in a way that even unskilled villager can still apply. And at the end, these objects are used in everyday life. He finds the beauty in this everyday-ness and daily use of crafts objects. It has to be in use, and not on the shelf to admire. He praises the “nemelessness” of the craftsman. It is not about who made it, but the action of making and using it as lived experience.
I find this “namelessness” interesting, and I would like to aim this “nemeless” craftsman object. I would like the indigo fabric we produce at the Zeugfärberei to become everyday use object. Something practical, handy and nice. It could have a personal attachment but not something to admire and keep in safe.