1. In this document the writer discusses the difference between art, craft and design. This
document’s emphasis focusses on whether the visual work, Let Them Eat Cake by
Ceramic Matters fits into the art or craft classification, although the aim of this essay lies
in the ability to find relevant information, quote correctly, to paraphrase adequately,
reference successfully and to compile an academic Bibliography in accordance with
prior knowledge of theoretical art writing.
The Longman Dictionary of Art (1986:12) defines art as only a noun. Art is the
deliberate creation of an image or an object by making use of a technique or a method;
it is an active process that requires knowledge and skill in order to present an idea in a
visual form. Craft is defined by Judy Martin in The Longman Dictionary of Art (1986:54)
as a noun and a verb. As a noun, craft is the making of an image or an object by means
of using a tangible material and applying technique in doing so. As a verb Craft is
defined as a skillfully manipulated material in order to create an image or an object.
Peter Dormer (1994:27) substitutes this social separation of art and craft. Craft could
now only be a subversive form of art and the medium is the factor that separates the
one from the other. This visionary speculation (Coulson, in Kruger, 1995:3) is, according
to Dormer (1994:26), “An orthodoxy of Modernism … that craft knowledge is separable
from meaning in the visual arts – that technique is merely the means by which ideas are
executed rather than conceived.” Although the weight of a successful artwork depends
on the agreement of the profession (art curators, art critics and art theorists) (Dormer
1994:27). The success of a work mainly depends on an artist’s ability to understand the
orthodoxies of the time and the ability to manipulate, break and ignore such orthodoxies
(Dormer 1994:26).
One such a work is Let Them Eat Cake (Figure 1), 2016, from the artists at Ceramic
Matters. This work is a South African curated work in the exhibition Gebak at the
Woordfees 2016. Anthony Harris and Gerhard Swart both studied Fine Art, Printmaking
and Ceramics at The Johannesburg Art College. Their work incorporate the natural and
the domestic and aims to embrace a creative idea that consists out of units and
modules.
During an online interview the writer gained knowledge about the artwork. Let them Eat
Cake, is a ceramic work. It consists out of levels (units) like a cake stand on which
various slip casted pieces is displayed. The pieces vary in all types of things that are
associated with a classic celebration, especially that of a wedding since the cake stand
is topped with a two piece cake and on top of that the figurines of a married couple.
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2. Detail of Figure 1
Figure 1: Ceramic Matters (2016) Let Them Eat Cake. [Image online]. Available:
http:www.facebook.com/CeramicM/posts/965293996880495. [Accessed 03 March
2016].
Let Them Eat Cake could then be a typical depiction of Dormer’s ‘description’ of a
successful artwork. Here it is evident that the meaning of the terms: design, art and craft
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3. have morphed over time (Maffei & Sandino, 2004:2). Margetts, in Maffei and Sandino
would then possibly classify Let Them Eat Cake as a ‘new ceramic’, a type of making
where conceptual ideas flourish alongside the importance of utilitarian value of clay.
Maffei and Sandino’s (2004:7) aim in Dangerous Liaisons, is to address the changes of
where the maker and the receptor of a work place themselves in the objectified
endeavours and how these categories transform themselves. It could then be true that
the classification and interplay of art, craft and design is determined by culture and
region (Sandino 2004:8).
To conclude, it is clear that the debate and classification of craft and art and design in
the postmodern era is a futile attempt to separate the one creative process from the
other. Like Perry explains in Maffei and Dandino (2004:2) that changes in the debate
have evolved over the past three decades. Rudge, in Maffei and Sandino, substitute this
statement by explaining that the barrier between art, craft and design no longer matter.
What does matter is the success of a work, which Dormer (1994:65) explains as the
expression and certainty of freedom in spontaneity that practiced skill certifies. The
contemporary work Let Them Eat Cake is one South African ceramic work that portrays
the necessity of learned skill in order to reach perfection so that the interplay of a work’s
concepts and making can be reached successfully.
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4. Bibliography
DORMER, P. 1994. The Art of the Maker. London:Thames and Hudson Ltd.
MARTIN, J. 1986. Longman Dictionary of Art, Materials, Tools, Techniques and Terms.
Essex:Longman.
KRUGER, R. 1995. Ideological Design Movements of the Twentieth Century, (NHD).
Technicon Pretoria.
LEES-MAFFEI, G & SANDINO, L. 2004. Dangerous Liaisons, Relationship between
Design, Craft and Art, Journal of Design history, Vol 17(3), 207-220.
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