By Hand – The Use of Craft in Contemporary Art

Shu hung and joseph Magliaro, Editors

Looking into how contemporary art clings to the crafts in modern society was very interesting and reflects very boldly in my art. I liked how the artists in the book helped to obliterate the statement that the crafts is dead and isn’t needed in today’s rapidly technological society, but furthermore I admire the way many of the artists in this book such as Frederique Daubal puts a spin on many traditional techniques and makes it contemporary but still keeps to tradition. Many of the artists in this book talk parental influence on their artworks, like me, many of them were taught to sew by their mothers and therefore their art has ‘sentimental importance’ to them. The book talks about the process of hand making a lot, referring to the techniques as being a ‘dedication’ to craft, as many of the processes can be done much quicker using modern techniques or machines, but it seems as if many of the artists keep to the traditional processes and methods because of the intimate and personal qualities of the overall artworks. This is also important to me in my art, as I see a very distinct difference between machine embroidery and hand embroidery. It is more of an intimate experience to sit for hours and sew. It is meticulous and boring and painstaking. But the art for me is also in the making and the process of creating.

This book also engages with the argument whether craft and the applied arts can be referred to as in the same circle as fine art, which obviously I agree to most extent as I am hand sewing in a Fine art degree, but I feel there is a difference, but It’s down to the audience and the artist and the context of the art. Perhaps looking into this further will help me to distinguish what contemporary context my work falls in.

Michelangelo's 'David'

Michelangelo, born in Caprese, Italy was a painter, sculptor and architect of the High Ranaissance and is widely known for his influences on western art. He has been described by many people as the greatest artist of all time.He sculptured two of his best known works before he was 30 years old. 'David', a Renaissance sculpture, sculpted between 1501-104 and restored in 2003-4, reaches a brilliant height of 15.16 metres high (17 feet). The sculpture depicts the biblical hero, David. The account of the battle between David and Goliath is told in Book 1 Samuel. Twice a day after 40 days, Goliath, the champion of the Philistines comes out between the lines and challenges the Israelities to send out a champion of their own to combat GolIath. Only David, a young shepherd, accepts the challenge. He takes only a sling and five stones. David hurls a stone from his sling and hits Goliath in the forehead. He falls to the floor and David cuts off his head.

In Michelangelo's 'David', David is represented as a confident person, his body curves in a sort of S shape, with his weight supported by one leg. His sling is hung over his shoulder with a casual structure. These features of Michelangelo's sculpture represent the valourous warrior he was in the Bible, righteous, just, moral and virtuous. The proportions of some details aren't representative of Michelangelo's other works. 'David' has a rather large head and imposing right hand. This could just be due to the intention of putting the sculpture on a roof line, where some parts had to appear bigger as to be visible from below. However these proportions could suggest that David would think carefully before doing anything. He was rational.

The Renaissance was the rebirth of man's life on earth. Man was regarded as rational, beautiful and heroic, worthy of happiness. Other artistic depictions of David portrayed a winner, someone inferior who chose to fight someone stronger. Michelangelo chose to show David in victory, but in the moment before conscious choice and conscious action. David represents the virtues of the High Renaissance. He also reflects the appeal of an audience of the high Renaissance.

COSTA RICA 2015

WE visited an art gallery and in order to get there we went down avenue 7. I'll never forget the panic attack I had whilst we walked down that road. Here is some of the artwork:

OUR SLIDE

Here are some photos Lucia Took:

Here is Lucia's better blog post on Costa Rica: http://lu-ldn.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/costa-rica.html