Craft 2.0, Authentic and Slow, and Extreme Slow

I've been thinking a lot about the last post and thought I'd say a little more. This is a long post .

I have no problem with anybody who wants to knit crazy acrylic scarves on size 17 needles, or scrapbook, or do no-sew sewing, or any other activity with their hands and hearts. It's really different from the approach to art, craft and design that I'm calling Slow Cloth or Authentic Cloth. There's nothing wrong with the people who are doing it, and nothing inherently wrong with what they're doing if they enjoy it and nobody gets hurt; the thing that gets under some of our skins, I think, is the marketing and selling of it.

I'm not even sure what Craft 2.0 means, but I think it's what String or Nothing was talking about -- lots of crafts skewing very young, marketed as hip and trendy, and suggesting that you really don't need any skill or time or commitment. "Make a sweater in a weekend!" "It's not your mother's knitting!" "It's not your grandmother's beadwork!" (There are always unnecessary exclamation points involved.) Some of the results are beautiful and charming, some are okay, and some are really awful. But it doesn't serve anyone to suggest that there's no value in going past beginner-level skills and kits and throwaway materials. (There's also a lot of use of recycled materials in these crafts, and that's fantastic, yet it's still often marketed in silly ways.)

I think what's most appealing for young women is that there's a lot of community, both electronic and real, in this movement. They're discovering the amazing sense of belonging that happens when women get together to talk and stitch. The stitching adds a dimension and connection that is nourishing and regenerative. There's nothing new about this. From time immemorial -- quilting bees being the best-known example -- these talk-and-stitch gatherings have had power.

I discovered it around 1990, living in Chicago and working on weekends at The Weaving Workshop, then on Diversey. The store was owned then by Marilyn Murphy, now president of Interweave Press. Amazing women worked there and knitted there -- Stacy, Melissa, are you out there? Once a month we'd all get together for potluck and knitting. Coming from a family with three brothers, it was truly my first positive experience of a group of women supporting, liking, and encouraging each other, and sharing creative work. Yes, we irreverently referred to those evenings as "stitch 'n bitch" and we all understood how great those evenings were. We just never thought to MARKET the concept or turn it into a book or a zeitgeist, and the world wouldn't have been ready if we had.

My Chicago friends were incredibly skilled knitters, and generous with everything they knew. I learned so much from them. We used to talk about having a "no-brainer" project that didn't require much attention, and then a more challenging one for moments of full presence. In what's becoming the "craft industry" we see a lot of no-brainer projects and not much else. And our culture devalues taking time and can barely imagine or support doing an art or craft over a span of years, and not taking shortcuts (I don't mean every project has to take years, though as we know, some inadvertently do).

Next time you're in Santa Fe, visit the Tai Gallery on Canyon Road and spend some time with the bamboo baskets there, made by very old Japanese basketmakers. You'll forget every trivializing joke you've ever heard or made about basketweaving. These vessels have an integrity, a life force, and a beauty that is indescribable, because years of learning and relationship to the materials have gone into them. They are made mostly by men (traditionally the skills aren't taught to women, and that's one reason the art is dying). This is from the gallery's Web site:

There are now less than a hundred working bamboo artists in Japan. The young people who have taken up the call to learn bamboo basket making make a commitment of time that is hard for us as Westerners to comprehend. The first ten years are devoted to learning the basic techniques of cutting, dyeing, and plaiting bamboo. After this is mastered, another one or two decades are spent developing as an artist. Artists begin to gain full recognition as they come into their fifties and sixties. There are a number of basket makers who are still working in their eighties. It is an honor for our gallery to represent some of the top living bamboo artists of Japan.

I guess you could call this Extreme Slow art. Most textile artists and artisans today don't have this mindset or cultural support, and we should all be a part of our time and our world. But the reverence, the authenticity and the respect for the materials is so rich, and if you are open to it, these baskets have a depth and a vibration that feels profound and eternal.

Somewhere between these baskets and throwaway trendy projects is Authentic Cloth. And it's taken an eternity to read this, right? Thank you! Back soon with inspiration and links and more.

Comments

[Hélène H]

Interesting post. I don't know if this is a generational thing. Except that "trafitional" craft making, for me, can only be possible when you have a family tradition of craft. If you come from a dysfunctional family as I do, you can only look with envy at those who have been taught to knit and felt and embroider and so on from an early age.

In my feeble attempts to do craft, I also feel a terrible pressure to do a lot (this I resit though) and to go fast. I suppose I have internalized the mass consumer society speeches. Or maybe it is just that I am afraid.

In the end, I believe that anybody picking up material to do anything handmade is standing up against "the system" and starting a quiet revolution. It's all about claiming your own freedom...

[eroz]

Ah now here we have a perfect example of the 'western craft phenomenon' in which tie-dye clad middle-aged middle american ladies exist in a bubble of hobby-craft, needle-work & quilting. I recently attended an international conference which attracted a number of these types, & also a number of indigenous artisans from the sub-continent on which the conference was held. The former proceeded to patronise the local artisans (with one lady even offering to 'certify' one artisan's traditional family products..) whilst on the other side the local artisan community were mildly bemused (& amused) by the antics of these ladies, though most importantly were deeply insulted that something as genuine as their hereditary family skills & traditions of making could be lumped into the same basket as flakey hobby-craft quilters with too much time & money on their hands... a sad sight to witness, & a tragic dissolutionment occurred among local artisans in the wake of this unfortunate event. Ladies, please don't lose sight of the bigger picture of what craft is all about - as an 80 year old artisan of Jaipur once said to me - 'if your work is good there's no need for ego, & once ego takes hold there's no need for your work'.

[Lainie]

These are fantastic comments, all of them. I do agree with Deidre and Jenny that any gateway into fiber arts is a good one. I made a lot of Barbie doll clothes, and grew up with McCall's Needlework and Crafts magazine and made some crazy stuff. My cousin remembers a seashell collage that was probably, uh, remarkable in a not necessarily good way. I also made felt bird Christmas ornaments that would be the hit of Etsy today -- I wish I had them still. But while I remember that some projects were simple, I don't think there was a disdain for having more skills -- I think generally the drive was to start easy, but get better and learn more. That may be missing in some, not all, of the new craft movement.

[Jenny]

I spent time volunteering at the Family Arts Needlework Shop in Phoenix in my 20s and found fiber art mentors like the ones you found at the weaving store in Chicago. They taught me about needlepoint, knitting, fiber choices and art. I think that the Craft 2.0 projects have their place -- my 12 year old daughter has learned to sew making polar fleece monsters and I taught myself to knit making fun fur scarves for different fund raising auctions. Eventually some of those crafters will graduate to more involved projects and better craftsmanship.

[Margaret]

Great post, though I see Craft 2.0 quite differently. Like you, I can't stand shoddy goods and there are far too many "crafters" who seem to think their products are worthy of a wide audience simply because they're made by hand (like kids who try to get their parents to display their day camp macaroni crafts indefinitely).

Anyway, I see Craft 2.0 quite differently, or at least I hope it's quite different. The internet gives truly talented people (and the not-so-talented) a chance to make their goods available to a wider audience. It also makes it easier to find craftspeople and to trade goods, which makes it more likely that more people will be able to afford beautiful, handcrafted items. I guess I see it as a chance to revive cottage industries and give new life to traditional crafts.

And as Deidre said, maybe some of the less-than-thrilling crafters that we see out there are just getting started, and will soon be moving on to better things! (Let us hope!).

[Deidre]

While I agree there is a glut of dumb make-it-quick stuff being overmarketed these days, there is a possible silver lining to it. When I was very young, I made a lot of crafty stuff that was quick, easy, and absolute junk. I would see magazines or books with titles and articles not so very different from those being disparaged now, and I would beg my mother to buy them for me. While I made nothing of inherent value from these projects, it did instill in me a lifelong love of making things with my hands.

I can remember knitting yards and yards of a long tube using a spool with 4 nails in the top. Although I didn't know what to do with the darned things when I was done, I still have fond memories of spending time doing that. I also knitted and crocheted many potholders and afghans, a couple of which I still have. I started out small, with things that were appealing because they were "quick and easy," but enjoyed it so much I moved on to more complicated, time-consuming things. Maybe these new throwaway projects will inspire some people to want to keep going on making things. It's got to be better than video games, at any rate!

[Deb Fair]

I've been continuing to think about this whole subject of slow cloth and art cloth since you first raised it, and although I've promised to blog on it, I haven't yet.
Your post today makes me think about how we live in such a "throw away" culture. I think a lot of these quick, make it in a day or an hour crafts are designed for quick consumption and quick disposal.
We pass on as heirlooms those slow and art cloths made with hours and hours of love and care. We are less reluctant to toss something made in a day or an hour.
Perhaps some of this quick craft marketing reaches the younger generation that is very into multi-tasking and trying every new experience. I understand that, because I also want to try each new thing and there are limited hours to do so. However, my hope is that each will settle on one or two techniques and learn to do them well, with integrity, and yes, slowly.
Thanks for keeping this topic in the spotlight.

[Paula Hewitt]

Hi - I could link to the string or nothing article this time - I agree totally with the great book divide. Basic beginner books are ok, hip new easy etc not so good - embroidery, quilting, beading, knitting - it doesnt matter what the topic - these books are dross.

Its an interesting topic. One of the things that annoyed me at the 'living creatively website was Kennerely' was her condescending attitude: ' growth ..(in the craft market)..is not coming from the existing market. The new audience is generation X and Y. They're hip, intelligent and internet savvy, and they want to know where to get the best of the best....they are creatively minded, culturally aware, confident, stylish and sociable consumers and they love things that are handmade'. Not like all us old grannies crocheting toilet roll covers. I may have to re-write that ranting post, instead of leaving long comments here.

[Kathleen]

There's one thing that annoys me about the "Craft 2.0" movement; they tend to be highly critical of what they perceive to be "the establishment" -of which I'm admittedly one- selecting its worst elements for criticism while failing to follow the examples of its better ones. A lot of their items are shoddily made, quite tragic looking but defend their efforts as justifiable being hand made. Everything I make is hand made, everything, and none of it looks like that. I get that they're exuberant, joyful to share their craft in a supportive environment but they deride established practitioners when they should be learning from them.

Perhaps my dismay arises because I feel they're disrespecting their creativity and gifts (in spite of continually self-lauding their weakest efforts) and failing to apply the RIGOR required to develop their skills. If they were talentless, I wouldn't care but I hate waste. I lament the lack of discipline; the lack of maturation to know that no matter how clever their rendering, their zipper application for example, a straightforward affair, forever brands the work as an amateur effort. Creativity doesn't trump execution; superior skills and examples of execution are summarily dismissed as "mass production" when they'd do well to learn its processes and implement standards appropriate to their work.

[Leslie]

One of the best entries so far. Thanks for naming what I've seen in quilt how-to marketing that's annoyed me, but I couldn't put my finger on. "Make a weekend quilt!" Right, please don't dumb it down.
Love your stuff.