Stitch and Let Stitch: Craft Culture Wars

It's interesting to find yourself on the leading edge of the culture wars, and no, I'm not talking about Scary Sarah Palin, though I've been commenting a-plenty to some of the political columns. (On that subject, best line I've heard and wish I'd written? "A woman voting for this ticket is like a chicken voting for Colonel Sanders.") 

No, this culture war is about the new generation of crafters and "old-schoolers" like me who believe there's some value in skill. The story is "The Ambassador of Handmade," from the New York Times. In part:

The democratic world view of the modern crafter — the unschooled, technique-and-judgment-free energy of it all — is what pulls many in. “I’m no seamstress, I can’t hem anything, and I’m too impatient to learn how to knit or crochet,” Ms. Levine said, “but I love just stitching.” 

It is also what irritates old-school craftspeople, those who might have come out of the American studio crafts movement of the ’50s, ’60s, and ’70s. Yet their ideals are the same, according to Andrew Wagner, the editor of American Craft magazine, which redesigned itself last year in an attempt to bridge the two worlds.

Mr. Wagner, a founding editor of Dwell magazine, went on to say, “It’s still about working outside the mainstream, and making a living doing what you love. We saw this huge new movement, which Faythe is cast as sort of the poster child for, and it and the old guard weren’t communicating.” 

There was, Mr. Wagner said, some real hostility: “The old guard was saying: It took me 20 years to master my craft, and these kids think they can start by just stitching owls.” 

“It would be incorrect to say there’s nothing of quality coming out of the D.I.Y. world,” he continued, “but what they bring to the table is what’s important. Their energy is infectious, which is why I call D.I.Y. the punk rock of the craft world.” 

In the current issue of American Craft, an article titled “DIY Grows up: The Political Power of the Do-It-Yourself Movement,” chews over the state of the crazy quilt it has become: the fairs awash in money from corporate sponsors, the huge market for the objects sold there and the confusion that has arisen for the makers. 

Is a handmade object still subversive if buyers are willing to pay more for it than the maker could afford to pay herself? Do the tight bonds of the community and its micro-economies trump the appetite of mainstream culture for the authenticity those bonds and economies represent?

“The handmade look is definitely a trend everywhere, from the art world to the stores,” Ms. Levine said. “But I think it helps the community, because someone can go to Urban Outfitters and then to a craft fair and relate that look back. It makes it all stronger.” 

Still, she said, “I do understand the turn-offs. If you see 100 owls, it’s hard not to get annoyed and bitter."

Well, I'm not bitter. I'm patient, and I say stitch away -- it's harmless, though I think it's a lot more subversive to actually be able to hem something if you're all about self-sufficiency and being able to live independently of mass-market culture.  If all you can do is make owls you'll be bored with this and on to the next thing in a year or so.

Lots of food for thought here. 

In the bookstore a few weeks ago, I picked up a very pretty book on vintage fabrics that's been getting some heavy advance publicity. It truly looked gorgeous and enticing. I looked at the projects and one of them, I kid you not, instructed on how to make a dust cloth out of old fabric. Do we need to be told how to do this? Is this the current excuse for craft? 

I know I've had a few curmudgeonly posts lately in this realm, but please. I'm insulted by How to Make a Dust Cloth. Live and let live, stitch and let stitch, do not put down my interest in real art and craft and I won't mock your skill-free army of owls, but do not give me instructions on tearing up old clothes into dust cloths and call it craft. 

Comments

[Lainie]

Thanks for all these great comments . . . seems there are quite a few of us refugees. And Sandy, good to find your blog too, it's wonderful.

I think for a while I was excited that so many people were doing crafts. It would mean more for everybody, right? More books, supplies, ideas, opportunities to teach, to write, to learn, to get respect. In some ways that's been true. But just as musicians have to learn scales and the difference between a melody and a beat, I find myself coming down more and more on the side of "get some experience and skills before you try to sell me junk." (And I'm dying to make a political reference here, but let's just say you can put lipstick on a . . . dust cloth, and it's still what it is.) And to Rayela's point, making connections with or at least having awareness of skilled artists and artisans around the world matters too, certainly part of my "slow cloth" vision.

Okay, this is almost turning into a post or many, so I'll just say thank you all and there will be more on this juicy topic. The beat goes on.

[Sandy]

Oh boy, this is MY rant, and I have gotten in trouble with it every time I post! Seems that it's just fine to do whatever you want, usually a copy of your owl or the dumb bird outline, with a big fat needle and some acrylic yarn, no knowledge of fabric, materials, technique OR the interest in finding out! One more bird-on-a-wire and I will personally pull the electrocution switch... Glad to have found your blog- stitch on!

[Rachel Biel Taibi]

Very interesting! Something I've been chewing about in my mind and want to post about, too. Still have to think about it some more though. I'm interested in bridging the gap I see between 3rd World "artisans" and 1st World "artists", especially in how it translates in what prices they can command for their work (or not).

Chew, chew, chew... munch, munch...

[dawn draper]

I'll be curmudgeonly right along with you. Worse than "how to make a dustcloth"? The DIY craft fairs that advertise that they're "Not Your Grandma's" crafting.

Really? I'm sorry to hear it, my grandma was a kickass crafter!

[arlee]

OMG HOW HOW HOW could the "*author*" include this???????? I guess though that if we were all smart, there would be no need for these books:} Kind of like the instructions on certain products--"do not iron clothes while on body"............perhaps *that* is the audience/market?

[Heather]

I just posted about that same article!

[annalisa]

OMG!That is the stupid/funniest thing I've heard today... If a person is foolish enough to buy this book though perhaps they need the instructions for how to make a rag