CELEBRATING FINE CRAFT

ARTICLES: Craft Perception and Practice Volume II - A Canadian discourse

Written by: Jennifer E. Salahub, Phd.
October 06, 2006

As the title of this anthology suggests, the craft conversation continues, and, as those in the field know, we are in a state of flux - perhaps as Glenn Allison suggests in 'Report from the Interior' the paradigms are indeed shifting. Arguments are put forth, voices are raised, and opinions formed and reformed. Theories are vilified and admired. Exhibitions are dismissed or praised for the very same qualities. Terms are modified - descriptives added. New artists address old issues and established artists take on the new. If fortunate, we have been part of this discourse - created objects - visited exhibitions - read catalogues - listened to lectures - questioned artists and curators - written editors - and argued into the night. If we have missed out, then this anthology provides the opportunity to re-engage. For the twenty-two essays are drawn from a wide variety of sources - journals, limited-distribution publications, catalogues, and lectures and provide an important record as to what has transpired in the field of craft in Canada since the mid-nineties. We see that our concerns are myriad - and our perceptions skewed. Familiar questions are addressed from a variety of viewpoints - artists, critics, theorists, historians - and opinions vary. There is no consensus - the discourse itself has becomes a craft. In 'Jeannie Mah: 2 or 3 Things I Know about Her' Amy Gogarty, a potter, educator and all-round crafts-person, addresses the viewer's responsibility and explains how she 'reads' Mah's installation ouvrez les guillements in which cinema, ceramics and theory confront, even confound, the viewer. Gogarty attempts to 'see this exhibition through Jennie's eyes, to adopt her strategy as a traveller… to make sense of the work from a vantage other than my own.' The essay is rich in historical and contemporary references. Her prose is carefully honed and her arguments tightly crafted.

This essay requires commitment on the part of the reader - much like an exhibition on the part of the viewer. Other essays are lighter - many are shorter. Some are humorous, some argumentative - all are insightful. The book proves to be an entertaining and educational read and, like its predecessor Craft: Perception and Practice I (2002), it will become a classic. It is affordable, illustrated with full page colour plates, has an index of names, and a short introduction by the editor Paula Gustafason. Gustafason begins with difficulties in deciding what should be included in 'a cross section of contemporary thought' and alludes to one 'conversation.” In a few deft sentences she shows how Paul Mathieu's essay 'Towards a Unified Theory of Crafts' is a response to Peter Dormer's assertion that 'craft and theory is like oil and water.' Hers is a difficult task as she is attempting to give voice to participants in a very noisy conversation - and she does that well! Nonetheless, we are left wanting more; for there is little attempt to contextualize the overheard conversations at this salon. Somewhat ingenuously Gustafason states that she has organized the essays 'into loosely defined sections. [and] Readers are free to ignore the thematic groupings and make their own connections.' The onus is upon us! Perhaps this is valid given that we are meant to be participants (and it certainly made my students work harder); however, given Gustafason's position within the community as a craft activist and as the longstanding editor of the late, and much lamented, journal Artichoke: Writings About the Visual Arts we know that she was privy to the vagaries of the conversation - and I, for one, would enjoy hearing her insights.

Jennifer E. Salahub teaches art, textile, and craft history at the Alberta College of Art and Design Craft Perception and Practice Volume II: a Canadian discourse
EDITED BY PAULA GUSTAFASON
Vancouver: Ronsdale Press, 2005
Paper, 210 pages $26.95 (USA $21.95)