The Distinction Between Art & Craft

The primary distinction between art and craft is who makes the assignment.

An artist is someone who utilizes a craft to make an artifact that expresses a world view. An artist actually has taken the time to have a world view. This world view needs to be of more than passing interest, otherwise it is just another sitcom.

Secondly, an artist must have a compulsion to communicate their world view, a commitment to it, a passion to get it off the chest Otherwise, what could explain the massive punishment artists absorb and they keep right on producing.

Third, every artist and every craftsperson needs to be good at their craft. But a craftsperson is making an artifact at someone else's behest, usually for pay. Commercial advertising work for example (also propaganda, religious kitsch, etc).

Some craftspeople are better at the craft than some artists, but that does make their work art. Commercial photographers, advertisement jingle writers, sitcom writers, etc come to mind. All of them are very able craftspersons. A craftsperson can be highly skilled, rich, famous and in a museum and it still does make him/her an artist. This includes famous artists who are stars and who produce artifacts simply because they can make a lot of money. This is not art either.

So, learning, teachers, or validation by critics, dealers, and museum do notdefine art. They define artistic commodities which are a very different thing and arevery often confused with art. It ain't. This has more to do with making huge amounts of money based on a commercial star system. This in turn does more to suppress art than promote it. It certainly starves a thousand artists to death for artistic star defined by art dealers, gurus and museums.

Lately, there is more confusion than usual due to a goodhearted attempt to include crafts into the definition of art. A kind of be nice to crafts week. Many crafts do not communicate much of anything about any significant world view at all. They are crafts, pure and simple.They are simply crafts; basket weaving and shooting pool for example. They may be highly skilled, but they are not particularly art.

When craft is equated with art, it does not elevate the status of craft; it devalues art and what is worse, it creates a social institution for denying the distinction and for permitting the lazy minded to disregard the rewards that can only be obtained by doing the hard work It is hard due to the fact that art is difficult, sometime uncomfortable, tends to expand horizons, and not always welcome. It may even require thinking.

There are those who are willing to jettison language, communication and reason all for some simple minded theories about left brains or some other bit on nonsense. Art is by no means limited to language, communication and reason and often attempts to transcend them. But art needs language, communication and reason just as it needs skilled craftwork in order to do be effective at it primary function; the communication from one mind to another. if the only message is that language, communication and reason are of no use, then it is to simple minded to be art in the first place.

There are many deep and complex reasons why craft is not art; reasonsimportant to the culture at large. But artists do not need to be overly worried about it; mostly because artists are already passionately committed do doing their own work; not someone else's and not just to show off skill, and very often in spite of guaranteed poverty and ignominy.

So, do your work and you can always look into the mirror without flinching. Do the work that you feel compelled to do and maybe someday a museum curator will take you to lunch.

Michael Andrews

04/22/2004