“Differences between Art and Craft”

“Differences between Art and Craft”

            Traditionally, art has an established imaginative, creative and depicts technical skills. On the same note, art is used to mean several things, such as experience creative capabilities, and products with artistic skills. Besides, craft, according to Markowitz (pp.55), is a set of institution that serves as functional and decorative. The tradition of craft comes from a group of people who take part in good small-scale production that was aimed at performing specific function (Kikuchi pp. 89). Besides, crafting requires a high level of education to master specific techniques that traditionally were passed from one generation to another. Also, artisans required in-deep material study and combination of internship under a person who has been in the sector for long. Despite the many similarities that art and craft may have, they also have many differences. The study will establish the main differences between the two from a historical perspective.

In ancient times, art was being restricted to painting, sculpting, photography, which are visuals. With the development and advancement in technology in the 17^th century, art has been expanded to comprise activities such as cooking, sewing, graffiti, designing and dancing (Langland pp. 32). The definition of the term art has been continuously changing to adapt to the new forms of art arising in society. Many people are confusing creative visual arts such as literature, performing art, decorative arts and decorative arts with craft. Also, architecture has been widely thought of as a craft while in real sense, it is one of the visual arts that serves a purpose and is useful. The modern society has hailed the art regarded as a primitive idea. While the craft was a way of life, art was only practised by a small group of people. Craft is widely accepted because of producing objects that people used in their homes.

Ever since the era of Renaissance art is upgraded to the state of sculptors and painters. The period also establishes that art and craft are two distinct terms. According to Kikuchi (pp. 90), art is more significant than craft as the craftsman can predict the creation he or she is planning to make. Contrary, an artist cannot predict the creation. For instance, a ceramicist is not able to predict how a glace will impact on a piece of clay sculpture being made.

A study by Langland (pp. 36) craft involves the use of experience and skills that a person gains when in contact with various objects in the environment. Craftsmanship produces tangible products with shapes and volumes that are handmade using carbon-based products, metals, plastics, glasses and earth soils. The objects made from craftsmanship are always attached to human utility. The purpose for crafting is for decorative, functional or both purposes depending on human needs and the cultural aspects of the craftsman. Craft involves regular practice to familiarize with the object formations. Various creative works of crafting includes activities such as weaving, pottery, moulding, embroidery and jewellery.

Additionally, the two terms are differentiated on bases of function; about 30-40 years ago, art was termed as nonfunctional while craft has capacity. Throughout the definition of the two terms according to the America Crafts, craft introduced creativity while the art simultaneously starts the application items that increase creativity. Besides, craft, according to Shiner (pp. 233), is the manipulation of material physically, which are not mutually exclusive, whereas art involves the communication of emotion and idea.

Art and craft are terms that are almost used synonymously by the people. Though art and craft tend to be similar in that both are forms of creativity, the two words have difference depending on evaluative meanings on cultures‘ elitist’s value. A positive evaluative intension characterizes art, whereas craft lacks. Art is a creative merit that originates from mind while craft is skilled work that people learn from observation and experience through practice. Art is unstructured and boundless original work that is mostly influenced by the human desire and passion for expressing emotions, feelings and visions. Arts are usually drawn on surfaces to put the thinking in a way that others can understand the graphics.  Crafts are imaginations that are put into tangible objects that are created using human hands and brains.

According to Markowitz (pp. 55), art can convey different messages to different people and mixed messages in various decades or centuries while craft has quality but with a lesser degree. Many arts are produced from people’s imagination and are open to interpretation from the viewer’s opinions. Therefore, the art can be used in different areas to send a message. Crafts are limited to only a particular region or culture that produces and uses such objects in their daily lives. Also, the inability to duplicate an art offers an art potential for surviving for more extended time compared to crafts. Craft tends to have a lesser potential for longevity because mass production of crafts objects by the craftsmen can lead to transient, loss of value, extinction as well as becoming outdated.

While craft is quantified, art is more difficult to measure. With craft been quantified, it is easy to make duplicates, which is not possible for art. For example, a creation for pot can be duplicated to form many others that are similar, unlike for an art like drawing no other one can copy. Besides, art is seen to move the emotions of level while crafts attract people’s eyes.  Notably, jewellery or pottery attacks the eyes while a piece of drawing creates feelings among the people. Unlike art, craft come out of mind and calls for consistent practices to produce a world-class item. Art is said to originate from the soul and heart.

The artwork depends on a person capability to apply the thoughts and to put them together to produce an appealing visual form that has both the emotional and aesthetic value. The quality of artwork depends on person motivation thoughts about naturally occurring things or structures that do not exist physically. Art takes various forms such as drawings, paintings, photography, architecture and sculptures.  According to Nolasco (pp. 95), arts are defined by unique and colourful visible forms to attract the person and form thought without being explained by the artist. A given piece of art produced by the artist to convey a certain meaning that triggers the viewer’s feelings .an artwork portray diverse expressions and emotions depending on audience interpretation.

Images of Art

A wild Scene

The art was designed in 1831-32 by Thomas Cole. The well-drawn art exemplifies the work done at Hudson River School. In the art, the artist introduces the precipitous and vista of rocky outcrops that leads to a waterfall. Additionally, the artwork gives the imagery of the craggy ancient tree with its limbs curving towards the sky. The artwork presents the Native American figures and what they went through.

The Steerage

“The Steerage” is art made in 1907 by Alfred Stieglitz. The photograph is famous in both documentation of the immigration to America the cultural change to the modern state. The image is well organized to show the staircase that is horizontally inclining to the upper deck to depict the cultural difference. The top floor has a reservation for a particular class of people, mostly the men in hats looking down the steerage where children and women left. “The Steerage” highlights the difference in gender and class with the main interest been formal equality.

Cliff Dweller

The art “Cliff Dwellers” was done in 1913 by George Bellows to reveal the slum life. The artwork was exemplified in Ashcan School to depict the gritty vitality of the dwellers of the slum. A crowd of people are on the streets, which is neighbouring tenement buildings. The image also gives a view of children and women seated on the steps, working men, a mother admonished her kid, and a vendor on the background. A horizontal touch and sky runs through the network of cloth lines and rows of building.  Due to the hot sun, the slum dwellers are seen gathering near the apartment. On the upper side, the apartment dwellers seem to be in private conversation on how to eliminate the slum dwellers. The work is a reflection of immigration and the overpopulation associated with slums.

Conclusion

Art and craft are terms that share a similar form: both are human-oriented creativities. A clear distinction between the two creativities is that when art is something that expresses emotions and imaginations, the craft is creativity that occurs through learning skills through practice to get experience. Craft only attract people, whereas art appeals to the viewer’s mind and make connection emotionally.