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Title of Abstract:

The Metaphysics of Craft: Why Creativity is the New Religion (Ref #209)

Date:
26-10-2006 14:10:52
Status:
Unsuccessful
Rating:
4
Details:
The Metaphysics of Craft: Why Creativity is the New Religion.

Suggested theme: Mindful Practice.

In order to bring about an epistemology of craft that provides us with a useful navigational map for exploring and discussing the products of creative practice, and for future craft practice to make meaningful contributions to the global crisis we might face, I propose that we need to address a metaphysical question: that of unity between the maker and the made.

What I will illustrate in this paper is a metaphysical genealogy of ?craft?. By tracing the history of craft through distinctly different phases of socio-economic structures (gift exchange, barter and different modes of capitalism) the paper will demonstrate that in the crafted object we find an integral unity between diverse ?forms of capital? (Bourdieu, 1983): the economic, social and the cultural.

Taking this one step further, I will suggest that in the crafted object we are also able to contemplate a metaphysical relationship between form and form giver. Craft practice maintains a transparency of production, akin to that of pre-industrial settings, and so sidesteps the ?alienation? and ?fetishism? of the serial commodity (Marx, 1867).

What is unique to craft practice is the co-relationship between the material and the maker. The nature of this relationship is one of embodiment. And it is this embodiment that not just bridges, but - I propose, more radically - unifies, the inner world of the maker with the outer world of the material s/he acts upon. By questioning the very existence of these binary oppositions the paper will discuss this metaphysical connection between person and work - idea and material - nature and culture.

The mastery of skills paradoxically takes us to a place of submission. Submission to creative practice takes us to a place of natural embodiment, not unlike a state of light trance, meditation, transcendence or oceanic sensation. Freud (1930) defined this as ?a feeling of an indissoluble bond?. Current research, using EEG scanning, confirms the relationship between creative practice and these altered states of consciousness (e.g. Greenfield, 1997).

Understood in this way the practice of craft skills and techniques, is conducive to a sustainable future for it is like opening a doorway that allows us access to a landscape of truly mindful practice.
(376 words)


References

Bourdieu, P. 1983 The Forms of Capital. Originally published in Soziale Ungleichheiten (Soziale Welt, Sonderheft 2), edited by Reinhard Kreckel. Goettingen: Otto Schartz & Co., English translation by Richard Nice.

Marx, K. 1867 Capital: a critique of political economy London: Lawrence & Wishart, 2003.

Freud, S. 1930 Civilization and its discontents ed Hogarth and the Institute of Psycho-analysis, 1963

Greenfield, S. The Human Brain - A Guided Tour - Wiedenfield and Nicolson, London, 1997.

Reviewer Comments:

Review #1 : Left on 30-10-2006 15:45:45 #
A very interesting area of study and one that will provoke thoughtfulness.

8
Review #2 : Left on 16-11-2006 22:16:38 #
The idea that crafts based practices can contribute to developing more sustainable modes of production and consumption is a valid and potentially exciting area of research. This research would benefit from a definition of what constitutes contemporary craft culture and a critique of the current socio-economic status of craft. The intention of this paper needs to be more focussed - who is it aimed at and how will it persuade people that craft is really relevant to rethinking our current attitudes and behaviours in relation to global warming?

What if the material were virtual. What if people were to find transcendence (if they don't already) in the virtual world - games, virtual spaces, virtual selves, virtual others. Could the material of craft be virtual - maybe reducing the material costs to the planet?
4
Review #3 : Left on 24-11-2006 17:55:18 #
The research question, methodology, value and outcome/s are difficult to decifer from this abstract due to the lack of focus.
The relationship between maker and matrial is discussed linked to a spread of references which fragment rather that reinforce the enquiry. Untimately conveying a feeling of confusion rather an enlightenment regarding the purpose of the research.


4