sometimes it just takes a bit of fresh air…
A recent online search for craft theory brought back over 700 hits.
As I find myself somewhat in the midst of -gasp!- craft burnout, I find that without fail, thinking about craft from a theoretical context continues to engage me.
Recently I have noticed similar ripples online of negativity, frustration and overload regarding crafts. For the first time in several years, I have begun to see tremors indicating a possible ‘craft backlash,’ small jolts that are getting closer and closer in proximity. And I wonder if that is because the internet has a way of enlightening us while simultaneously overwhelming us.
I also wonder if it’s because we all get so wrapped up in what’s occurring in craft now that we fail to see that what’s bolstering this craft resurgence is the convergence of the past with the present.
If you, too, are currently a bit miffed and fatigued about the state of craft, please check out the following projects. And remember, cozies don’t have to be ironic to be cool.
American Craft Council
Craft Australia
Crafts Council of England
Maakin Lab
On the Edge Research
Wikipedia definition of craft
Sometimes, when you can’t get your head around a project you’ve been trying to tackle or just want some new inspiration, it’s nice to visit broader craft spectrums in order to better see the legacy that has been left to us.
Explore posts in the same categories: creativity+community, resources+business
May 10th, 2006 at 7:11 am
Great thoughts! I haven’t really been thinking about a craft backlash lately, but I do sometimes go through a period where I feel like everything I see is just being rehashed and restated, nothing really original, and that’s when I begin to worry about it. But then something fabulous and creative and made with real skill comes along and blows me away all over again and I think things will be okay.
thanks for the links and the ideas!
May 10th, 2006 at 3:34 pm
you never fail to make me THINK
May 10th, 2006 at 3:50 pm
Would you be able to give some links to anywhere you have read about a “craft backlash” as it would be really useful to have this information
May 10th, 2006 at 10:00 pm
Great post. I’ve been thinking a lot lately that if the past few years are to make a permanent mark (and not just be a knitting/crocheting/crafting fad laughed at years from now), the industry has to step up and become further reaching. Having it based around the blogworld is great for so many reasons, but it might make it somewhat temporary.
May 10th, 2006 at 10:22 pm
there is the possiblity that this resurgence could just be chalked down to some weird fad/phase (in the ‘remember when people made macrame* stuff in the 70s?) in the future.
in order to make it stick, i think we need to include craft in the sustainable/ethical/political/etc, etc, landscape, because not only does it speak to current times, but future ones as well.
i know i forget to check larger craft sites (as the ones i posted above) and just read certain blogs, and get trapped in the bubble. sometimes i need a little push to remind myself it’s just that, a bubble. there are loads of people out there that have no idea that crafts have become popular again.
*no offense to macrame enthusiasts! i just remember a rash of macrame owl wall hanging things from the late 70s. and still see them all the time in my local thrift… same could be said with pot-holder loom things, one of which i’ll be stealing from my from parents house this weekend to resurrect!
May 10th, 2006 at 11:20 pm
Call me self-centered, but I firmly believe that ignoring “what’s happening in craft NOW” — just doing whatever craft brings me and my loved ones joy — is terrifically liberating.
Of course, this doesn’t mean crafting in a vacuum. I check out blogs, books, and craftster for inspiration and technical help. I just find the statement that there may be an upcoming “craft backlash” utterly bewildering. If people are doing things for their own good reasons, not somebody else’s, that will stabilize a field. Perhaps that stabilization process is what you’re calling a “backlash”?
Irony bedamned.
May 11th, 2006 at 2:01 am
perhaps “stabilization” is a better word for what i’m seeing on some accounts.
but lately, there seems to be a true backlash regarding certain aspects of craft (ie, cozies and skull and crossbones on things- not that i don’t adore those things, but..) from within parts of the community. as well as heard echoes of craft fatigue and overload- which is part and parcel caused by the very technology, the internet, that allows us to connect and to learn/see so many different things.
May 11th, 2006 at 5:41 am
I think it is mostly that the great big world has gotten a great deal smaller. I understand the overload (I sometimes go on “news diets” when I’m overwhelmed by the amount of info out there), but I’ve been making things since well before the internet entered my life and would continue to do so with or without the crafty net.
Seeing the small slice of people’s crafty lives can, I think, foment fatigue. Blogs are strange creatures, tiny slices of people’s lives and mostly the beautiful and productive parts. Because we are knee deep in our own lives with all the mess and setbacks inherent to them it can be hard to remember what we are seeing with others is really the same…just a tiny and well chosen reflection of the whole.
May 11th, 2006 at 8:14 pm
violetsrose, in regards to posts about this craft backlash, it’s something that i have seen creeping in everywhere- from snide side comments on blogs to messages about technique or passing trends on messageboards.
just like 4 years ago when an online crafty presence starting to perk up, there is a dividing line between hobbyists and non-hobbyists growing- which is leading to some dissatisfaction.
jeanne, blogs are indeed weird creatures. who knows if they themselves will be nothing but a trend in several years? beautiful response, by the way!
May 11th, 2006 at 11:20 pm
So is the phenomenon you’re referring to, the increase in skull/crossbones/snark/irony as a motif incorporated across different craft media? (I don’t mean blogs/magazines/books media so much as yarn/tempera/papier-mache media… Though the question applies to both.)
Or is it the “SO SICK of skull/crossbones/snark/irony” response to the increase? God knows I’ve been snide from time to time.
I see the snarkfest as a personalization of traditional craft — and perhaps it’s a bit trendy to do pottymouth cross-stitch at the moment — but the shift I’ve been sensing is actually *away* from the snark and the copycat trends. Seems that people are making things to make themselves happy. Then again, I don’t read nearly as many blogs/sites as you all do. :)
I’ve never seen snarky comments from non-hobbyists (I assume you mean those who sell what they make?)… I see a lot more mutual support between hobbyists and pros. After all, the hobbyists make good customers — we can appreciate the hours of painstaking work that go into something.
May 12th, 2006 at 8:22 pm
Seeings as you’re talking a bit about the blog world, i’m wondering if there’s a maximum time one can blog before getting jadded. I’m grumpy I’ve come to craft blogging a bit late, a lot of blogs I like are slowing down, but possibly it’s a sort of renewal or change /refresh /revive…
What bothers me is craft shops here (Sydney) seem unaware of the blog bubble, and so are almost actively negative, reducing stocks, stating everything is unobtainable and young(ish!!!) people are uninterested, they might well close….