Redefining Craft is a Substack newsletter that explores the hybrid intersections of art, craft, and design, diving into their unique philosophies and ways of knowing while examining how the act of creation reflects human values.
The History:
Redefining Craft originated in 2004 as an early WordPress blog, while Dennis Stevens served as the ceramics and glass technician within the School of Art and Design at San Jose State University.
More About Redefining Craft:
Redefining Craft is an online platform showcasing how individuals in American studio craft communities of practice embody values through their projects. The content highlights intersections of art, craft, design, technology, and critical thinking.
The platform provides a space for exchange and learning, where individuals with diverse aesthetics evaluate the core values of craft communities of practice. Redefining Craft presents 21st-century knowledge on art and design creation, utilizing current tools and materials, and contextualizing history to document the latest developments in the craft domain.
Digging Deeper:
While traditional, historically-based definitions of art, craft, and design stem from an art-historical view, contemporary artists and designers are leveraging new materials, techniques, and technologies to create art previously unimaginable.
The emergence of new creation methods prompts a reassessment of how we evaluate and perceive art, craft, and design. The blending of these categories challenges the notion of distinct categorization for creative outputs.
At times, traditional definitions and practices in the field require updating. For instance, criticisms of the art and design canons often cite a lack of diversity in class, race, and gender representation. This underscores the need for a more conscious perspective and an updated vocabulary to address these issues.
Redefining Craft serves as a content channel and online community examining aesthetics at the intersections of art, craft, design, and technology, aiming to address 21st-century questions.
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