Crafts in America
The main idea that origins is about in the Craft in America origins video is the history of craft itself. Specifically, such a history applies to the United States and the various crafts that are more or less indigenous to this particular country. Thus, the idea of origins focuses on the beginnings of certain crafts -- how they began, how they continued, how they evolved, and how they are still manifest today.
One of the common motifs that is found throughout the vast majority of the works of art and the artists that produced them that are featured in this particular video is the importance of tradition. Virtually all of the artists who are laboring in this video are working on and extending some particular tradition; even if they are striving to veer away from that tradition they are still acknowledging that such a tradition exists. Tradition, then, is one of the primary ideas that the idea of origins is about in this video. For instance, in one particular section of this video, there is a Native American artist who indicates that the type of craft she performs was initially began by those who were the original inhabitants of this country. Her acknowledgement of this fact helps to provide a particular context for her artwork which is important to both the viewer and the artist. For the viewer such an acknowledgement is an opportunity to learn about the history of the particular art that this woman is engaged in. For the artist, acknowledging the tradition in which she is partaking in is a way to help spread information about her culture and some of the more tangible markers of its presence. In this respect, the idea of origins is actually a way for artists to celebrate their heritage and to represent the tradition that is an integral part of it. One can argue that tradition is the foundation upon which the sort of skilled artistry of many of these artists is based.
Another very important component of the idea of origins as expressed...
Culture, of course, encompasses much more than mere art. However, art is certainly a powerful part of culture in general and of the various cultures of that are existent in America. In this respect, culture is a part of the origins of some of the art viewed in this video because it helped to either produce or heavily influence the various works of art demonstrated within it. One of the best examples of this fact is the artist who is involved in ceramic work in this video, and who concedes that what he is doing is actually commensurate with various forms of music such as jazz, the blues, and bluegrass, even. These forms of music playa very important role in a culture that is distinguishably American -- no other country, continent, or people can claim to have produced the blues. For this particular artist to admit that working ceramics is actually a part of that tradition that is related to this music means that it shares some sort of cultural normative values with the music. Anyone who has watched this video, or who is perhaps familiar with jazz or even ceramics, can see that the cultural connection between these two forms of artistry -- music and visual arts -- is in the spontaneous, improvisational feel that is so important to the works created in each vein. The culture of jazz and the blues is responsible for the form of art that ceramics has become, which exemplifies the fact that culture plays an indelible role in the origination of artistry in general.
Finally, the idea of origins is about the various techniques that each artist utilizes to produce his or her craft. This video focuses on the individual techniques that the artists use, but it is also more about the nature of technique in general. Virtually all of the artists that are featured in this video implement techniques that have a history to them. In detailing the origins of their crafts, the inevitably discuss some of the different facets of the…
