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The University of North Carolina Press
336 pp., 7 x 10, 50 illus., index
The Artist's Viewpoint
Choosing Craft explores the history and practice of American craft through the words of influential artists whose lives, work, and ideas have shaped the field. Editors Vicki Halper and Diane Douglas construct an anecdotal narrative that examines the post-World War II development of modern craft, which came of age alongside modernist painting and sculpture and was greatly influenced by them as well as by traditional and industrial practices.
The anthology is organized according to four activities that ground a professional life in craft--inspiration, training, economics, and philosophy. Halper and Douglas mined a wide variety of sources for their material, including artists' published writings, letters, journal entries, exhibition statements, lecture notes, and oral histories. The detailed record they amassed reveals craft's dynamic relationships with painting, sculpture, design, industry, folk and ethnic traditions, hobby craft, and political and social movements. Collectively, these reflections form a social history of craft.
Choosing Craft ultimately offers artists' writings and recollections as vital and vivid data that deserve widespread study as a primary resource for those interested in the American art form.
"An important contribution to the cultural history of American craft. . . . Offers readers . . . substantial pleasures and revelations."
--Ceramics Monthly
"A multifaceted record of the American craft movement from 1945 to the present day. . . . In addition to being a good read, the book is an important historical record. . . . The only thing I want from this intelligent collection is to have even more of it."
--Crafts
"Explores a wealth of media. The book's most distinguishing feature is its emphasis on the commonalities and hardships faced by artists; from pursuing an art education to the challenges of business and marketing. . . . This insightful work offers inspiration for aspiring artists."
--WNC
"Amusing, controversial, enlightening, and witty, Choosing Craft engaged me so deeply I felt I was having direct conversations with the craftspeople themselves. I applaud the editors' passion for the topic and their thoughtful handling of an array of primary materials. This will become an essential volume in the emerging field of craft history."
--Sandra Alfoldy, author of Crafting Identity: The Development of Professional Fine Craft in Canada
"These artists' perceptions of themselves and of the craft field as garnered from personal experience make Choosing Craft a valuable book for anyone serious about craft, from art lovers and collectors to students to people interested in design and history."
--Howard Risatti, author of A Theory of Craft: Function and Aesthetic Expression
"Craft assumes many roles in modern life, but the most important has always been the hardest to grasp: the part that craft plays in the lives of its practitioners. This beautifully researched compendium affords a wealth of insights into those personal narratives. Some texts here are well-known classics; others are exciting new discoveries, taken from archives or interviews. Some radiate political conviction, others quiet humility. All are worth reading. This is an essential book for those who want to understand the American craft movement."
--Glenn Adamson, Victoria and Albert Museum, author of Thinking Through Craft
Cloth: $35.00
© 2009 The University of North Carolina Press
116 South Boundary Street, Chapel Hill, NC 27514-3808
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