Page 238 - Constructing Craft
P. 238
The difficulties that Clark and Carpay encountered exposed the challenge a
commercial enterprise faced when attempting to introduce new ideas. Clark made
decisions based largely on future commercial success, although by employing
Carpay he showed he was prepared to take risks based on aesthetic as well as
commercial factors. Carpay, who appears to have quietly accepted the commercial
failure of the venture, ‘was determined to wage a “war against the rosebuds” in his
new country’ and refused to compromise his standards no matter how unpopular his
9
designs were.
Sir Tom Clark (1917 – 2005). Businessman and patron
of modern design? Photo: The Auckland War Memorial
Museum.
Searching for Ideas?
Despite the unsuccessful venture into ‘art’ Clark, aware that retailers were
constantly demanding new designs, searched for another way to produce new
products. In 1959 Crown Lynn, in conjunction with the Auckland Society of Arts,
sponsored the first Crown Lynn design competition. Entrants were required to paint
their designs on a prepared template which Douglas Lloyd-Jenkins described as
Constructing Craft
