Page 93 - Constructing Craft

Finally, perhaps indicating his awareness of the thinking that Bourdieu would later

articulate in greater detail, Davis identified the barriers to self-expression.
The creative process so defined calls for a personal subjective
act of choice. We are however so overladen with pre-conceived
ideas, habits, conventions, concepts of what is fashionable or
“in good taste”, or with just plain humbug, that to make a
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genuine personal choice is an extremely difficult thing to do.

Davis’ distinction between art and craft lay firmly within the mind of the individual,

but was not defined by Robin Collingwood’s criteria. In fact, any craftsperson,

whether producing one item or many, could still define themselves as an artist –
although one suspects Davis would not have entirely approved of the label.

After a short time in New Zealand the Davises became interested in setting up a

pottery in Peru to train locals in a practical example of third world aid. To raise the

necessary funds Davis gave lectures around the world – often adopting a polemical
style to expound his ideas on the relationship between art and craft. One of the

lectures, 'An Historical Review of Art, Commerce and Craftsmanship' was repeated
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in a number of countries. Davis by now had become more assertive in his opinion
and was beginning to link the distinction between art and craft with social status and
functionality rather than solely creativity. He suggested ‘that pottery [had] “made the

grade”’, whereas other crafts had not. ‘ … [P]otters have managed to insinuate
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themselves into the world of Fine Art.’ He argued that ‘These arbitrary divisions
[were] a post-Renaissance phenomenon’ and then outlined the history of how this

had happened.

Art has somersaulted … now signs of skill are sufficient
grounds for derogatory comment, and nowhere more so than in
the world of craft revivalism. If the craft in question happens to
involve a function it is difficult to dispense with skill altogether,
but the status value of being associated with Art, rather than
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Craft, is so great that function is often gladly dispensed with.

Davis was suggesting that the craftspeople of the post-war craft movement were

increasingly abandoning the skills required to produce functional work in their

pursuit of art.

Constructing Craft