At this point in the early semester, I have yet to decide on what my focus should be for this semester-long project. On my information card I listed pottery and some types of food as some of the crafts that I have a little bit of experience in. However, I am not sure if I would want to pursue working on either of these skills at this time. This project gives me the chance to learn a completely new type of artform/skillset that I would not necessarily have the opportunity to learn otherwise. Because of this, I am currently contemplating what exactly will be the emphasis of my project.
Despite not presently knowing what type of craft I want my project to focus on, after reading Handmade Nation: The Rise of DIY, Art, Craft, and Design, I feel more inspired to start narrowing down my options and begin writing about my progress. The featured artists exhibited an incredible variety in the crafts they made. But even more interesting, the reasoning behind why these individuals craft such items are even more varied. Some of the artists' rationales include: starting a website for fun, wanted to see things that haven't been seen before, motivated by a constant itch to evolve art, having the urge to re-make things into something cool, and taking things that were discarded and transforming them into functional items.
Additionally, I was even more impressed by the political messages that were embedded into the crafts of several artists. In particular, I especially enjoyed Knitta's stance against industrialization and Stephanie Syiuco's sense of activism which her work displays against consumerism, materialism, and capitalism. Again, while I don't presently know what my project will entail, I would very much like to display this same sense of activism in my to-be-determined craft, thus reflecting my stance on a certain issue that is of importance to me.
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