Apparently there's a film coming out in March 2008, called Handmade Nation, about the 'new resurgence in DIY crafts.'
I'm trying to pinpoint the partial* problem I have with this. It's the same reason I don't participate in the 'mainstream' youthful craft movement, such that it is. It's aesthetic disappointment, is what it is.
I do craft(s) because I want my life to be more beautiful, and I find I have more control if I do it myself. I don't find knitted skulls to be beautiful.
Many of the trendy softies and cozies and accessories (is 'ies' a signifier?) don't have long-term appeal to me. Maybe because the 'shock' aesthetic illustrated by knitted skulls, latchhooked pinups, doesn't shock me? Am I too old, at 31?
Not to mention that the shock' aesthetic has become so mainstream as to be part of the larger consumer culture - I reject consumerism. A true example of Adolf Loos' maxim 'Ornament is crime'. I want my craft to beautify my life for me- not try to convince others that I'm trendy. I appreciate that they're surfing a consumerism that funds their work through the trends, but again, I reject that consumerism, and I want my hard work to result in durable, beautiful, useful objects that I will still want in twenty years.
Not stuffed toast.
I worry a little too, about the young women who do this - it just seems so juvenile, and like empty calories, looking for ego strokes from other people saying 'how cute' or 'how cool'. Other people tell me how wonderfully my garden is coming along - but how it lives up to MY internal expectations, that's what feels good.
*The rest of the story - I think it's GREAT that so many young people are going back and learning these skills, even if I don't think many of them have taste or a clear sense of purpose. Some do - like that printmaker who shows the calendars, those are well done. I will be patient and wait for these new crafters to grow up to be artisans. A key part of the difference for me: "Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful." ~William Morris 'Cool' or trendy doesn't cut it, because fashion is fickle.
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