Craft Research - Volume 5, Issue 1, 2014

Prior to European colonization, Aboriginal people from the southeast of Australia made cloaks from the skins of possums, a small furry marsupial. The place-stories of their country were inscribed on the back of the skins identifying their personal connection to clan and tribe. By the late twentieth century, it was thought that both the skills of making them and the knowledge of country they held had been lost. However, since the turn of this century, there has been a revival of this craft practice led by Aboriginal artists. This article will present work in progress of a creative research project with Indigenous people from southeast Australian tribal groups led by the author of this article. Each Aboriginal language group in the southeastern state of Victoria has been asked to contribute one possum skin, etched with images that represent their particular ‘country’, or clan’s lands. The ambition is to stitch them together to create a new state map. The article will consider the complex relationship between knowing and making that is evident in the practice of inscribing stories of country on possum skins and will suggest that it provides a timely critique on western mapping traditions. The article will also reflect on the nature of intercultural craft collaborations between non-Indigenous academics and traditional owners and draw connections with a larger project of decolonizing settler place-making practices.

The Finnish National Board of Education (FNBE) evaluated learning outcomes in craft in the final ninth grade of compulsory education in March 2010. The evaluation included both a questionnaire (n=4792) and a production exercise (n=661) based on technical and textile craft. The production exercise included the designing and manufacturing of a whole product based on pupils’ own ideas. Craft-related leisure time interests were also assessed. Similar evaluations for compulsory education craft have not been carried out in other countries. School craft helps pupils understand the constructed world and to become a part of it. Craft-related leisure time interests, on the other hand, have an effect on the developing identities of pupils and help them learn to control their lives. There is hardly any data available on the effects that craft-related leisure time interests have on school craft learning outcomes. This article is based on research of pupils’ (n=366) craft-related leisure time interests and their effects on learning outcomes in school craft. The main leisure time craft interests were technical maintenance and repairs and textile production. The relation of these interests and learning outcomes was analysed by forming a confirmatory factor model. The factor model represented leisure time interests that were either maintenance and repair related or production related. Results derived from the model and the structural equation model representing the relations to learning outcomes are presented. Technical maintenance and repairs were found to have an effect (r=0.40) on craft learning outcomes. Textile-related leisure time interests were found to not have any effect on learning outcomes. The results lead to considering the gap between school craft contents and the everyday craft skills that pupils need in their lives. Consideration was also given to how pupils could benefit from their leisure time interests at school. The results could also be used not only to assess the goals that pupils and schools set for craft, but also for what should be done in school craft for these goals to be achieved.

Using modern stress measuring equipment, a quantitative study of the conditions for stability and durability of handmade interior wall tiles made from fused recycled bottle glass has been undertaken alongside developing aesthetic features such as colour and texture. The tiles were commissioned by an architectural practice for a new building development based on sustainable principles. The research considered objective design criteria, including bending strength, stability, stain and scratch resistance, as well as aesthetic features such as colouring, translucency, texture and reproducibility. Mechanical analysis showed the fused recycled bottle glass tiles exceeded the performance of commercially available tiles. Quantitative analysis of user perception was also a key aspect of the design process and to assess product acceptability a questionnaire was undertaken with 180 people from various backgrounds. The survey assessed the perceived aesthetic, value and mechanical integrity of two recycled glass tile designs alongside three commercially available competitors. Results showed that the recycled fused tiles compared very favourably against the high-end commercially available tile, whilst portraying unique environmental values that exploit locally sourced waste material.

This article looks at the shifts in cultural promotion of craft as a result of a particular political conjuncture in the region of Flanders (Belgium). In 1991, as a consequence of Belgian federalization, the promotion policies for craft in Flanders passed from being answerable to the Belgian state to being answerable to the regional Flemish government. This political change brought about cultural consequences. Industrial design entered the promotional channels that until then had been preserved for craft, and became a dominant referent that dictated its further evolution. Before this, craft had been a site for diversity of material discourses in which the decorative, the figurative and the minimalistic coexisted. In the late 1990s however, this diversity was lost and craft offered a homogeneous sight, characterized by the minimalistic and non-figurative. This article argues that non-creative aspects turned out to be decisive in this struggle between craft and industrial design. More specifically, the fact that promotional policies of craft and industrial design became answerable to economic institutions from the Belgian federalisation onwards enhanced the importance of industrial design and reduced the relevance of craft. This research utilizes a historical politico-aesthetic perspective to analyse the relationship between political and ideological superstructure, and cultural and artistic practices to explain the changes in the aesthetic and stylistic appearance of craft.

Jack Lenor Larsen Incorporated was founded in 1953 and quickly became one of the world’s leading textile producers, specializing in high-end fabrics for use in interior environments. Larsen was an innovative designer and businessman who made significant contributions to the textile and design industries. Archival research and interviews with Larsen and his former designers, executives, employees and colleagues were conducted to identify the ways in which Larsen advanced the textile industry. Analysis of the data found that Larsen innovated in three areas of the textile industry: technology, globalization and corporate branding. His technology innovations provided the industry with new manufacturing techniques while producing consistently high-quality textiles. Larsen drew inspiration for design and manufacturing from his international work; he globalized the textile world. His business flourished through his ability to innovate in textile design and manufacturing in ways that gave Jack Lenor Larsen Incorporated visibility as one of the first corporate brands.

This ‘portrait’ provides a timely look at the work and thoughts of Rob Armstrong, one of the United Kingdom’s most prolific and well-known acoustic guitar makers. For over 40 years, Rob has been hand crafting exceptional musical instruments from the modest facilities of his garden shed at the end of his Coventry garden. With a reputation as a formidable innovator rather than being satisfied with reproducing standardized instruments, this article seeks to understand Rob’s approach to his trade, the nuances in his making activities, and his unending motivation and curiosity to keep pushing the boundaries of acoustic guitar design and construction. On 23 July 2013, the authors made a special visit to Rob’s premises to witness his latest work and to engage in a revealing conversation about his love of guitars and his passion for crafting outstanding instruments.

Kaunas Biennial: UNITEXT M. Žilinskas Art Gallery of National Museum of M. K. Čiurlionis, and various locations in Kaunas, Lithuania, 13 September–31 December 2013

LINKS: Australian Glass and the Pacific Northwest, Vicki Halper (ed.) (2013) Tacoma, WA, USA: Museum of Glass and Seattle and London: University of Washington Press, 180pp., ISBN: 978-0-295-99265-5, h/bk, £42.00

The 5th International Congress of International Association of Societies of Design Research (IASDR 2013) Shibaura Institute of Technology, Tokyo, Japan, 26–30 August 2013

Exhibitions