In
“Art Versus Craft: The Issue of Craftsmanship in Twentieth Century Art”, Nancy
Selvage recognizes the issues and ideas which revolve around the controversy of
art versus craft. Selvage notes the large range of aesthetic choices within
pottery, offered to it by the rest of the art world, and how different artists
and critics have chosen to deal with this. Selvage, a potter herself, describes
how different happenings within the art world and outside of it shape attitudes
of individuals, which shape those of larger groups, and aesthetics in general.
A
studio potters, she notes, deals not solely with ideas of function, but also
the aesthetic and practical impulses, which can relate to the sensibilities
shared within all mediums, and how individuals have chosen to respond. Selvage
uses Peter Voulkos as an example of an artist who chose to respond to “abstract
expressionism within the context of pottery”, and how his work had “the
peculiar impact of disrupting a recognized craft tradition by challenging its
functional as well as formal values.”. Nearing the end of her essay, Selvage
points out that the options provided to artists in this time are far more
varied and complex than at any point in history.
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