saw your post about the cool geometric knitted shawls and that you mentioned you dont usually like the term fibre arts. can i ask why? for no reason other than i have a curious nature
Well. At the risk of provoking the ire of all my fibre mutuals.
I do understand the intent behind the rebrand, but I think it's missing the point. The solution to fibre crafts being seen as silly and unskilled can't be to insist that "it's not a craft, it's art!"
That just enforces that crafting really is dumb and useless and for women, while art is serious and respectable.
And that's just - not true. Insisting on this hierarchy is doing neither concept justice. Art and craft aren't opposed, they're closely related and often overlap. One is not lesser than the other.
Craft is not a dirty word.
Craftsmanship is skill, knowledge, and experience. Making something well-crafted is not easy, and getting good at a craft requires time and dedication. This is true for art as well, of course. However, what is also true: Art, and the quality of art, is subjective, while craftsmanship is not.
Art doesn't need to be beautiful, or functional, or solidly made. Or involve a great deal of skill. But in order for an item to be well-crafted, it needs to be all of these things.
Anyway. All of this to say: I think crafts don't have to be declared art to be valuable. I think there's very little artistic expression in making something from a pattern, but there is a great deal of craftsmanship involved, and to act like this is somehow an insult is a bit silly.
Knitting (quilting, crochet, embroidery, etc) is a craft. It is complex and difficult and requires hundreds of hours of practice to get good at. Just like any craft.
But that's just how I see it.
