Authors
Amber Buck, Megan Condis, Kristin Prins, Marilee Brooks-Gillies, Martha Webber
Publication date
2015
Journal
Harlot: A Revealing Look at the Arts of Persuasion
Volume
14
Description
Cocktails. Pickles. Crochet. 3D printing. Letterpress. Pinterest. Etsy. From Williamsburg to Austin, the word “craft” gets attached to all kinds of things. This trend only appears to be growing, as craft is closely connected to the DIY (do-it-yourself) movement, a wideranging, ever-expanding, and sometimes controversial field of work and play. At its most basic level, craft means creating something by hand, in small batches, by a skilled artisan. But craft—as noun, verb, or adjective—seems to mean something different to everyone. For some,“craft” brings to mind knitting, crocheting, and gluing googly eyes onto walnuts; for others,“craft” translates as woodworking, weaving, and creating art out of everyday objects. It’s just as easily dismissed (messing around with Aleene’s Original Tacky Glue and ridiculous amounts of glitter) as it is admired (exercising finelyhoned skills to produce heirloom-quality ceramics).
These practices are also attached to online and offline craft communities and craft engagement in the public sphere—from Betsy Greer’s craftivism (craft+ activism) to the JafaGirls and other art activist yarn bombers to Debbie Stoller’s Stitch ‘n Bitch (and the knitting circles that took the book’s name) to Faythe Levine’s Handmade Nation book and documentary to digital craft communities like Ravelry. Crafters use computers, smartphones, the Internet, and other digital technologies to collaborate and to distributed their work. For example, the Craftivist Collective worked with artist Lise Bjørne Linnert to collect from over 4,500 crafters around the world more than 6,200
Total citations
Scholar articles
A Buck, M Condis, K Prins, M Brooks-Gillies, M Webber - Harlot: A Revealing Look at the Arts of Persuasion, 2015