One more perspective:
From the days of European renaissance period, the guild model had the master artists and craftsmen existed in post humanist period art world. With the emergence of architects, music composers, film direction and other where many actors are involved in the arrival of an artistic outcome, this question of authorship whether the craft of imagining or craft of making/translating remains a big ethical and philosophical question in art and academic world. Post Duchamp readymades, this question assumed much larger relevance and touched its peak when installation arts became the order of art world, especially with the arrival of YBA and other in the new world order of market driven art world where art works were made to order or outsourced. Strangely William Morris and his art and craft movement and its arguments but unfortunately were around us to keep this debate alive
From the days of European renaissance period, the guild model had the master artists and craftsmen existed in post humanist period art world. With the emergence of architects, music composers, film direction and other where many actors are involved in the arrival of an artistic outcome, this question of authorship whether the craft of imagining or craft of making/translating remains a big ethical and philosophical question in art and academic world. Post Duchamp readymades, this question assumed much larger relevance and touched its peak when installation arts became the order of art world, especially with the arrival of YBA and other in the new world order of market driven art world where art works were made to order or outsourced. Strangely William Morris and his art and craft movement and its arguments but unfortunately were around us to keep this debate alive
Considering it is not idea alone but it's translation through some craftsmanship is being exhibited, If one argue idea alone is important then one would turn around and ask, as discussed in the 10 tenets of conceptual art by sol lewitt, if idea alone is important then why does one has to be dependant on the crafts of making/translating becomes necessary for an art exhibition?.
At the same time if one argue that craftsmanship alone is the art then one would wonder then where is the evolutionary aspect of aesthetics- the art in it?. Other than the mechanical reproduction of an artefact, that even a computerised printer will do with better precision and fineness, then where is the role of artistic imagination in it. This is the dilemma, art world perhaps will never be able to resolve. But inspite of these arguments, when one finds people adoring the painting of a soiled shoe, when in real life something they would not even go anywhere near that shoe, one will continue to wonder the role of craft in art. Art of imagination or art of craft or craft of imagination through art of craft or craft of art of imagination through craft of art, the debate will continue.
(Especially at a time when death of author is also envisaged in post modernist theoretical construct and strangely those constructs are also known by its authors name, an art teacher's nightmare )
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