5. The Craft of Creativity
Claire Barber, Senior Lecturer in Textiles, talks of the breadth of her career as a site-specific artist. Her practice has traversed the globe via her residencies in several continents. The research consists of living in the space, absorbing the sounds and feelings surrounding her, observations in the varying times of day, in order to make an artistic response. A solitary and sensorial form of inquiry that is also combined with the learn-ed academic research into the local, social, political, and economic history of the place she inhabits. Rather than simply following whims of the latest random ruminations, this process shows dedication and commitment giving a richness, depth, and integrity in Contemporary Art Practice.
Claires’ focus on craft as an expanded field, is demonstrated in the project One to twenty, The Glovemaking Factory by making an artistic response to the once elite manufacture of fine ladies’ leather gloves to the post-industrial shift of survival of re-purposing niche skill to make gloves for firefighters – grasping the unique selling point of a firefighters need for dexterous manipulation.
Not only does the work Claire produce a social engagement with an otherwise overlooked local industry, it also raises the issue of the value of a craft.. From concept to skill, her dedication to in-depth research covers all the bases, demonstrating the value of the craft of creativity.
Is the notion of craft being lost to the digital pace of design and manufacturing?
The pressures of needing to meet targets, deadlines and be submissive to the markets of the masses of industry, is perhaps diluting the origins of our love of fashion. The fashioning of cloth around the body by hand, understanding the principles of cut and construction to the nuances of shape, calculated to the millimetre, does not come from the Fordist production line of the unrecognised skills on the repetitious factory floor. Not only does the facilitation of this craft understand shape and structure but also how the cloth and body move in synchronization to conceptualize the feel of the piece being sculpted on the skin of the 3d gallery of the human form. This understanding comes from longevity and breadth of experience and often a purity of inherent knowing. In this there is great value.
John Galliano’s craft of creativity is demonstrated in a film that reveals the co-working intricacies at Maison Margiella for the Artisanal Couture Collection Autumn/Winter 2020. The eclecticism of his vision, like Claire’s practice, evolves from living a life as a creative. The designers research into the cultural social phenomena of ‘The Blitz Kids’ of the 1980’s and the visual beauty of sculpted wet shrouds of religious statues, dispels the prior reputation of Maison Margiells’s extremes of jarring conceptual un-aesthetics. Galliano defines the convergence between the fine and applied arts to collaborate with artists and filmmakers to print, photograph and film the pieces – creating works of art in the trans-configuration of mesmerizing talents evidenced in this film.
Describing the purpose of couture collections as ‘to show what we are capable of’ (Galliano, 2021), the statement has me speculating as to whether an artist such as Olafur Elliasson would have to justify his practice in such a way? Is there still a social hierarchical domination of the ‘Fine Art’ placed at the top of the pyramid of the Creative Industries?
The richness of the research into history, culture and craft is not to apply mimesis but to create something new and has inspired me to take on the multiplicity of creative thought. Contemplating reason at the point of decision-making, confirmed my choice of the jeweled indigo colour palette representing faceted value of the body and creativity alongside the value of the natural materials used as renewable resources of cloth to create an ethical ostentatiousness. The silhouettes of the Final Major Project – a corseted piece to denote the strength of the core and the awareness of somaesthetics. A clinging body conscious piece to celebrate the beauty of the tonal nuances shape of the female form. A looser more fluid piece to represent the kinesthetic meditative flow of movement. And a jacket cover to encapsulate the concept of the collection.
Aspects of display have also been considered by familiarising myself with the photography studio, and designing the website to help craft an artistic persona. I would like to collaborate with someone to contemplate a visual theme, work on the documentative content and produce a short performance video with an emotive soundscape to convey the expression of the pieces.
Images
- Barber, C. One to twenty, The Glovemaking Factory [Art Installation]. axisweb. One to Twenty – The Glove Making Factory, Yeovil | Claire Barber | Axisweb: Contemporary Art UK Network https://2fwww.axisweb.org/p/clairebarber/workset/241098-one-to-twenty-the-glove-making-factory-yeovil/
- Galliano, J Maison Margiels. (2020, July 17). Stills from video, Maison Margiela Artisanal Co-Ed Collection Autumn-Winter 2020 | S.W.A.L.K. [Video]. Maison Margiela. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GCnbjRlICSQ