Articles - 27 March 2005

Handmade: the new labour

Artlink Vol 25 No 1 March 2005
Edited by Kevin Murray the content of the magazine poses the question, 'What place remains in a fast digital world for the slow painstaking work of making things by hand?' Are we seeing a new vogue in visual arts that is akin to the slow food movement that is sweeping the western capitalist world? Is the hand made the new counter culture? In reading through this latest issue of Artlink magazine it was interesting to see that the range of issues covered included material that had also become apparent through the Craft Australia online forum Interact: contemporary craft in a digital future. We are at an interesting point culturally; global economic forces and advances in accessible new technologies are having an impact on arts production. In Australia this enables the play of the traditional with the technological to map new territories. This is a broader field for the arts to manoeuvre through and as such there are more options in the directions that artists select for their practice.

This breadth is engagingly explored by the contributing writers who include Grace Cochrane, Damiano Bertoli, Les Walkling, Martyn Jolly, Peter Timms, Justin Clemens, Kit Wise, Suzi Attiwill and Rigel Sorzano. Presented are articles that discuss handmade as a value laden descriptor that denotes quality and high standards in production. What is exciting about this issue is the application of this criterion in unexpected areas. This includes articles such as the one by Nicola Harvey that explores the relationship between artist Jan Nelson and her collaborations with sculptor Lis Johnson. Other lateral ideas about the hand made include articles about wet/dry photographic processes or digital versus analogue, bringing the temporal nature of dark room processing head on with digital photographic technologies.

Kevin Murray's editorial essay introduces his tangential approach to the handmade, an approach that also invigorates his work as the Executive Director of Craft Victoria. With the cover story about artist sculptor Ricky Swallow, Australia's representative at the 51st Venice Biennale, this issue of Artlink is inspiring if not stirring. Handmade: the new labour will enthuse most art punters regardless of which side of the technological divide they sit.

Catrina Vignando
General Manager, Craft Australia
March 2005